Economic effects of pharmacists on health outcomes in the United States: A systematic review

Abstract

A majority of studies examining the economic effects of pharmacist-provided direct patient care in the United States were limited by their partial cost analyses, study design, and other analysis considerations. A majority of the 20 studies that found positive economic benefits examined pharmacists' interventions involving technical methods or multimodal approaches.

Providers' Perceptions of Student Pharmacists on Inpatient General Medicine Practice Experiences

“…[3][4][5] However, there is a paucity of literature describing prescriber perceptions of the benefit of a pharmacist or student pharmacist in similar practice environments. 6 Of those published reports that have attempted to capture the role and contribution of pharmacists or student pharmacists, most have been conducted outside of the United States, potentially limiting the transferability of their results to the US health care system; were not conducted in the internal medicine setting; and/or had small sample sizes.…”

Impact of a Clinical Pharmacy Program on Changes in Hemoglobin A1c, Diabetes-Related Hospitalizations, and Diabetes-Related Emergency Department Visits for Patients with Diabetes in an Underserved Population

“…Previous studies have shown the value of clinical pharmacy services in improving health outcomes and reducing economic costs for patients with diabetes. 6 Benefits of CDTM include, but are not limited to, improving patient adherence, decreasing adverse events, avoiding drug interactions, and using the knowledge of the clinical pharmacist to promote enhanced services via direct patient care. [6][7][8] Previous studies have shown that patients with diabetes who receive clinical pharmacist interventions demonstrate significantly improved hemoglobin A1c.…”

“…6 Benefits of CDTM include, but are not limited to, improving patient adherence, decreasing adverse events, avoiding drug interactions, and using the knowledge of the clinical pharmacist to promote enhanced services via direct patient care. [6][7][8] Previous studies have shown that patients with diabetes who receive clinical pharmacist interventions demonstrate significantly improved hemoglobin A1c. [7][8][9][10][11][12][13] Furthermore, the data have shown that increased A1c is associated with increased costs per hospitalization.…”

Health Care Systems and Transitions of Care

“…Services can include drug therapy selection, dosing, monitoring, and proactive review of discharge medications along with drug therapy counseling to ensure that patients safely transition to the post-acute environment. Pharmacists in these roles not only facilitate positive patient outcomes and avoid adverse events, but may also reduce costs associated with drug therapies [8].…”