The impact of a clinical pharmacist in an interprofessional intensive care unit recovery clinic providing care to intensive care unit survivors

Abstract

Abstract Introduction Intensive care unit (ICU) survivors are vulnerable to further health deterioration and medication‐related problems (MRPs) with a high rate of potentially preventable hospital readmissions and late death. Therefore, it is critical to identify MRPs of ICU survivors post‐hospitalization. ICU‐recovery clinics (ICU‐RCs) have been proposed as a potential mechanism to address the unmet needs of ICU survivors, and pharmacists should be key members of ICU‐RCs. Objectives The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of a pharmacist in an interprofessional ICU‐RC on MRPs. Methods A retrospective cohort study was conducted in adult ICU survivors with sepsis/septic shock and/or respiratory failure. This study compared MRPs within 6 months of post‐hospital discharge between intervention and control groups. The intervention group included patients who were seen by a pharmacist in an ICU‐RC. MRPs and interventions between initial and 6‐month follow‐up visits in the intervention group were also evaluated. Results Data were collected for 52 control and 52 intervention patients. There were no significant differences in baseline demographics and hospital characteristics between groups. Eighty‐four MRPs were identified in the control vs 110 in the intervention group ( P = .37). Half of patients in control and intervention groups had at least one MRP identified ( P = .69). There was a significant decrease in mean number of MRPs at the 6‐month follow‐up visit (3.5 ± 1.7 with initial vs 2.4 ± 1.3 with follow‐up visit; P = .025) in the intervention group. Almost all patients in initial and follow‐up visits had at least one MRP. Conclusions Dedicated ICU‐RC pharmacists in an interprofessional ICU‐RC can assist with addressing and intervening on MRPs which could further impact clinical outcomes in ICU survivors.

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