1887
2 - Qatar Health 2021 Conference abstracts
  • ISSN: 1999-7086
  • EISSN: 1999-7094

Abstract

: Throughout COVID-19, complex therapeutics and medication protocols left clinicians overwhelmed by contradicting information leading to drug-related problems (DRPs) potentially leading to ineffective pharmacotherapy and drug-related morbidity and mortality1,2. DRPs queries are time consuming, utilize numerous resources, and require skills and experience to provide accurate answers3. Quick answers are paramount in the Emergency Department (ED) especially during a pandemic period. Clinical pharmacists (CP) can identify and resolve DRPs but are only available in the ED during daytime hours. We set up an out-of-office CP service for ED DRPs. This study aimed to assess the capacity of the service to capture 100% of calls received and to measure the time taken to resolve DRP queries compared to the international standard3. : A dedicated ED CP on-call phone line and rota until 10 pm daily was arranged by the Hamad General Hospital Pharmacy (Doha, Qatar). Data was documented in a logbook and within the Electronic Medical Records (EMR) and analysed using predefined parameters. : Between March-September 2020, 133 DRPs calls were received and resolved by a CP. 38% were related to drug interaction/safety (often about medications used in COVID-19 treatment protocols), adverse drug reactions, dose-adjustments, drug allergies and drug in pregnancy. 30% were about medication administration, such as infusion rates, titration, and intravenous compatibility. Those questions were mostly from nurses (Figure 1). Appropriate dose selection and appropriate indication represented 21% and 11% respectively (Figure 2). Caller's acceptance rate to responses provided by CP was 100%. Responses were documented in the patients’ EMR. The call-history-log showed an average duration of 4.66 minutes per call which is below the average standard of 15-30 minutes3. : The availability of clinical pharmacists to provide quick, acceptable, responses to DRPs queries is crucial given the complexity and diversity of ED patients. During COVID-19, an on-call clinical pharmacy service has proven its capability to resolve DRPs and support the clinical decision-making process in a relatively short time.

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/content/journals/10.5339/jemtac.2021.qhc.17
2021-08-09
2024-03-28
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References

  1. Morgan SR, Acquisto NM, Coralic Z, Basalyga V, Campbell M, Kelly J, et al. Clinical pharmacy services in the emergency department. Am J Emerg Med. 2018; 36: (10):1727–1732.
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  3. Alomi YA, Alghamdi SJ, Alattyh RA. National Workload Analysis of Network of Drug Information Centers at Ministry of Health Hospitals in Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. 2018; 7:(4):17–25.
    [Google Scholar]
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  • Article Type: Conference Abstract
Keyword(s): clinical pharmacistCOVID-19 medicationdrug related problemsemergency department and response time
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