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Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) Clinical Intervention Documentation System: Development, Implementation, and Comparison to a Previous Paper-Based System

Purpose In preparation for the complete decentralization of pharmacists at our institution, we were asked to create a user-friendly intervention program the pharmacists could use on the patient floors. Summary The current system was cumbersome; the paper-based system made it hard to retrieve meaningful data and many interventions were not being captured. We felt that personal digital assistants (PDAs), with a tailored intervention program developed with Pendragon forms, would best meet our needs. A form was developed and modified based on the feedback of specific staff. After staff training, the program was implemented in June 2002. In an attempt to simplify the program, more forms were added and current forms were streamlined also based on staff feedback. The program is bridged with a Microsoft Access database and reports generated from this database provide essential information for administration to justify current positions, as well as, new positions. A literature search was performed and evaluated to determine our cost avoidance data (based on published cost avoidance associated with clinical pharmacy interventions). Institution-specific ingredient costs were used for cost savings data. Based on pre-PDA data, the number of interventions increased from an average of 112/mo to 361/mo (322% increase). An increase in the number of accepted interventions was also noted. The total cost savings and avoidance by pharmacists for the 21-month period assessed was $1,827,286: intervention total cost savings and avoidance of $1,580,593 and drug information cost avoidance of $246,693. Conclusion This program has increased the documentation of clinical pharmacy services at our institution, while reaping the additional benefit of transferring our total cost avoidance and savings into additional full-time equivalent positions.