Clinical Pharmacy Services in Family Practice: Cost-Benefit Analysis

SynopsisThere is an increasing need for early detection strategies to take a part in the daily routine of general practice. A cost—benefit analysis is performed for the use of the CAGE questionnaire in case finding for at risk drinkers among general practice attenders. The questionnaire is shown to be of advantage to the general practitioner over and above his usual diagnostic methods.

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A Review of Cost-Benefit and Cost-Effectiveness Analyses of Clinical Pharmacy Services

Journal of Pharmaceutical Marketing & Management ◽

10.1300/j058v02n03_06 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 2 (3) ◽

pp. 63-84 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Linda MacKeigan

Keyword(s):

Cost Effectiveness ◽

Clinical Pharmacy ◽

Cost Benefit ◽

Pharmacy Services ◽

Clinical Pharmacy Services

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Effect of Clinical Pharmacy Services on the Quality of Family Practice Physician Prescribing and Medication Costs

DICP ◽

10.1177/106002808902300511 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 23 (5) ◽

pp. 417-421 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Elizabeth A. Chrischilles ◽

Dennis K. Helling ◽

Carl R. Aschoff

Keyword(s):

Family Practice ◽

Clinical Pharmacy ◽

Clinical Pharmacist ◽

Pharmacy Services ◽

Dosing Interval ◽

Clinical Pharmacy Services ◽

Medication Costs ◽

Study Sites ◽

Physician Prescribing ◽

Physician Patient

This study assessed the impact of physician exposure to clinical pharmacy services on the appropriateness of physician prescribing and on medication costs. Two study sites were used: FPC (primary resident training office without clinical pharmacist) and PMC (satellite office with clinical pharmacist). The same physicians provided care at both study sites. Exposed patient encounters were selected from encounters during each resident's rotation at the PMC satellite. Unexposed patient encounters were selected from encounters at the FPC immediately prior to each resident's exposure to clinical pharmacy services. A blind review panel evaluated case abstracts of the patient encounters for appropriateness of drug choice, daily dosage, dosing interval, duration of treatment, clarity of instructions, and monitoring data; potential severity of the patient problem; and difficulty of the clinical decision. After adjusting for covariables (potential severity, difficulty, patient age, sex, Medicaid status, therapeutic category, and type of medical problem), physician-patient encounters in which family practice residents were exposed to clinical pharmacy services were rated significantly more appropriate for choice of drug prescribed, daily dosage chosen, dosing interval selected, clarity of prescription instructions, and monitoring data. Costs of acute medications, as measured by average wholesale price per day, per dose, and per treatment course, were also significantly lower for clinical pharmacy-exposed physician-patient encounters.

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The Effect of Clinical Pharmacy Services on Family Practice Residents' Attitudes: A Nationwide Study

Drug Intelligence & Clinical Pharmacy ◽

10.1177/106002808602000613 ◽

1986 ◽

Vol 20 (6) ◽

pp. 493-496 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Dennis K. Helling ◽

Patrick W. Thies ◽

Robert E. Rakel

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Family Practice ◽

Clinical Pharmacy ◽

Clinical Pharmacist ◽

Health Care Team ◽

Care Team ◽

Control Group ◽

Pharmacy Services ◽

Clinical Pharmacy Services ◽

Experimental Group

A nationwide study investigated the attitudes of family practice residents toward: (1) interdisciplinary health care teams in family practice; (2) the clinical pharmacist as a member of the health care team; and (3) the utility of clinical pharmacist involvement in private family practice offices. A random sample of 174 family practice residency programs was selected for study. First-year residents comprised the sample population. Based on the response of the directors, programs were assigned to experimental (programs offering clinical pharmacy services) or control (no clinical pharmacy services) groups. Completed attitudinal instruments were received from 158 resident respondents in the experimental group and 153 resident respondents from the control group. The reliability coefficient of the returned questionnaires was 0.901 by the split-halves method. Residents in the experimental group had significantly more favorable attitudes than those residents in the control group on several scales. These scales included the clinical pharmacist's participation on the health care team, utility of a clinical pharmacist in a private practice setting, desirability of hiring a clinical pharmacist, and the desirability of practicing with a multidisciplinary health care team. These results support the hypothesis that exposure to clinical pharmacy services can significantly affect physician resident's attitudes toward clinical pharmacy.

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