Objective: To quantify the number and type of clinical pharmacist interventions with an impact on patient care in a postsurgical nonintensive care patient population. Background: Studies have shown that pharmacists are able to improve the quality of patient care; however, the pharmacist role in postsurgical nonintensive care areas is not well defined. Methods: A clinical pharmacist provided care for 2 postsurgical floors for 2 weeks and collected information about the number and type of interventions made and adverse events avoided. In addition, the study team conducted an anonymous survey amongst the multidisciplinary team who collaborated with the pharmacist at the end of the trial period to understand the perception of having access to a clinical pharmacist who was designated to their floor. Results: In a 2-week time period, the clinical pharmacist was able to make 218 interventions, including 38 recommendations for optimization of antimicrobials, 26 recommendations for anticoagulation optimization, and providing education for 20 patients planned for discharge on high-risk medications. Interventions made by the clinical pharmacist helped decrease adverse events, improve patient safety and knowledge, and potentially avoid readmissions and reduce hospital length of stay. The survey results revealed that 100% strongly agreed that a clinical pharmacist should be a member of the multidisciplinary team for the postsurgical floors. Conclusion: This data signifies that having a clinical pharmacist dedicated to the postsurgical patient population allows for optimization of antimicrobial and anticoagulant use, improves outcomes for patients through medication education, and enhances provider satisfaction.

Context: Studies have shown that palliative care involvement delivers a multitude of benefits to patients and caregivers. The existing palliative care workforce is inadequate to meet growing demand. Innovative strategies to triage inpatient consults are necessary. Objectives: To describe the implementation of a new palliative care triage process and to demonstrate its impact on efficiency, teamwork, and patient care. Methods: A quasi-experimental study design, comparing clinical consult data from a 6-month period before and a 6-month period after implementation of the novel consult triage model. Results: Across the 2 study periods, consult demand increased by 44% while the physician staffing (full time equivalent [FTE]) decreased by 38%. Penetration rate per clinical FTE increased (from 1.9%-2.4%; P = .004). Monthly physician work relative value units (RVUs) per FTE increased from 909 to 1678. Physician encounters with hospitalized patients increased from 284 to 353, and total team visits increased from 596 to 891 ( P < .001). Average time to consult decreased by 2.4 hours ( P = .54). Conclusion: An efficient and streamlined consult triage process had a positive impact on our palliative care team’s ability to reach patients. We were able to generate more physician visits and RVUs despite a decrease in physician clinical time, and our penetration rate per physician clinical FTE improved. Our findings highlight the importance of thoughtful and appropriate triage, not to mention teamwork, in helping to augment patient access to palliative care.

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