A study conducted by researchers at Umea University in Sweden found that clinical pharmacists in healthcare teams might improve the quality and safety of patient care and halve the risk of drug-related hospital readmissions, as reported by News-Medical.
Maria Gustafsson, a doctoral student and clinical pharmacist in the department of community medicine and rehabilitation at Umea University, carried out a randomized, controlled trial among 460 people from 65 years and above suffering from dementia and cognitive impairment.
Here are three points:
1. Before the study intervention was performed, researchers found as many as 41 percent of all admissions were related to medication events.
2. The most common problem was adverse drug reaction, but excessively high dosage and noncompliance was also unfortunately common.
3. The results after the intervention showed that clinical pharmacists' participation in healthcare teams reduced the risk of drug-related hospital readmissions by half during the follow-up time of 180 days.
