Impact of a Series of Drug Information Interventions on Pharmacy Staff

Abstract

Purpose A performance-improvement service project consisting of a series of drug information interventions was developed for pharmacy staff to improve the quality and consistency of drug information provided by clinical pharmacists at a university medical center. The impact of interventions was primarily assessed by attendee satisfaction; a secondary measurement was the use of the Stanford Drug Information Center (the center). Methods Five interventions reviewing different electronic drug-information references were presented in September and October 2005. The 1hour presentations consisted of live demonstrations to pharmacy staff. A handout with step-by-step instructions on how to access and search each reference was created and distributed along with a follow-up evaluation. At the end of the interventions, all of the handouts were compiled into a permanent drug-information resource manual. In addition, data regarding inhouse pharmacist call volume to the center and the type of questions asked by inhouse pharmacists were collected for 6 months before and after the interventions. Results Evaluations of the interventions were positive and indicated that the learning objectives for each session had been met. The number of requests from inhouse pharmacists actually increased for the 6-month period after the interventions, as compared to the 6-month period prior to the interventions. Conclusion Feedback from pharmacy staff was positive, and the performance improvement goal was met through the intervention program, as well as the development of a permanent drug-information resource manual. However, further education of pharmacy staff did not translate into decreased requests (lower call volume) to the center.