Scientific Poster Session III - Original Research

Abstract

Research Question or Hypothesis: The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the value of interventions and encounters of pharmacy students using a cost-avoidance model specific to the ambulatory care setting.

Study Design: Pharmacy students each completing a 5-week ambulatory care rotation at a family medicine residency clinic were asked to report all accepted interventions and patient encounters to their faculty preceptor. Data was collected from May 2021 to April 2022, and all interventions and encounter types were documented in a Microsoft Excel® Spreadsheet. Cost-avoidance from the interventions were calculated using a model previously utilized from Am J Health Syst Pharm. 2017;74:e76-e82.

Methods: The primary outcome assessed the total cost-avoidance the pharmacy students saved the clinic. Secondary outcomes assessed the total and types of interventions and the encounter types where the interventions were made. Descriptive analyses were used to analyze the data.

Results: Fourteen pharmacy students completed the APPE rotation and demonstrated a total cost-avoidance of $83,288. This was calculated from a reported 1,610 interventions during 930 patient encounters. The most common intervention types were providing patient education, implementing a dose change, and answering a drug information question. The majority of encounter types, 718 of 930, were from direct patient care with 573 of the direct patient care encounters occurring during pharmacy only visits and 145 occurring during shared visits with providers.

Conclusion: Pharmacy students can play an integral role in a family medicine residency clinic by providing valuable recommendations tied to cost-avoidance through a variety of patient encounter types.

Presenting Author

Authors