We developed a clinical pathway (CP) for cataract surgery patients, and the CP involved pharmaceutical consultation by pharmacists.
1) Prior to the start of the CP, the ophthalmologists conferred with the pharmacists and a conference determined the use one kind of oral antibiotics and four kinds of ophthalmic solutions as medicines.
2) Pharmacist gathered all of the patients who had similar operating days and explained the method of applying the ophthalmic solutions, the effects of the medicines, and so on by using illustrated instructions. After the group guidance, the pharmacist performed pharmaceutical consultations for individual patients.
3) A comment space about the pharmaceutical consultation was included in the table of the CP in order to exchange information with other medical staff members.
4) We studied the merits of the pharmacist in this CP by questionnaire. All patients (n=20) replied that they could receive detailed explanations about the medicines. All doctors (n=4) and four of nurses (n=5) replied that their explanation time about the medicines decreased and they could devote themselves to other medical services. There was a significant advantage when a pharmacist could efficiently perform the pharmaceutical consultation because the kind of medicines and the consultation schedule were fixed in this CP.
We think that the medical staff can better concentrate on their specialty and more efficiently provide high-quality medical services for patients when the pharmacist's participate in the CP.
