Pharmacist-led interventions to reduce drug-related problems in prescribing for Vietnamese outpatients

Abstract

Inappropriate prescribing reduces the quality of treatment and leads to a waste of resources. The World Health Organization estimates that more than half of all drugs are prescribed, dispensed, or sold inappropriately, and that half of all patients do not take them correctly. Drug-related problems can increase the risk of side effects, drug interactions, antimicrobial resistance, increase costs for treatment (in terms of both direct medication costs and indirect medication costs), and pressure the insurance budget society. According to the studies, about 50% to 80% of drug-related problems may be preventable. In particular, clinical pharmacists help identify, treat and have a crucial role in preventing drug-related problems through specific interventions. The pharmacist's contribution to improving the quality of medication use and patient safety can be assessed directly or indirectly by determining the number of drug-related problems being managed/prevented or by cost-effective treatment. All over the world, many studies are showing the critical role of pharmacists in identifying and managing drug-related problems in prescribing. In Sweden, pharmacists' recommendations on DRPs might positively influence physicians’ prescribing quality and contribute to better and safer drug therapy for patients. In addition, Japanese pharmacists also had an essential role in providing medication safety, with potential cost savings.