The Evolution of Drug Information Services to Asynchronous Delivery of Pharmacist eConsults.

Abstract

Drug information (DI) services provided an avenue to expand the role of pharmacists as the medication experts. The focus of DI has shifted from general questions submitted to DI centers to patient-specific questions that optimize care. One method to increase access to pharmacist expertise is through pharmacy eConsults. Pharmacy eConsults provide specialist care for medically complex patients using a patient-centered, asynchronous approach. The purpose of this article is to describe the evolution of consults from formal drug information services and describe one academic medical center's implementation of a pharmacy eConsult service to provide patient-specific DI.