Emergency medicine pharmacists’ interventions in the tertiary hospitals’ emergency departments in Malaysia
Background: The emergency medicine (EM) pharmacist is an integrated part of the Emergency Department (ED) interdisciplinary team in many countries, including Malaysia. The presence of EM pharmacists in the ED has positively impacted patient outcomes. Data on EM pharmacists’ interventions is scarce i...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2025-12-01
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| Series: | Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice |
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| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/20523211.2025.2457410 |
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| author | Hock Peng Koh Haliza Ab Jalal Yee Ping Koo Mary Siew Yng Chen Manimegahlai Selvaratanam Anaanthan Bhuvanendran Pillai Wai Kit Wong Xin Nee Guee Sherene Su Ann Tan Shirlyn Tan Lih Jiuan Teh Rosalind Guen Lin Sia |
| author_facet | Hock Peng Koh Haliza Ab Jalal Yee Ping Koo Mary Siew Yng Chen Manimegahlai Selvaratanam Anaanthan Bhuvanendran Pillai Wai Kit Wong Xin Nee Guee Sherene Su Ann Tan Shirlyn Tan Lih Jiuan Teh Rosalind Guen Lin Sia |
| author_sort | Hock Peng Koh |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: The emergency medicine (EM) pharmacist is an integrated part of the Emergency Department (ED) interdisciplinary team in many countries, including Malaysia. The presence of EM pharmacists in the ED has positively impacted patient outcomes. Data on EM pharmacists’ interventions is scarce in the Asian region. In Malaysia, data on interventions done by EM pharmacists in the EDs was unavailable. This study aimed to assess the type of interventions done by EM pharmacists in the ED of tertiary public hospitals in Malaysia.Methods: This cross-sectional, multicenter study involved EM pharmacists from 14 tertiary hospitals in Malaysia. All accepted interventions done by EM pharmacists in the ED for patients admitted to the Red (critical) and Yellow (semi-critical) zones from January to June 2022 were extracted from the Clinical Pharmacy Report Form. All data were analyzed descriptively.Results: The EM pharmacists documented 1659 accepted interventions on 1584 patients during the study period. Inappropriate regimens (n = 1117, 67.3%) and incomplete prescriptions (n = 339, 20.4%) were the main categories of accepted interventions in ED. Inappropriate drug (n = 574, 34.6%), dose (n = 292, 17.6%), and frequency (n = 176, 10.6%) were the top three subcategory interventions documented under inappropriate regimens. Antimicrobials, antihypertensives, and proton pump inhibitors were the commonest drug intervened under the categories of inappropriate drug intervention. There were 272 (16.4%) accepted interventions on high-alert medications (HAMs). Insulin, enoxaparin, and noradrenaline were the most intervened HAMs.Conclusion: Inappropriate treatment regimens were the most common intervention category done by EM pharmacists in Malaysia. The significant number of interventions done by EM pharmacists demonstrated the importance of EM pharmacists as integral members of the EM team. This data can help improve the quality of clinical pharmacy services in the ED and is important for the future expansion of clinical pharmacy services in all EDs across Malaysia, neighbouring countries, and other developing countries. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-3321be17d38443dc923ee7912052eb9c |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2052-3211 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice |
| spelling | doaj-art-3321be17d38443dc923ee7912052eb9c2025-01-27T12:38:06ZengTaylor & Francis GroupJournal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice2052-32112025-12-0118110.1080/20523211.2025.2457410Emergency medicine pharmacists’ interventions in the tertiary hospitals’ emergency departments in MalaysiaHock Peng Koh0Haliza Ab Jalal1Yee Ping Koo2Mary Siew Yng Chen3Manimegahlai Selvaratanam4Anaanthan Bhuvanendran Pillai5Wai Kit Wong6Xin Nee Guee7Sherene Su Ann Tan8Shirlyn Tan9Lih Jiuan Teh10Rosalind Guen Lin Sia11Pharmacy Department, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Hospital Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaPharmacy Department, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Hospital Sultanah Aminah, Johor Bahru, MalaysiaPharmacy Department, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Hospital Sultanah Bahiyah, Alor Setar, MalaysiaPharmacy Department, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Hospital Umum Sarawak, Kuching, MalaysiaPharmacy