抄録
The aim of the present study was to examine the pharmacoeconomical efficacy of critical pathways (CP) and medication management and instruction tasks (i.e. pharmaceutical care and counseling for inpatients) by employing gastrectomy patients. The pharmaceutical services of a uniform quality was provided for CP patients using a CP check sheet and medication management and instruction history of mainly prescribed medicine. As a result, in CP patients, which were offered pharmaceutical care, compared to non-CP patients, which were not offered such care, the average number of hospitalized days significantly decreased from 34.7 days to 24.7 days (p<0.01). Moreover, the average medication costs also significantly decreased from 85, 563 yen to 55, 114 yen (p<0.01). These data suggest the possibility that CP medication management and instruction tasks may play an important role in reducing both the length of hospitalization and medication costs of gastrectomy patients.
