Acceptance of pharmacists' suggestions by prescribers: a literature review.
Acceptance of pharmacists' suggestions by prescribers is a necessary component of the evaluation of clinical pharmacy services that is often overlooked. A literature search was performed to review the information on this topic. Acceptance was defined as a measure of a prescriber's compliance with a pharmacist's recommendation regarding drug therapy. In order for the pharmacist to impact upon the quality of patient care or drug costs, the prescriber must accept the suggestions. A total of 23 studies was found that addressed the topic. The average rate of acceptance was 85.5%. Factors affecting acceptance included time, communication, solicited versus unsolicited recommendations, type of prescriber, and type of pharmacist. Factors leading to non-acceptance included lack of physician awareness of pharmacokinetic parameters, quality of suggestions, prescribers' exercise of caution with respect to patient safety and well-being, and negative attitude toward clinical pharmacy. More research needs to be done in order to evaluate the importance of these factors.
Klopfer
J D
JD
Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario.
Einarson
T R
TR
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D004363:Drug Utilization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D010565:Persuasive Communication; D010607:Pharmacy Service, Hospital; D010820:Physicians / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014481:United States