Background Patients in post acute care services (PACS) usually require multiple transcriptions of their drug chart. The general drug chart which is used for all acute care patients allows for 14 days of administration of a prescribed medication. The development of a long stay drug chart (LSDC) to accommodate a greater number of days of administration was proposed for usage in the PACS.

Purpose To introduce and evaluate a LSDC in the PACS.

Material and methods A 1 month prospective pre-implementation baseline study was conducted by the clinical pharmacist, using a data collection form, to establish

1. the number of general drug charts in use in the PACS,

2. the time taken to review these charts and

3. the number of transcription errors noted.

A pilot LSDC was developed and introduced, in which the number of days of administration was extended from 14 to 37. A 1 month prospective study was conducted 6 weeks after the introduction of the LSDC, to establish its impact on (a), (b) and (c) above.

Results The results from the pre- and post-implementation study included:

(1) Number of fully transcribed drug charts in use was reduced by 42%. (2) The average time taken by the clinical pharmacist to review each drug chart was very similar between the two groups (6 min). (3) Number of transcription errors noted was numerically less (10 vs 14) in the post-implementation group but the study was not powered to detect a statistically significant difference.

Conclusion The feedback from medical and nursing staff was very positive. As expected, the number of drug charts in use was reduced and there was a numerical reduction in transcription errors. As there were fewer drug charts to review, clinical pharmacist time was saved. Despite a slight increase in associated cost, the universal benefits of the LSDC will lead to roll out throughout the PACS.

No conflict of interest