See related Viewpoint on page 156. A total of nine different DDI software programs were installed in 516 community pharmacies represented by these chains and HMOs. The software systems failed to detect clinically relevant DDIs one-third of the time. For software packages that were installed at different locations, between-installation differences were observed. The performance of most DDI-detecting software programs tested in this study was suboptimal.
Improvement is needed to advance their contribution to detection of DDIs.
Accepted for publication January 19, 2001. Thomas K. Hazlet, PharmD, DrPH, School of Pharmacy, University of Washington, Box 357630, Seattle, WA 98195-7630. See related Viewpoints on pages 159 and 161. Data were abstracted onto a data collection form for further analysis. Data collection was limited to 3 weeks.