Multifaceted approach to medication use policy development: the restriction of meperidine.

As institutions continue to expand their drug policy development efforts in order to improve care and reduce cost, the use of multifaceted approaches offer several benefits. Population data on drug use support the need for policy action. The use of institutional outcomes data in conjunction with published evidence augments the process, and the consensus approach to guideline development engenders medical staff support.

Economic evaluations of clinical pharmacy services--1988-1995. The Publications Committee of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy.

The objectives of this effort were to summarize and critique original economic assessments of clinical pharmacy services published from 1988-1995, and to make recommendations for future work in this area. A literature search was conducted to identify articles that were than blinded and randomly assigned to reviewers to confirm inclusion, abstract information, and assess the quality of study design. The 104 articles fell into four main categories based on type of service described: disease state management (4%), general pharmacotherapeutic monitoring (36%), pharmacokinetic monitoring services (13%), and targeted drug programs (47%).

Work redesign and role restructuring in a pharmacy department with pharmacist assistants.

A new staffing model for decentralized pharmacists and support staff at a university hospital is described. A new technical support position--the pharmacist assistant--was created, and activities were reallocated among the pharmacists, pharmacist assistants, and pharmacy technicians according to the recommendations of two total quality management teams. Pharmacist assistants were to perform many of the drug distribution and record-keeping functions previously performed by pharmacists.