Evaluating the impact of the pre‐admission clinic pharmacist on perioperative medication management in elective surgery patients

Background The perioperative period involves the comprehensive care of patients from surgical consideration through to recovery. Best practice necessitates coordination among healthcare professionals and highly structured medication management processes. Medication errors (MEs) can occur at any stage during this period and often lead to adverse events. The role of pharmacists in the pre‐admission clinic (PAC) has shown promise in improving medication management; however, their full potential remains underutilised. Aim The aim of this study was to highlight the importance and assess the impact of the pharmacist review of elective surgery patients presenting to the PAC. The secondary aim was to explore patient factors that contribute to MEs and interventions. Method This retrospective study collected patient data from before and after pharmacist implementation in the PAC (July–September 2022 and February–April 2023, respectively). MEs and interventions were recorded based on the ward pharmacist's medication management plan, inpatient charts, and discharge reconciliations. The analysis employed several statistical techniques, including mixed‐effects linear regression to assess differences in the number of interventions between the two groups. Additionally, multivariable logistic regression (with robust standard errors) was used to identify possible predictors of MEs. Ethical approval was granted by the Northern Health Office of Research Development and Governance (Reference no: 47.2023) and the study conforms with the National Health and Medical Research Council's Ethical considerations in quality assistance and evaluation activities . Results Data included for analysis were collected from 277 and 171 patients before and after pharmacist review in PAC groups respectively. It was found that the PAC pharmacist review was a protective factor against MEs (odds ratio = 0.73, p = 0.14) and interventions ( β = −1.13, p = 0.016); however, only the interventions were statistically significant. Conclusion This study highlights the importance of the PAC pharmacist in reducing MEs and interventions. Understanding the root causes of MEs and optimising pharmacist workload prioritisation is crucial for enhancing perioperative medication management. This study emphasises the importance of integrating pharmacists into the perioperative setting to improve medication management and safety for patients.