Farmácia Cuidar+ Program: Evaluation of the implementation of clinical services

Abstract

The aim is to implementation evaluated of pharmacist's clinical services in the Farmácia de Medicamentos Especiais (FME) of the state of Rio Grande do Sul (RS) under the Farmácia Cuidar+ program, implemented in 2021. A matrix consisting of 22 indicators distributed across 8 dimensions, with a score ranging from zero to 100, was applied during the initial phase (2022) and the intermediate phase (2023) in all 446 municipalities that joined the program. The average score of the municipalities in the initial phase (n=351) and intermediate phase (n=386) was 16.4 and 35.4 (p=0,000), respectively. There was a significant increase in the following dimensions: treatment adherence, pharmacist's clinical services, consulting rooms, safety, and health education. Smaller municipalities (fewer than 500 monthly consultations) achieved higher scores than larger municipalities. The implementation of the Farmácia Cuidar+ program showed significant results in the overall scores of the proposed indicators to evaluated pharmacist’s clinical services. This outcome highlights progress regarding the clinical services as well as certain weaknesses that must be thoroughly discussed and improved for the effective implementation of Pharmaceutical Services policy.