Pharmacists improve care of patients in ambulatory oncology clinic

Pharmacy services being offered in an ambulatory oncology clinic are deemed important and highly satisfactory by patients, according to a recent study.

A prospective mixed methods study involving surveys and patient interviews was conducted to evaluate both patient perception and satisfaction regarding clinical pharmacy services provided in an ambulatory oncology clinic. Consenting participants completed a survey at their first visit and a second survey 6–8 weeks later to re-evaluate their perceptions and to measure satisfaction ratings.

In the final phase of this study, the authors performed semi-structured one-on-one phone interviews to gather qualitative data regarding the objectives.

Thirty-five participants completed the survey, of which 11 completed one-on-one patient telephone interviews. The ratings of the importance of pharmacists in managing patients’ nausea or vomiting significantly decreased when remeasured, but the importance of meeting the pharmacist in the clinic significantly increased.

Patient interviews also stressed the importance of the role of pharmacists. In particular, patients valued the pharmacist’s initiative to meet them in the clinic, the education provided by the pharmacist, and the pharmacist’s accessibility throughout treatment.

“Studies have shown that patients rate pharmacists more favourably when the pharmacist expresses interest in the patient and attends to patients’ perspectives,” the authors noted. “There is limited available evidence evaluating both patient perception and satisfaction regarding clinical pharmacy services provided in an ambulatory oncology clinic.”