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DGI-004 Analysis of Consultations Made by Patients in an Outpatient Service
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  1. I Yeste Gomez,
  2. V Escudero Vilaplana,
  3. I Marquinez Alonso,
  4. C Rodriguez Gonzalez,
  5. P Arrabal Duran,
  6. B Marzal Alfaro,
  7. M Sanjurjo Saez
  1. Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Pharmacy, Madrid, Spain

Abstract

Background hospital pharmacists interview all outpatients with a new prescription, including medication changes, and those who are suspected of not having good compliance. However, patients sometimes voluntarily demand to talk to the pharmacist.

Purpose The objective of this work was to evaluate the features of consultations made by patients in these situations.

Materials and Methods observational prospective study performed in all outpatients who demanded an interview with the pharmacist from 01/03/12 to 31/05/12. Data collected: sex, age, pathology, type of question, resolution (yes/no), and whether the patient was sent to another health professional or not.

Results 48 patients were included (56.25% male; mean age 47.25 years). Pathology: 29 HIV; 4 hepatitis C; 3 multiple sclerosis; 3 hepatitis B, and 9 others (one each): lung cancer, renal impairment, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple myeloma, myosarcoma, growth disorder, pulmonary hypertension, glaucoma, and aspergillus infection. Consultations were classified into 9 types showing in brackets the number of each: 1-Drug-drug interactions (14); 2-Apply for extra medication (9); 3-Side effects (8); 4-Dosage and administering(6); 5-Missed or wrong doses(6); 6-Prescription renewal(2); 7-Drug storage(1); 8-Faulty drug(1) and 9-Misunderstanding medical prescription(1). Forty-three consultations were solved by the pharmacist (89.58%). In the other 5 cases, patients were sent to the physician: two were taking the treatment incorrectly and needed a special cheque, two needed to renew the prescription and one was suffering severe side effects.

Conclusions The most common consultations were related to pharmacology except for 18,75% of patients who applied for extra medication (often not possible because of the hospital policy). The pharmacist was able to solve almost 90% of consultations, sending the patients to their doctors just in cases where their health was compromised or new prescriptions were needed.

No conflict of interest.

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