National Survey of Drug Information Centers' Practice: Evidence-Based Medicine-Therapeutics Guidelines (EBM-TG) System at Ministry of Health Hospitals in Saudi Arabia

Objective: To explore the practice at the National Survey of Drug Information Centers in Saudi Arabia with an emphasis on Evidence-Based Medicine-Therapeutics Guidelines (EBM-TGs) System at Ministry of Health hospitals. Methods: This is a 4-month crosssectional national survey of the Drug Information Services at MOH. The survey contains 10 domains with a total of 181 questions designed by the authors. The questions were derived from the International Pharmaceutical Federation, American Society of Health- System Pharmacists best practice guidelines. The survey was distributed to 40 hospital pharmacies that run drug information services. In this study, the domain Medication- Use Evaluation System was explored and analyzed. It consisted of seven questions about the written policies and procedures and application methods for EBM-TG in the drug information centers. The data were analyzed through the Survey Monkey system. Results: The response rate was found to be around 88.88%. According to the results, written policies and procedures for EBM-TGs existed only in 18 (45%) hospitals and approximately 25–100% of the elements implementations. EBM-TG monitoring system is available live in only 17 (42.5%) hospitals applying approximately 25–100% of the elements. According to our results, in only 18 (45%) hospitals, the patients receive appropriate care due to EBM-TGs. There is evidence that the EBM-TG Indicators existed in only 19 (45.5%) hospitals applying approximately 25–100% of the elements. Process for improving EBM-TG system exists in 20 (50%) hospitals applying approximately 25–100% of the elements. Conclusion: There a poor application of EBM-TGs in the practice of drug information centers. Implementation of EBM-TG system improves patient outcomes which avoids unnecessary additional costs in the healthcare system.