Korean J Clin Pharm.  2023 Jun;33(2):135-142. 10.24304/kjcp.2023.33.2.135.

The Effect of a Computerized Pharmacist Communication Application-based SBAR Tool

• Cheon YJ
• Ye KN
• Kim JB
• Kim JT
• An SH

• KMID: 2544336
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.24304/kjcp.2023.33.2.135

Abstract

Background
Pharmacists communicate with a variety of healthcare experts to prevent medication errors. Situation-BackgroundAssessment-Recommendation (SBAR) is a tool used for concise and accurate communication. In 2018, we developed the pharmacy-SBAR (P-SBAR) to deliver pharmacists intervention more quickly and effectively through quality improvement activities. Objectives: This study evaluates the efficacy of P-SBAR on pharmacists’ intervention activities before and after the implementation of P-SBAR applications. We assessed the impact of P-SBAR on reducing the burden of intervention work, promoting pharmacists’ participation, and enhancing the acceptance rate.
Methods
This is a retrospective study of the two groups before and after P-SBAR implementation. All pharmacists’ intervention records during two periods (2016-2017 and 2019-2020) were extracted from the data warehouse system at Kyunghee University Hospital at Gangdong, Seoul. The outcome was the number of inpatients and pharmacists who participated in the prescription monitoring activity, the number of interventions, and the physicians’ acceptance rate.
Results
Although the total number of inpatients decreased (364,753 vs. 348,229), the number of pharmacists who participated in intervention activity increased (monthly mean: 15.8 vs. 18.0, p=0.001). The total number of interventions (2,767 vs. 4,389), the frequency of full acceptance (2,018 vs. 3,710), and the monthly acceptance rate increased significantly (73.8% vs. 83.8%, p<0.001).
Conclusion
P-SBAR improved accessibility and convenience by digitalizing the intervention activities performed in an offline environment. Improvement in work burden and acceptance rate using P-SBAR is expected to contribute toward reducing medication errors.

Keyword

Communication; medication error; patient safety; pharmacists; situation background assessment recommendation (SBAR)