Article ID: oa.2021-0001
We developed a home pharmaceutical management evaluation criteria list to evaluate pharmacy services in home care, and analyzed the relationship between home care services and the level of burden on pharmacists. The list consisted of 4 domains (37 sub-domains): dispensing (5), home visits (3), interprofessional collaboration (4), and patient management (25). Using this list, we assessed 224 patients receiving home care and using a pharmacy in Aichi Prefecture based on their medication records. Among dispensing-related subscales, “number of prescribed drugs”, “special treatment materials”, “duration of dispensing”, “opioid medications”, and “sterile dispensing” were correlated with the level of burden on pharmacists. Additionally, “availability of service after midnight/on holidays” and “actual workload” as home visits-related subscales, and “pre-discharge conferences”, “inquiries from other professionals”, and “sending reports” as interprofessional collaboration-related subscales increased the level of burden on pharmacists. As for patient management, “care grade” and “cognitive function” representing physical conditions did not increase the level of burden on pharmacists, whereas “malignant tumors” and “nutritional status” did.
