A Study on Assessment of Need and Utility of Clinical Pharmacy Services in General Medicine Unit in Tertiary Care Hospital

Background The role of pharmacists in the care of hospitalized patients has evolved over time. There is evidence that greater collaboration between general practitioners and pharmacists can improve patient care. Patient counseling is a critical component, in order to ensure that the patient receives and understand important information about the medication. Due to the lack of time, heavy patient load of physician clinical pharmacist should take responsibility to provide his services in hospital. The objective of the study was to assess the need and utility of clinical pharmacist services in general practice settings. Method A prospective observational study was conducted over a period of 6 months. During this period patients case notes were collected and reviewed. Inpatient counseling was given to the patient by providing PILs. Medication adherence and knowledge was assessed by developing questionnaire. Medication adherence score was given using MMAS scale. Results Among 104 patients who were willing to participate in the study 81 completed their follow up. There was statistically significant improvement (pless than0.05) in knowledge level from base line (3.29) to the follow up (5.5). There was statistically significant improvement (pless than0.05) in medication adherence pre counseling (2.96) and the post counseling (3.5). Conclusion Our study concludes that involving clinical pharmacist services in patient care can significantly helps to provide many services especially patient counseling to improve patients QOL