Providers Support Collaborative Practice With ED Pharmacists

After more than 1000 patient cases, a collaborative practice agreement that allows emergency department clinical pharmacists at a community hospital in Indiana to intervene independently in certain situations received strong support from emergency department providers, who also supported its expansion. Researchers published their findings in the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association. 

The collaborative practice agreement is between the medical director and two clinical pharmacists at the 40-bed emergency department, which logged 48,550 visits in 2018. Under the agreement, a pharmacist reviews a patient’s case, microbiology culture results, and medications provided or prescribed in the emergency department. 

“If supported by the collaborative practice agreement, the pharmacist will intervene independently,” researchers wrote. “If the intervention is not supported by the collaborative practice agreement, the pharmacist will discuss treatment options with an emergency department provider.”

Of 1094 microbiology follow-up cases covered by the collaborative practice agreement, 36% required further intervention under the agreement, a study evaluating the practice innovation found. In 31% of cases, the collaborative practice agreement was not able to be used, according to the study. 

A pharmacist reviewed 5.5 new cases a day, on average, taking about 2 hours. 

“The collaborative practice agreement has several avenues for potential expansion that are being explored in response to the information gathered in this study,” researchers wrote. 

—Jolynn Tumolo

Reference

Roels C, Pavich E, McCrate B, Adams R, Hrisomalos T. Implementing a pharmacist-led emergency department microbiology follow-up collaborative practice agreement [published online ahead of print, 2020 Apr 9]. J Am Pharm Assoc (2003). 2020;S1544-3191(20)30121-7. doi:10.1016/j.japh.2020.03.007