An economic analysis of a randomized, controlled, multicenter study of clinical pharmacist interventions for high-risk veterans: The IMPROVE study

Study Objective. To determine if clinical pharmacists could affect economic resource use and humanistic outcomes in an ambulatory high-risk population . Design. Prospective, randomized, controlled study. Setting. Nine Veterans Affairs medical centers. Patients. Patients who were at high risk for medication-related problems. Intervention. Patients were randomized to usual medical care with input fro m a clinical pharmacist (intervention group) or just usual medical care (co ntrol group). Measurements and Main Results. Of 1054 patients enrolled, 523 were randomiz ed to the intervention group and 531 to the control group. The number of cl inic visits increased in the intervention group (p=0.003), but there was no difference in clinic costs. Mean increases in total health care costs were $1020 for the intervention group and $1313 for the control group (p=0.06). Conclusion. including the cost of pharmacist interventions, overall health care expenditures were similar for patients randomized to see a clinical ph armacist versus usual medical care.