The impact of clinical pharmacy services in Nepal in the context of current health policy: a systematic review

Abstract

The necessity of clinical pharmacy services is increasing globally, and their provision is the upcoming direction of hospital pharmacists. The aim of this review was focused on the impact of clinical pharmacy services in the Nepalese healthcare setup. The English-language databases of Web of Science, PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Cochrane Library were searched using the following keywords: ‘pharmacy’, ‘clinical pharmacy’, pharmaceutical services’, ‘pharmacists’, pharmaceutical care’, ‘pharmacy practice’, ‘hospital pharmacy’, ‘pharmaceutical interventions’, and ‘Nepal’. Eligibility for inclusion, risk of bias assessment, and data extraction from the included studies were determined by two authors, and a narrative synthesis was conducted. This review contained a total of 14 published articles. The included studies involved the counseling and educating of patients, working as a member of the healthcare team, detecting prescribing errors, suggesting clinicians or nurses, reviewing prescriptions on the ward, giving training and monitoring of the implementation of policies, etc. The outcome of these interventions showed a reduction in the direct healthcare cost, excessive use of medicines, and prescription errors, as well as improvement in the drug utilization pattern, knowledge, as well as satisfaction of patients. In order to implement and enhance clinical pharmacy services, governmental, educational, and administrative support may be needed.