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Ambulatory Pharmacy Services Affiliated With Acute Care Hospitals
Author(s) -
Raehl Cynthia L.,
Bond C. A.,
Pitterle Michael E.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
pharmacotherapy: the journal of human pharmacology and drug therapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.227
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1875-9114
pISSN - 0277-0008
DOI - 10.1002/j.1875-9114.1993.tb02768.x
Subject(s) - medicine , pharmacy , ambulatory , clinical pharmacy , ambulatory care , family medicine , pharmacist , health care , hospital pharmacy , emergency medicine , medical emergency , economics , economic growth
The extent to which hospital‐based pharmacists provide ambulatory clinical pharmacy services in the United States is unknown. We evaluated pharmacists' activities in hospital‐affiliated ambulatory clinics and home health services. A questionnaire was mailed to directors of pharmacy in one‐half of the United States acute care general medical‐surgical hospitals with 50 or more licensed beds. The survey response rate was 56% (n=1174). In 19% of hospitals, pharmacists provided patient care (nondispensing activities) in ambulatory clinics. The most common clinics with pharmacist involvement were diabetes (10% of hospitals), oncology (9%), cardiology (6%), and geriatrics, infectious disease, and pain (4% each). Nondispensing roles varied by clinic type; prescribing by protocol was performed in 57% of anticoagulation clinics and 7% of diabetes clinics. Home health care services, with pharmacists' activity extending beyond providing drugs, were offered by 28% of the hospitals. Thirty‐six percent of the hospitals operated one or more outpatient pharmacies. A statistically significant association was observed between hospitals' inpatient clinical pharmacy services (as assessed by the pharmaceutical care index) and the involvement of pharmacists in both ambulatory clinics and home health care services.