Need for Prescription Suggestions for Long-term Inpatients in the Psychiatric Ward

Additional fees for ward pharmacists' services have been valued for hospitals in Japan. However, the calculation period for services provided to inpatients in the psychiatric ward is limited to 8 weeks. This study aimed to reveal the need for the services of pharmacists in the hospital ward for inpatients hospitalized for > 8 weeks in the psychiatric ward. Patients who were hospitalized in the psychiatric ward from September 2016 to February 2017 were analyzed retrospectively. The pharmacists suggested prescriptions for inpatients admitted for > 8 weeks, similar to those admitted for < 9 weeks, and this supported pharmacotherapy without exacerbating patient outcomes. Moreover, significant decreases in benzodiazepine doses were found between the prior and post prescription suggestions of the pharmacist for inpatients > 8 weeks of admission. Healthcare expenditures were also reduced. These results suggest that the prescriptions suggested by pharmacists for inpatients admitted for > 8 weeks in the psychiatric ward were useful. In conclusion, our findings show that ward pharmacists' services were necessary not only for the inpatients hospitalized for < 9 weeks, but also for those hospitalized for > 8 weeks.