Improvement in drug compliance by medical consultation at a Pharmacist Outpatients' Clinic (Part 2)

A "Pharmacist Outpatients' Clinic" was set up in April 1990 at the Maizuru Municipal Citizens' Hospital to provide medical consultations based on the physician's written requisition for consultation and the patient's case records, as part of a team-based treatment programme. This led to improved compliance which increased significantly from 72.7% to 85.5% (p<0.001). In October 1995, the clinic further established a system in which "Drug Guides" were provided to patients during consultations. This further improved compliance from 83.4% to 86.6%, although this was not statistically significant (p = 0.368). Later, a new service was offered in which "Drug leaflets" containing individualized information were handed to patients during consultations. This further improved compliance, increasing significantly from 84.8% to 94.9% (p<0.05). One year later, compliance had further increased to 95.6% and three years later this value was 95.2%. Our results suggest that a patient-oriented drug information service is an effective and highly important method of improving drug compliance.