Trained student pharmacists' telephonic collection of patient medication information: Evaluation of a structured interview tool.

objectiveTo determine the feasibility and fidelity of student pharmacists collecting patient medication list information using a structured interview tool and the accuracy of documenting the information. The medication lists were used by a community pharmacist to provide a targeted medication therapy management (MTM) intervention.

designDescriptive analysis of patient medication lists collected with telephone interviews.

participantsTen trained student pharmacists collected the medication lists.

interventionTrained student pharmacists conducted audio-recorded telephone interviews with 80 English-speaking, community-dwelling older adults using a structured interview tool to collect and document medication lists.

main outcome measuresFeasibility was measured using the number of completed interviews, the time student pharmacists took to collect the information, and pharmacist feedback. Fidelity to the interview tool was measured by assessing student pharmacists' adherence to asking all scripted questions and probes. Accuracy was measured by comparing the audio-recorded interviews to the medication list information documented in an electronic medical record.

resultsOn average, it took student pharmacists 26.7 minutes to collect the medication lists. The community pharmacist said the medication lists were complete and that having the medication lists saved time and allowed him to focus on assessment, recommendations, and education during the targeted MTM session. Fidelity was high, with an overall proportion of asked scripted probes of 83.75% (95% confidence interval [CI], 80.62-86.88%). Accuracy was also high for both prescription (95.1%; 95% CI, 94.3-95.8%) and nonprescription (90.5%; 95% CI, 89.4-91.4%) medications.

conclusionTrained student pharmacists were able to use an interview tool to collect and document medication lists with a high degree of fidelity and accuracy. This study suggests that student pharmacists or trained technicians may be able to collect patient medication lists to facilitate MTM sessions in the community pharmacy setting. Evaluating the sustainability of using student pharmacists or trained technicians to collect medication lists is needed.