Cost implications of and potential adverse events prevented by interventions of a critical care pharmacist.

Purpose: The cost implications of and potential adverse events prevented by the interventions of a critical care pharmacist were studied.

Methods: A decentralized clinical pharmacist assigned to a surgical intensive care unit (ICU) documented all interventions made from mid-October 2003 through February 2004 using a standardized written form. The data were retrospectively evaluated and the following information was extracted: amount of time spent performing various clinical activities, how drug-related problems were identified (e.