A Randomised Controlled Trial of Medication Liaison Services—Acceptance and Use by Health Professionals

• Published in: Journal of pharmacy practice and research Vol. 32; no. 3; pp. 221 - 226
• Main Authors: Stowasser, Danielle A, Collins, David M, Stowasser, Michael
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01-09-2002
• ISSN: 1445-937X; 2055-2335
• DOI: 10.1002/jppr2002323221

Objectives: To determine the acceptance and utility of a Medication Liaison Service (MLS) by hospital and community healthcare professionals. The MLS aimed to improve the quality and transfer of medication‐related information associated with hospital admission.
Method: 240 patients were randomly selected from acute wards and a pre‐admission clinic (PAC) at two major hospitals and randomly assigned to MLS (n = 113) or control (n = 127) groups. General practitioners (GPs) and community pharmacists attending each intervention patient were asked to anonymously complete a survey to assess acceptance and utility of the MLS 30 days post‐discharge. Hospital resident medical officers (RMOs, n = 12) exposed to the MLS while working in the PAC were also surveyed.
Results: Surveys were returned from 76% of GPs, 84% of community pharmacists and 83% of RMOs. The comprehensiveness of medication information was rated as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ by 100% of RMOs, 92% of GPs and 89% of community pharmacists. Timeliness was rated as at least ‘adequate’ by all but one GP and one community pharmacist. Over 70% of GPs utilised the information provided in patient care and GPs reported making 52 interventions to drug therapy as a result of MLS information. While only 11 interventions were made by community pharmacists, 70% requested routine access to the MLS information. Problems with storage and retrieval of information were factors limiting the utility of MLS information provided on discharge.
Conclusion: MLS information was rated highly by RMOs, GPs and community pharmacists in terms of comprehensiveness and timeliness. The MLS facilitated medication management decisions and the majority of users requested routine access to the service in the future.