A systematic review of the clinical and economic impact of drug information services on patient outcome.

Aim: To establish what is known about the clinical and economic impact of drug information (DI) services on patient outcome.
Method: A systematic review and critical appraisal of world literature on work conducted by Drug Information Centres and UK Schools of Pharmacy.
Results: Six relevant published articles were recovered--three from the UK; two from the US and one from Canada; just one was prospective in design. Four were single-centre and two were multi-centre studies. Four studies relied heavily on questionnaire surveys of the enquirer to establish an effect; only one monitored patient outcome independently and used peer review to assess impact.
Conclusion: The clinical and economic impact of drug information consultation and provision on patient care has not been investigated rigorously. A research methodology for such an investigation is suggested.