Background and importance In the context of the single dose, the pharmacist is involved in the validation of patients‘ personalised therapies, attempting to minimise errors in therapy.

Aim and objectives The aim of this study was to evaluate, through the computerised prescription, the increase in prescribing appropriateness of antibiotic therapy, following notification by the pharmacist, with relative money saving costs.

Material and methods The analysis was carried out by extrapolating, from the unit dose (UD) software, prescriptions of antibiotics subjected to a single request motivated (SRM) in the period from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2019. We analysed inappropriate prescriptions where the hospital pharmacist affixed the ‘note’, sent immediately to the prescriber. These prescriptions were divided into inappropriate for: posology, duration of therapy and interaction/incompatibility. Subsequently, the variation in prescriptions due to the pharmacist’s intervention was evaluated (ie, the number of inappropriate prescriptions which were changed by the physician was extrapolated). In the pharmacoeconomic field, we evaluated the expenditure of inappropriate prescriptions without notification of the hospital pharmacist and the savings obtained following the change in therapy.

Results During the study period, total prescriptions of antibiotics with SRM were 2067; 216 (10.45%) were not appropriate. The number of prescriptions modified following the pharmacist’s intervention was 104 (48%). Pharmacoeconomic analysis showed that the expenditure incurred for the dispensation of antibiotics related to inappropriate prescriptions changed by notification from the pharmacist was 77 537€ for 12 months. If the physician had not modified the therapies, the expenses would have been 162 762€ and therefore the amount of money saved was 85 225€ in 12 months.

Conclusion and relevance The control and validation of medical prescriptions by the pharmacist produced an important added value to the risk management process, in that in almost 50% of cases the pharmacist’s notes led to an actual change in the medical prescription. The use of computerised prescriptions and single dose management contributed strongly to the objectives of verifying prescriptive appropriateness as a tool to govern effectiveness, efficiency and costs in healthcare.

Conflict of interest No conflict of interest