Economic Evaluation of Clinical Pharmacists’ Services Provided for Solid Organ Transplant Patients: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Objectives: This systematic review evaluated the economic impact of clinical transplant pharmacists’ intervention for solid organ transplant patients.

Methods: A PRISMA compliant search of the literature was conducted up to 31^th March 2024 using PubMed, Cochrane and Embase databases to identify the original articles published on economic outcomes of transplant pharmacists’ services. The quality of each included study was assessed using the CHEERS, ROBINS-I, and RoB 2 checklists.

Key findings: Nine studies were included, six of which performed cost-benefit analyses and three conducted cost-saving analyses. Findings indicated that clinical pharmacist interventions led to reduced health-care cost through mechanisms such as increased cost savings, cost avoidance, and reduction in hospital length of stay. The reported range of benefit to cost ratio is 2.39 to 4.16. Some studies also highlighted the important role of pharmacists in improving patient care and clinical outcomes. Most of the pharmacists’ interventions were detection and management of drug related problems and prevention of adverse drug events.

Conclusion: Findings indicates that clinical transplant pharmacist interventions in various settings, from inpatient wards to specialty clinics, pharmacies and mHealth platforms, contribute positively to economic outcomes and clinical care quality in solid organ transplant patients.