JEDDAH, 3 March 2004 — The American Hospital Association has recommended that hospitals “ensure the availability of pharmacy expertise” by “having pharmacy personnel make daily rounds on units or enter orders directly into computer terminals on patient care units.”
The King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center in Jeddah has recently adopted these ideas. In addition to reviewing all medication orders for drug-related problems, KFSH’s clinical pharmacists provide drug information and monitor targeted medications.
They work with medical staff to ensure rational prescribing of cost-effective medications, work with patients to improve their knowledge of the medications they receive, and partner with nurses to reduce unnecessary delays in the medication use system and improve the overall safety of medication use.
Clinical Pharmacy Services has also developed a computer software program to document clinical pharmacist interventions and benchmark these values against US data.
According to Dr. Seema Syed of the Clinical Pharmacy and Drug Information Center at KFSH, over a three-month period, the savings that resulted have amounted to $359,875.
Improving the services of the clinical pharmacy in the hospital is one of two sides to patient care. The other side is educating the patients on the proper use of their medications. Thousands of people end up in the hospital, and spend more than they should have simply because they do not take their medications properly. It is part of a pharmacist’s job to educate and answer patients’ questions and concerning medication.
One of the most common mistakes that people make is to continue taking medication after the physician has said that it was unnecessary or potentially harmful. At the same time, there are patients who do not follow directions and may actually stop taking their medications once symptom relief has been achieved.
Another common problem among patients is storing medications in places where children have access to them. As for stability, many medications are stable at room temperature and need to be stored that way. Any deviation from those requirements may result in the degradation of the drug and render it ineffective.
The pharmacy department at KFSH in Jeddah will sponsor two national patient safety awareness days on March 9 and 10 in the hospital lobby to counsel patients about their medications and answer questions.
