A randomized controlled trial of a pharmacist consultation program for family physicians and their elderly patients.

BACKGROUND: Pharmacists can improve patient outcomes in institutional and pharmacy settings, but little is known about their effectiveness as consultants to primary care physicians. We examined whether an intervention by a specially trained pharmacist could reduce the number of daily medication units taken by elderly patients, as well as costs and health care use. METHODS: We conducted a randomized controlled trial in family practices in 24 …