Evaluation of hospital pharmacy services: an integrative review

Abstract

Background: Pharmaceutical services performed in the hospital context have specific structure and processes, which should be continuously evaluated because they influence the results obtained. Objective: To identify, describe and compare studies of evaluation of pharmaceutical services performed in the hospital context. Methods: Integrative review of articles found in databases SciELO, LILACS, MEDLINE and IBECS, indexed in the period from 2000 to 2016, using the following descriptors: “Hospital Pharmacy Service” and “Evaluation“. The references were analyzed according to year, language, country of publication and type of study and classified according to their focus on the components of the hospital pharmacy service logic model that dealt with the management, selection, programming, acquisition, storage and distribution of medicines, information, pharmacotherapeutic, pharmacotechnical and teaching and research follow-up. Results: Of the 25 publications, 16 (64%) were in the English language, of which 10 (40%) were in the United States; 17 (70%) studies were published from 2010 to 2016 and 13 (52%) were observational descriptive type. The most discussed component of pharmaceutical services was distribution logistics addressed in 15 publications (60%), followed by the management component addressed by 14 (56%) studies. Conclusions: The publications emphasized the discussion on drug logistics. Only a few presented discussions on the impact of these services on health care, such as patient safety. Such studies can support the decision-making process and the formulation of strategies aimed at increasing the management capacity and the quality of the service provided.