title: Effectiveness of pharmaceutical care in an intensive care unit from China. A pre- and post-intervention study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the development and implementation of pharmaceutical care services in an in-patient setting, and to examine the effectiveness of pharmacist interventions.
  
  
  METHODS
  A single-center, 2-phase (pre-/post-intervention phase) design was performed in an intensive care unit (ICU) of a university-affiliated  hospital. Patients in the post-intervention phase (March  2011 to June 2011) received pharmaceutical care from a clinical pharmacist, while patients in the pre-intervention phase (December 2010 to March 2011) received routine medical care. The pre- and post-intervention phases were then compared to evaluate the outcomes of pharmacist interventions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During the 3-month study period, the clinical pharmacist made 232 interventions for 416 admitted patients; of these, 202 (87.1%) were accepted by physicians or nurses, and dosage adjustment (n=83, [35.8%]) was the type of intervention implemented most often. In the group that received the participation of pharmacists, medication errors per patient decreased from 1.68 to 0.46 (p<0.001); medication errors, of incorrect dose or dosing interval, were markedly improved (decreased from 0.87 to 0.14; p<0.001), the drug cost per patient-day decreased from $347.43 to $307.36 (p=0.095), and the length of ICU stay did not change significantly (6.14 days versus 5.93 days; p=0.14).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The presence of the pharmacist in the ICU resulted in significant reduction of medication errors and had potential drug-cost-saving effects, but did not have an influence on decreasing the length of ICU stay.
authors: Department of Pharmacy, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
authors: Sai-Ping
authors: SP
authors: Jiang
authors: Xia
authors: X
authors: Zheng
authors: Xin
authors: X
authors: Li
authors: Xiao-Yang
authors: XY
authors: Lu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002681:China; D003422:Critical Care / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D004358:Drug Therapy / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008508:Medication Errors / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D010593:Pharmaceutical Services