The Kaiser Permanente USC patient consultation study: Change in quality oflife

The impacts of two models of pharmacist consultation on patient function an d health-related quality of life (HRQOL) relative to a control model were s tudied. Patients in the random-assignment study and the areawide study of the Kaise r Permanente/USC Patient Consultation Study were surveyed three times over a two-year period. The patients were receiving pharmaceutical services unde r the Kaiser Permanente model of consultation (KP model), a state model of consultation, or a control model and were stratified according to prescript ion drug use. A global visual-analogue scale and Short Form-36 were used to assess HRQOL. In the areawide study, only 2 of 42 comparisons of the effects of the KP or state model on HRQOL were significant; both were associated with the state model and involved only small increases. In the random-assignment study, 3 of 21 estimated effects of the KP model on HRQOL were positive and signifi cant; 2 of these were significantly different between the KP model and the state model. Although the KP and state models of consultation were associated with some changes in HRQOL, the overall influence was not consistent and not clinical ly important.