Faculty Collaboration Database

Pharmacist involvement on a rapid response team. Am J Health Syst Pharm 2017 Mar 01;74(5 Supplement 1):S10-S16

Date

02/19/2017

Pubmed ID

28213382

DOI

10.2146/ajhp160076

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-85032283255 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   15 Citations

Abstract

PURPOSE: The effect of a pharmacist on a rapid response team (RRT) was investigated.

METHODS: This study evaluated 234 patients before and 157 patients after pharmacist involvement on an RRT. The primary outcome was time to medication administration, with a goal turnaround time of less than 30 minutes. Secondary outcomes included most frequently used medications, readmissions to the intensive care unit (ICU) within 48 hours, number of rapid responses that resulted in ICU admission, length of hospital stay, and survival to hospital discharge. Additionally, pharmacist interventions were tracked in the postinterventional group.

RESULTS: The preinterventional group screened 326 rapid response events, of which 234 were included for analysis; during the postinterventional phase, 256 rapid response events were evaluated, of which 157 were included. The primary outcome, median time to medication administration from central pharmacy, was lower in the postinterventional group compared with the preinterventional group (32.0 minutes versus 64.5 minutes, p = 0.004). ICU admission rates following rapid response were not significantly different between the two groups. Additionally, there were no significant differences between rates of medical emergency and survival to hospital discharge. The most common medications administered were metoprolol and naloxone. Pharmacists provided documentation for 90 of 157 (57%) patient cases. In the 90 cases with documentation, 18 (20% of patients) had documented pharmacist interventions, including dosing assistance for 8 cases (44% of interventions).

CONCLUSION: The addition of a pharmacist to an RRT reduced time to medication administration, helped improve medication accessibility, and helped optimize medication selection and dosing.

Author List

Feih J, Peppard WJ, Katz M

Author

William J. Peppard PharmD Trauma/Surgical Critical Care Pharmacist in the Pharmacy department at Froedtert Hospital

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Emergency Treatment
Female
Humans
Intensive Care Units
Male
Middle Aged
Patient Care Team
Patient Readmission
Pharmacists
Professional Role
Retrospective Studies
Young Adult