Assessment of the Florida Pharmacist Self-Care Consultant Law Using Patient Profile and Prescription Audit Methods

Abstract

This article examines pharmacist and physician prescribing patterns during the first two years of the Florida Pharmacist Self-Care Consultant Law. Nineteen pharmacies were audited. The mandatory patient profiles were audited for a two-year period, and the prescription files were audited for a five-year period. For the nine pharmacies maintaining patient profiles, the prescribing activities of the pharmacists almost doubled from the first year to the second year. However, these prescriptions made up a very small portion of the total. Pharmacist prescribing appeared to be limited to three primary drug categories: Topical pediculicides (lindane shampoo), oral analgesics, and otic analgesics; these comprised 82 percent of all pharmacist-generated prescriptions.