Pharmaceutical support is important in ensuring the proper use of drugs.In providing such support,it is necessary for pharmacists to be involved in pharmacotherapy from a different perspective to that of physicians and nurses,to use the tools unique to pharmacists effectively,and discuss individual cases from the pharmacological viewpoint.
On conducting an investigation to evaluate the effects of pharmaceutical support in clinical pharmacy practice,we noted that pharmaceutical support provided to physicians resulted in modification of 95.1% of prescriptions with benefits for 43.4 % of the patients.Patients who received pharmaceutical support with the objective of avoiding adverse drug reactions benefited financially since it lowered their medicine expenses by an average of 1,299 yen/day.On the other hand,patients who received pharmaceutical support to assist their pharmacotherapy saw an average increase in their medicine expenses of 2,417 yen/day.
These findings suggest that pharmaceutical support provided in clinical pharmacy practice provides greater medical safety and medical economy for patients.