Clinical pharmacy services in an Iranian teaching hospital: a descriptive study

Objective To understand the types of services provided by Iranian clinical pharmacists in nephrology and infectious disease wards, the acceptance rate of clinical pharmacy services in these wards by physicians and the clinical significance of these services in the main teaching hospital in Iran. Setting: Nephrology and infectious disease departments of a university hospital in Iran. Methods During a 12-month prospective data gathering phase, details of all clinical pharmacy services in the nephrology and infectious disease wards of a large university hospital were recorded in the pharmacotherapy monitoring forms. Significance impact of clinical pharmacists' services was assessed according to the guidelines of The Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia. Main outcome measure: Number and type of services provided. Results During 1 year, clinical pharmacists contributed to 1,386 services for 1,105 patients who were admitted in these two wards; of these services, about 95% were accepted by the physicians and about half of them were of moderate-to-life saving clinical significance. Also at least 32% of services were considered to reduce the cost of drug therapy. Conclusions These results support the importance of clinical pharmacists' participation in health care team rounds to improve the overall quality of medication therapy, enhance patient care and outcome and reduce drug costs to patients and society.