Evaluation of the Impact of the Presence of a Pharmacy Technician on the Quality and Cost of Drug Therapy (OPTI-PP)

Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nīmes

Status: Completed

Conditions: Hospitalization

Treatments: Other: Pharm Tech participates in department; Other: One month of department-wide observation

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02614638

2015-A01309-40 (Other Identifier)

LOCAL/2015/GL-01

Details and patient eligibility

About

The main objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of the presence of a pharmacy technician in a care unit (Hepato-Gastroenterology Department) on detected medication errors.

This is a before-after study consisting of three sequential phases:

Month 1: one month of observation of what is happening in the department Month 2: one month wash out period Month 3: active participation of a pharmacy technician in the department

Full description

The secondary objectives of this study are:

A- To assess the impact of the presence of a pharmacy technician on the ratio of the number of patients with at least one medication error / number of included patients hospitalized in the service.

B- To characterize detected medication errors.

C- To identify and evaluate the potential causes of medication errors.

D- To evaluate whether the presence of a pharmacy technician reduces nursing time spent on medication management.

E- To evaluate the economic impact of the presence of a pharmacy technician.

F- To evaluate the acceptability of the intervention by the nursing staff and pharmacy technicians using questionnaires.

Enrollment: 129 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• The patient must be insured or beneficiary of a health insurance plan
• The patient is hospitalized in the Hepato-Gastroenterology Department of the Nîmes University Hospital

Exclusion criteria

• The patient is under judicial protection
• The patient, or his/her legal guardian, expresses opposition to participation in the study
• It is impossible to correctly inform the patient

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Non-Randomized

Interventional model: Crossover Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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129 participants in 2 patient groups

1st observational period (before experimental intervention)

Active Comparator group

Description:

Patients in this arm are included during a first month of observation before the intervention is implemented. Intervention: One month of department-wide observation

Treatment:

Other: One month of department-wide observation

2nd obs. period (during experimental intervention)

Experimental group

Description:

Following a one-month wash-out period, patients in this arm are included during a second month of observation during which the intervention is implemented. Intervention: Pharm Tech participates in department

Treatment:

Other: Pharm Tech participates in department