Department, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun, Ipoh, MalaysiaPharmacy Department, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Hospital Tuanku Ja’afar, Seremban, MalaysiaPharmacy Department, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Hospital Melaka, Melakas, MalaysiaPharmacy Department, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Hospital Sultanah Aminah, Johor Bahru, MalaysiaPharmacy Department, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Hospital Pulau Pinang, George Town, MalaysiaPharmacy Department, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah, Klang, MalaysiaPharmacy Department, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah, Klang, MalaysiaPharmacy Department, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Hospital Putrajaya, Putrajaya, MalaysiaBackground: The emergency medicine (EM) pharmacist is an integrated part of the Emergency Department (ED) interdisciplinary team in many countries, including Malaysia. The presence of EM pharmacists in the ED has positively impacted patient outcomes. Data on EM pharmacists’ interventions is scarce in the Asian region. In Malaysia, data on interventions done by EM pharmacists in the EDs was unavailable. This study aimed to assess the type of interventions done by EM pharmacists in the ED of tertiary public hospitals in Malaysia.Methods: This cross-sectional, multicenter study involved EM pharmacists from 14 tertiary hospitals in Malaysia. All accepted interventions done by EM pharmacists in the ED for patients admitted to the Red (critical) and Yellow (semi-critical) zones from January to June 2022 were extracted from the Clinical Pharmacy Report Form. All data were analyzed descriptively.Results: The EM pharmacists documented 1659 accepted interventions on 1584 patients during the study period. Inappropriate regimens (n = 1117, 67.3%) and incomplete prescriptions (n = 339, 20.4%) were the main categories of accepted interventions in ED. Inappropriate drug (n = 574, 34.6%), dose (n = 292, 17.6%), and frequency (n = 176, 10.6%) were the top three subcategory interventions documented under inappropriate regimens. Antimicrobials, antihypertensives, and proton pump inhibitors were the commonest drug intervened under the categories of inappropriate drug intervention. There were 272 (16.4%) accepted interventions on high-alert medications (HAMs). Insulin, enoxaparin, and noradrenaline were the most intervened HAMs.Conclusion: Inappropriate treatment regimens were the most common intervention category done by EM pharmacists in Malaysia. The significant number of interventions done by EM pharmacists demonstrated the importance of EM pharmacists as integral members of the EM team. This data can help improve the quality of clinical pharmacy services in the ED and is important for the future expansion of clinical pharmacy services in all EDs across Malaysia, neighbouring countries, and other developing countries.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/20523211.2025.2457410Emergency medicine pharmacistclinical pharmacistemergency departmentpharmaceutical care intervention |
| spellingShingle | Hock Peng Koh Haliza Ab Jalal Yee Ping Koo Mary Siew Yng Chen Manimegahlai Selvaratanam Anaanthan Bhuvanendran Pillai Wai Kit Wong Xin Nee Guee Sherene Su Ann Tan Shirlyn Tan Lih Jiuan Teh Rosalind Guen Lin Sia Emergency medicine pharmacists’ interventions in the tertiary hospitals’ emergency departments in Malaysia Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice Emergency medicine pharmacist clinical pharmacist emergency department pharmaceutical care intervention |
| title | Emergency medicine pharmacists’ interventions in the tertiary hospitals’ emergency departments in Malaysia |
| title_full | Emergency medicine pharmacists’ interventions in the tertiary hospitals’ emergency departments in Malaysia |
| title_fullStr | Emergency medicine pharmacists’ interventions in the tertiary hospitals’ emergency departments in Malaysia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Emergency medicine pharmacists’ interventions in the tertiary hospitals’ emergency departments in Malaysia |
| title_short | Emergency medicine pharmacists’ interventions in the tertiary hospitals’ emergency departments in Malaysia |
| title_sort | emergency medicine pharmacists interventions in the tertiary hospitals emergency departments in malaysia |
| topic | Emergency medicine pharmacist clinical pharmacist emergency department pharmaceutical care intervention |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/20523211.2025.2457410 |
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