title: Evaluation of clinical pharmacist's interventions in an infectious diseases ward and impact on patient's direct medication cost.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A clinical pharmacist is a key member of the antimicrobial multidisciplinary team involved in patients' pharmacotherapy monitoring. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency and type of medication errors, the type of clinical pharmacy interventions, acceptance of pharmacist interventions by health-care provider team, nursing staff satisfaction with clinical pharmacy services, and the probable impact of clinical pharmacy interventions on decreasing direct medication costs at an infectious diseases ward in Iran.
  
  
  METHODS
  All clinical pharmacist interventions such as preventing medication errors were recorded in a previously designed pharmacotherapy monitoring forms. Direct medication cost of patients admitted during the study period was compared with that of subjects hospitalized at the same ward during the year before the intervention period to determine the impact of clinical pharmacy interventions on direct medication costs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The 3 most frequent medication error types were incorrect dose (35.5%), omission error (24.3%), and incorrect medication (14.3%). The mean number of clinical pharmacist intervention per patient was 3.2. Forty percent of clinical pharmacists' interventions are moderate to major clinical significant. Thirty nine percent of clinical pharmacist's interventions had moderate to major financial benefits in present study. The direct medication cost per patient was decreased about 3.8% following clinical pharmacist's interventions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data demonstrated that incorrect dose was the most frequent medication error in the infectious diseases ward. Major portion of clinical pharmacist interventions were accepted by physicians and nursing staff. Clinical pharmacist interventions non-significantly decreased the direct medication cost of patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. khalilih@tums.ac.ir
authors.forename: Hossein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Khalili
authors.forename: Iman
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Karimzadeh
authors.forename: Parastoo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mirzabeigi
authors.forename: Simin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dashti-Khavidaki
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000145:classification / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000191:economics; D016527:Drug Costs; D016903:Drug Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D004469:Economics, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran; D008297:Male; D008508:Medication Errors / Q000145:classification / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D019982:Organizational Case Studies; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration; D010595:Pharmacists / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards; D010607:Pharmacy Service, Hospital / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D024382:Professional Role; D011446:Prospective Studies