Accuracy of Inpatient Recall of Interaction With a Pharmacist: A Validation Study From 2 Acute Care Teaching Hospitals

BACKGROUND: Research has shown that inpatients may not accurately report interacting with a pharmacist. OBJECTIVE: To determine accuracy of patients’ recollection of meeting with a pharmacist at 2 acute care teaching hospitals in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. METHODS: Retrospective review of 391 surveyed patients discharged from April 2013 to March 2014. Responses to meeting a pharmacist (yes/no) were compared with 2 reference standards: pharmacist documentation in patient charts and pharmacist clinical workload data. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive, and negative predictive values were calculated. RESULTS: One hundred ninety-five (49.9%) respondents reported meeting with a pharmacist. Of these, 71 (36.4%) had corresponding pharmacist chart documentation. Of the 196 respondents who reported not speaking with a pharmacist, 73 (37.2%) had documentation present. Compared with patient charts, sensitivity and specificity were 49.3% and 49.8%, respectively. Positive and negative predictive values were 36.4% and 62.8%, respectively. Similar results were seen in comparison with the workload data. CONCLUSIONS: Patients often inaccurately reported meeting with a pharmacist in the acute care setting. The results are useful for pharmacist training, patient education, and for refinement of the current survey question.