HPE 99 – October 2021 Issue | Page 15

FIGURE 5
Cost reduction potential of all clinical pharmaceutical interventions from September 2020 to February 2021
32.8 % 28.9 %
38.3 %
Drug stopped Dose reduced Not applicable
significantly higher than the clinicians ; physicians did not rate this as a major problem . Based on experience , they reported being able to push the limits of certain medications . Keeping the blood pressure low is the most important concern for patients needing dialysis , they stated .
Discrepancies between clinicians and pharmacists were due to different educational backgrounds and different levels of medical ward hospital experience . Rating these patient cases was instructive for both parties . Not only can the pharmacist learn from the physicians ’ clinical experiences but also identify needs to support them further and enable more balanced medical decisions . As clinical pharmacy in
Austria is not very well developed in rural areas and still in its adaptation phase , these issues need to be addressed carefully and actions taken thoroughly and proficiently to allow for development of trust among the different professions .
Cost savings of pharmaceutical interventions Clinical pharmacy work on the wards not only improves patient care but can also lead to cost reductions in medicines expenditure . 24
Conclusions Even though this study was only carried out on a very small scale , it has successfully demonstrated that there is great potential and a definite need for the development and increase of CPS in Austria . One of the main reasons why CPS are so underdeveloped in Austria is due to a very drugoriented- centred curriculum in the pharmacy degree with very little focus on patient-centric pharmacotherapy . 25 Many clinical pharmacists in Austria have self-educated or obtained an additional clinical degree from overseas . 2 Another reason CPS are underdeveloped in Austria is that there was no funding for such services via the insurance systems . However , this has now been remedied and CPS remunerated . 26 This is revolutionary for CPS in Austria as revenue can be generated from the CPS that has been provided . This change now means that there is leverage regarding stakeholders to employ more clinical pharmacists and encourage medical staff to request CPS . Many countries have demonstrated the benefits of CPS in hospitals over the past 30 years or more . This research has done that , and proposed further work will demonstrate that CPS is also essential in Austria .
Acknowledgements and affiliations SG would like to thank consultant physicians Petra Gebetsberger , Helene Achrainer , Michael Fritz and Ernst Edlinger for their help in rating her clinical pharmacy interventions for significance . She would also like to thank René Wenzel , head of the medical ward and Prof Rudolph Pointner , medical director at the Tauernklinikum , Zell am See for allowing her to work on the medical ward and collect data on clinical pharmacy interventions .
Key points
• In Austria , CPS are rare , with only 15.8 % of hospitals having a dedicated pharmacy department and even fewer offering CPS .
• Many countries have demonstrated the benefits of CPS in hospitals over the past 30 or more years .
• This study demonstrates the need for the development of CPS in Austria .
• Clinical pharmacists identified a range of clinical pharmacy interventions with 59.6 % of suggested pharmaceutical interventions leading to an immediate change in patient care .
• A total of 95 % of clinical interventions recommended by pharmacists were rated as ≥2 on the Hatoum scale of clinical significance .
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