Analysis and improvement measures of telephone drug consultation in a specialized hospital of obstetrics and gynaecology in China

WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE: Drug consultation is an important part of pharmaceutical care offered by clinical pharmacists. We explored the characteristics of telephone drug consultations in an obstetrics and gynaecology speciality hospital to provide a reference as to how to improve drug consultation and pharmaceutical care. METHODS: We retrospectively analysed records of telephone consultations regarding medication use between 2014 and 2019 in our hospital. Any consultation cases with incomplete records were excluded from our analysis. Of the 1353 consultation cases included in our study, we further classified them into different categories based on the content of the consultations, the type of medications being inquired about, and the groups of people who sought medication guidance. Pareto analysis was performed to separate the main issues the callers were concerned about from the more minor concerns. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The medication issues that prompted the caller to consult with our clinical pharmacists could be divided into 12 categories, among which the main issues concerned usage and dosage, choice of drug variety, drug incompatibility (drug mixture in infusion bag or tube), adjustment of the treatment plan, and skin tests (cumulative percentage 76.3%). The minor issues involved medication use during pregnancy and lactation and adverse reactions. The top three types of drugs that callers asked about were antimicrobials (600 cases, 44.4%), anti‐tumour drugs (151 cases, 11.2%) and reproductive system drugs (111 cases, 8.2%). The callers could be divided into four groups as follows: doctors (865 cases, 63.9%), nurses (280 cases, 20.7%), patients (116 cases, 8.6%) and other medical professionals (92 cases, 6.8%). WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSION: Usage and dosage, choice of drug variety, drug incompatibility, adjustment of treatment plan and skin tests represented the main issues for telephone drug consultations in our hospital. Doctors and nurses were most likely to consult clinical pharmacists regarding these issues. Improved drug consultation services are needed to allow more patients to have access to advice from pharmacists. Such access would better enable pharmacists to fulfil their roles in advising the appropriate use of drugs to ensure better patient care and medication compliance.