PROMISe to document clinical interventions in Australian community pharmacies

Drug-related problems (DRPs) are well known as a frequent cause of morbidity, hospital admission and mortality. A systematic review conducted in 2002 found that 7.1 % of hospital admissions resulted from DRPs,l while the Second National Report on Patient Safety reported in 2003 that 2-4% of all hospital admissions in Australia (and up to 30% of admissions for patients over 75 years of age) were medication-related, Seventy-five percent of these DRPs were considered preventable.' DRPs that cause hospitalisation are likely to have originated during the course of the patient's community-based care; however, many occur in the community setting and donot result in presentation to a hospital. Pharmacists are frequently involved in preventing, detecting and resolving DRPs during the course of their activities. This DRP detection and resolution process can be termed a clinical intervention. Although studies have been conducted in North America3·9 and Europe.":" there is far less information available concerning the nature and frequency of community pharmacists' clinical interventions in Australia