Clinical activities of an academic pediatric pharmacy team

BACKGROUND: Pharmacy school faculty, residents, and students have been shown to positively impact patient care in multiple settings. However, their potential role in the care of pediatric patients has not been described. OBJECTIVE: To document the contribution of pharmacy school faculty, residents, and students to the optimization of medical care for pediatric patients. METHODS: All clinical interventions performed by faculty, residents, and students for pediatric patients seen from January through December 2002 were recorded and analyzed. The interventions were concurrently recorded using a handheld and desktop computer-based documentation system, the Pharmacist's Electronic Database for Interventions, developed by the pediatric practice team. Practice sites included general pediatrics, pediatric intensive care, neonatal intensive care, and ambulatory clinics. RESULTS: Four faculty members, 5 residents, and 44 students collected intervention data. A total of 4605 interventions were performed for 3978 patients. The most common interventions performed were drug therapy change, pharmacokinetic monitoring, drug information, and medication histories/patient education. Drug added and drug deleted were the most frequent interventions performed in the drug therapy change category. The most common indications for which interventions were made were infectious (39.6%) and respiratory (23.3%) diseases. A total of 223 adverse drug events or medication errors were prevented or detected during the study period. Errors in dosing (overdose or underdose) were the most commonly encountered adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: Pharmacy school faculty, residents, and students perform numerous clinical activities that play a significant role in the multidisciplinary care of pediatric patients.