Potential Savings of Consulting a Drug Information Center

Lyrvall, Helena; Nordin, Conny; Jonsson, Egon; Alván, Gunnar; Öhman, Birgitta

doi:10.1177/106002809302701224

Cited by 15 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…This finding does of course support the importance of a health care facility like the DIC, in providing condensed and evaluated literature information, supporting the treatment of individual patients. It has previously been shown that the DIC has a cost-saving potential in preventing ADRs [15]. The present finding also indicates the need, for example, of local or regional pediatric therapeutic expert groups to regularly survey the literature and distribute relevant new data and findings to all pediatric prescribers.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 71%

Drug related problems and off-label drug treatment in children as seen at a drug information centre

et al. 2006

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The aim of this work was to analyse the characteristics of Questions and Answers (Q&As) at a drug information centre (DIC) regarding drug related problems and off-label drug treatment in children. All questions concerning children 15 years or younger at a DIC in Stockholm, Sweden during the years 1995-2004 were analysed with respect to the main drug related problem, drug/s and drug group/s, whether the drugs were licensed or not, pediatric labelling of the drug/s and age and sex of the patient. Q&As were classified as whether or not they included evaluated literature information, adding to the labelling of the drugs. We identified 249 Q&As concerning pediatric drug treatment. Each question addressed an average of 1.5 drugs. More than two-thirds of the Q&As concerned adverse drug reactions and pediatric drug choice or dosing. Every second question was classified as offlabel, psychotropic drugs being the most common. In half of all off-label Q&As, pediatric documentation on drug efficacy and safety outside the Swedish catalogue of medical products was found. Most Q&As concerned newborns and infants. However, the off-label proportion among questions was highest in adolescence as well as the evaluated literature information, adding to the labelling of the drugs. It was thus found that off-label drug treatment is common among pediatric questions at a DIC. This service can provide additional literature based information contributing to a safer use of drugs in children. There is still, however, a substantial need for clinical documentation of drug use in children.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 71%

Drug related problems and off-label drug treatment in children as seen at a drug information centre

et al. 2006

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“…Cost-effective analyses of POD are methodologically difficult as the output is complex, covering a wide range of diseases, adverse reactions and patient circumstances, and there are difficulties in converting change in health into financial value [17]. The evidence of the economic impact is therefore limited and has only been evaluated in two studies [28,29]. The methodologically best performed study investigated the economic impact of patient-specific answers over a 6-week period in 1999.…”

Section: Sources Searched Before Inquiringmentioning

confidence: 99%

Problem-oriented drug information: physicians’ expectations and impact on clinical practice

Hedegaard

Damkier

2009

Eur J Clin Pharmacol

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Purpose Problem-oriented drug information (POD) is a service in which health professionals provide evidencebased answers to clinical questions posed by physicians. The objective of this study was to evaluate the user satisfaction and clinical impact of POD, to investigate predictors for use and to examine the kind of sources physicians search before applying for POD. Methods To evaluate POD, a questionnaire was distributed with problem-oriented answers sent from a drug information centre to physicians during the period of April 2006 to March 2007. Results Of 197 questionnaires, 183 (93%) were returned. The information from the POD service was highly valued by the physicians, and 90% of the answers led to reported impact on clinical practice in the specific clinical situation. Furthermore, 74% of the answers were intended to be used in a wider context either for future patients (67%) or for dissemination to colleagues (51%). Secondary-care physicians more often than general practitioners (GPs) used the information for dissemination to colleagues (63 vs. 39%, P=0.0008), while GPs more often used the answer to support patient information (88 vs. 70%, P=0.0029). The most prominent motive for applying for POD was a request for evidencebased information (78%), and the service was used to overcome barriers to practicing evidence-based medicine such as lack of time (36%), skills for searching (26%), and appraising the literature (13%). Before inquiring, 74% of the physicians had tried other information sources; the most frequent sources used were a drug reference (68%) and consulting a colleague (24%). Secondary-care physicians reported fewer barriers than GPs when seeking information, and secondary-care physicians searched other sources more often than GPs before contacting the service (81 vs. 67%, P=0.031). Conclusion POD represents a useful source for acquiring evidence-based drug information by physicians. POD is highly valued by the users. It was reported to have an impact on clinical practice for the specific patient but is also intended to be used in a wider context for future patients or for dissemination to colleagues. GPs' and secondary-care physicians' use of POD differs with GPs having more focus on patient information and secondary-care physicians having more focus on dissemination of the information to colleagues.

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“…The calculation of workforce demand is required including the analysis of clinical activities with entire organizations or throughout outsource institutions Several studies have focused their research on cost avoidance of drug information services. [3][4][5][6][7][8][9] However, to the best of our knowledge, studies regarding the personal workforce and clinical activities are scarce around the world and in the Middle East countries including Saudi Arabia. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to explore the workload of drug information centers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

National Workload Analysis of Network of Drug Information Centers at Ministry of Health Hospitals in Saudi Arabia

Alomi¹,

Alghamdi²,

Alattyh³

2019

IJPCS

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Objectives: To analyze the workload of the network of drug information centers at the Ministry of Health institutions, Saudi Arabia. Methods: This is a 2-month cross-sectional survey of all drug information centers at MOH hospitals. Any drug information center that has been recently opened or has provided services to the healthcare professionals and the public participated in the survey. The national, regional, and local drug information centers at healthcare institutions were included in the survey. In addition, hospitals or primary care centers (e.g., public, pediatric, maternity, and psychiatry) were also included in the survey. The survey consisted of two parts: demographics data and workload of drug information centers. The clinical activities were driven by the American College of Clinical Pharmacy model. Results: The questionnaire was distributed to around 60 drug information centers. A total of 46 centers responded to the questionnaire, with a response rate of around 76.66%. Most hospitals (11 (23.9%)) had 100-199 beds and others (11 (23.9%)) had 200-299 beds. A total of 1022.5; 22,495; and 269,940 drug information queries were received daily, monthly, and annually, respectively. The greatest demand for a full-time employee (FTE) to preform drug information activities was at the central drug information activities (20.95 FTE) followed by the administration-related drug information activities (17.98 FTE) and patient-specific drug information activities (8.41 FTE). Among the central drug information activities, the highest amount of activity was observed for in-service training (10.95 FTE), whereas among the administration-related drug information activities, the highest amount of activity was observed for attending lectures/courses/symposium/training (2.46 FTE). Among the patient-specific drug information activities, the highest amount of activity was observed for patient counseling services (3.43 FTE). Conclusion: The workload of drug information centers was found to be very high. The services were needed to be revised within basic and advanced requirements of drug information centers at the

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Potential Savings of Consulting a Drug Information Center

Cited by 15 publications

References 1 publication

Drug related problems and off-label drug treatment in children as seen at a drug information centre

Drug related problems and off-label drug treatment in children as seen at a drug information centre

Problem-oriented drug information: physicians’ expectations and impact on clinical practice

National Workload Analysis of Network of Drug Information Centers at Ministry of Health Hospitals in Saudi Arabia

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