Clinical Pharmacy Interventions: Enhancing Patient Safety and Healthcare Outcomes
Abstract
Interventions by clinical pharmacists have been identified as a potential means of optimising medication use and improving patient safety and health outcomes. Clinical pharmacy has been recognized for its importance in mitigating medication errors and enhancing therapeutic effectiveness in different settings, and its role adds to healthcare cost-effectiveness as reflected in this systematic review. Methods: A literature search was performed on PubMed, Scopus and CINAHL for studies that evaluated clinical pharmacists regarding medication management, patient counseling and multidisciplinary collaboration. Results show that clinical pharmacy interventions well have lower ADR, better medication adherence, and dose optimization in the total impact on patient care. Important areas of intervention include medication reconciliation, therapeutic drug monitoring, dosage adjustment and patient education. Similar studies highlight the association between clinical pharmacists and decreased rates of hospital readmission as well as the management of chronic disease states like diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. While the benefits are clear, barriers still exist including poor pharmacist integration with healthcare teams, lack of available resources and inconsistency in regulatory/policy frameworks. Polices to remove these barriers, alongside expanded pharmacist roles and interprofessional collaboration, may lead to more successful clinical pharmacy interventions. AThe continuing awarenContinue of value of clinical pharmacists as key stake holders in patient centered care, effectiveness of health system.
