Patient satisfaction with inpatient pharmacy services at tertiary care setting—a meta-analysis of recent literature

Objectives

This study aimed to determine patient satisfaction with the following pharmacist-led services for inpatients in tertiary care hospitals.

Methods

Studies were identified from different databases from 2012 to 2020. A total of 1910 articles were identified using the search strategies out of which 1153 were rejected based on the review of titles and abstracts. The search criteria were the roles of inpatient pharmacists and patient satisfaction with inpatient pharmacy services. Multiple keywords were used such as ‘patient satisfaction’/‘inpatient pharmacist’/‘pharmacist hospital services’/‘clinical pharmacist roles’. The quality of each study was measured using the mixed methods appraisal tool, and the same was used to evaluate the risk of bias as well.

Key findings

A total of 11 cross-sectional studies were included in the evidence synthesis of this meta-analysis. Three studies tested the satisfaction of patients with inpatient counselling with a sample size of n = 742. The odd ratio (OR) was 215.33 (141.77 to 327.05) [95% confidence interval (CI)] showed a significant patient satisfaction (P = 0.00001) with the pharmacist’s inpatient counselling (I2 = 0%). Studies showed a statistically significant satisfaction of patients with discharge counselling P < 0.00001 and OR 55.74 (35.93 to 86.49) and heterogeneity I2 = 0%. In a total of five studies, the healthcare professional (HCP) satisfaction with pharmacist services was reported, and satisfied and unsatisfied HCPs were n = 801 and n = 362, respectively. Results showed high satisfaction (P < 0.00001) and OR 4.62 (95% CI, 3.89 to 5.48).

Conclusion

This meta-analysis concluded that clinical pharmacist services in an inpatient setting have a significant impact on increasing patient satisfaction with their treatment. The clinical pharmacist services are not very well implemented and are limited in some hospitals, but patients who have received these services were highly satisfied and expected to receive them more often.