A stepped wedge randomised controlled trial assessing the efficacy and patient acceptability of virtual clinical pharmacy in rural and remote Australian hospitals (11 November 2024)

Summary

Despite medication being the most common healthcare intervention and medication-related incidents being common in hospitals, many rural and remote hospitals in Australia lack onsite pharmacy services due to resource constraints. This study examined the outcomes of a Virtual Clinical Pharmacy Service (VCPS) staffed by two senior, rural generalist hospital pharmacists assigned to four hospitals each that was implemented in rural and remote facilities. It aimed to determine whether the VCPS increased adherence to National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards (NSQHS).

The study demonstrated that the VCPS:

• improved compliance with national standards for medication safety
• had high patient acceptability
• resulted in the detection of clinically relevant medication-related issues in rural and remote settings.

The authors recommend that the possibilities of virtual pharmacy should be explored in further rural and remote locations, in addition to other settings such as urban locations with no onsite clinical pharmacists.