Pharmacy Calls for Prescription Clarification at an Academic Emergency Department. 2022

Christopher J Edwards, and Vivienne Ng, and Nicholas B Hurst, and Juan Contreras, and Farshad Mazda Shirazi
The University of Arizona College of Pharmacy, Tucson, Arizona.

Approximately two-thirds of patients discharged from an emergency department (ED) are prescribed at least one medication. Prescription clarification by outpatient pharmacies for ED patients can lead to delays for patients and added workload. This study aims to describe prescriptions requiring clarification prior to being dispensed by an outpatient pharmacy for patients recently discharged from an ED. This study was conducted at an urban, 61-bed academic ED. Prescription clarification forms were used to identify common causes for outpatient pharmacies to contact the ED to clarify prescriptions prior to dispensation. Clarification types were reviewed and classified. Descriptive statistics were used to present the classification types. There were 1278 documented calls to the ED for prescription clarification that were classified as clarification of directions for use (611, 47.7%), insurance or affordability issues (182, 14.2%), dose (172, 13.4%), medication availability (126, 9.8%), lost or missing prescription (93, 7.3%), patient allergy or adverse event (62, 4.8%), duplication in therapy (17, 1.3%), and clarification of medication ordered (17, 1.3%). When grouped into provider, system, or patient-related issues, provider issues were noted to be most frequent clarifications (862 clarifications, 67.3%), followed by system issues (325 clarifications, 25.4%), and finally, patient-related issues (93 clarifications, 7.3%). Clarification of directions for use, insurance or affordability issues, and clarification of the dose were the most common reasons that outpatient pharmacies contacted an ED regarding a prescription for a recently discharged patient.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D010351 Patient Discharge The administrative process of discharging the patient, alive or dead, from hospitals or other health facilities. Discharge Planning,Discharge Plannings,Discharge, Patient,Discharges, Patient,Patient Discharges,Planning, Discharge,Plannings, Discharge
D010594 Pharmacies Facilities for the preparation and dispensing of drugs. Community Pharmacies,Pharmacy Distribution,Community Pharmacy,Distribution, Pharmacy,Distributions, Pharmacy,Pharmacies, Community,Pharmacy Distributions,Pharmacy, Community
D010604 Pharmacy The practice of compounding and dispensing medicinal preparations. Forensic Pharmacy,Pharmacy Practice Patterns,Forensic Pharmacies,Pattern, Pharmacy Practice,Patterns, Pharmacy Practice,Pharmacies, Forensic,Pharmacy Practice Pattern,Pharmacy, Forensic,Practice Pattern, Pharmacy,Practice Patterns, Pharmacy
D011307 Drug Prescriptions Directions written for the obtaining and use of DRUGS. Drug Prescribing,Drug Prescription,Drug Prescribings,Prescribing, Drug,Prescribings, Drug
D004636 Emergency Service, Hospital Hospital department responsible for the administration and provision of immediate medical or surgical care to the emergency patient. Emergency Outpatient Unit,Emergency Services Utilization,Hospital Emergency Room,Hospital Emergency Service,Hospital Emergency Services Utilization,Accident and Emergency Department,Emergency Departments,Emergency Hospital Service,Emergency Room,Emergency Units,Emergency Ward,Hospital Service Emergency,Service, Hospital Emergency,Department, Emergency,Departments, Emergency,Emergencies, Hospital Service,Emergency Department,Emergency Hospital Services,Emergency Outpatient Units,Emergency Room, Hospital,Emergency Rooms,Emergency Rooms, Hospital,Emergency Services, Hospital,Emergency Unit,Emergency Wards,Emergency, Hospital Service,Hospital Emergency Rooms,Hospital Emergency Services,Hospital Service Emergencies,Hospital Service, Emergency,Hospital Services, Emergency,Outpatient Unit, Emergency,Outpatient Units, Emergency,Room, Emergency,Room, Hospital Emergency,Rooms, Emergency,Rooms, Hospital Emergency,Service Emergencies, Hospital,Service Emergency, Hospital,Service, Emergency Hospital,Services Utilization, Emergency,Services Utilizations, Emergency,Services, Emergency Hospital,Services, Hospital Emergency,Unit, Emergency,Unit, Emergency Outpatient,Units, Emergency,Units, Emergency Outpatient,Utilization, Emergency Services,Ward, Emergency,Wards, Emergency
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man

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