Drug Information Centers: Lack of Generic Equivalence

Abstract

A survey was carried out in order to observe the level of practice of pharmacists in drug information centers. The underlying assumption to the survey was that, once informed of the existence of a Drug Information Center, a major determinant to the continued utilization of that source would be a subjective impression of the quality and the competence demonstrated in response to the user's initial question. Ninety Drug Information Centers were contacted by telephone with a standard question. The question was multifaceted, requiring identification, toxicity, therapeutic use, and dose information. The caller identified himself as Dr. Jones and proceeded through a written protocol of conversation. Ten centers could not identify the product. Twenty-three centers initially asked questions other than to verify the correct spelling. Forty-eight centers took advantage of the opportunity to have input into making a judgemental therapeutic decision. Twenty-seven centers offered to document the conversation through a written follow-up. Twenty-two centers provided information judged to be less than adequate in response to the total survey question. It was observed that subjective analysis based on a single telephone conversation could not be used to adequately evaluate an individual drug information center. However, trends observed by contacting every known center indicated that there is a lack of a minimum standard of quality and competence that can be associated with calling a “generic” drug information center.