Research Article Assessing the Potential of E-mail for Communicating Drug Therapy Recommendations to Physicians in Patients With Heart Failure and Ventricular-Assist Devices

Purpose: This project explores electronic mail (e-mail) as a potential medium for pharmacists to communicate pharmacotherapy interventions to prescribers. Methods: This retrospective descriptive analysis was conducted at an urban, academic teaching hospital. The pharmacist attempted a drug therapy intervention via e-mail when unable to make face-to-face contact with the attending physician. Eligible patients for this project were admitted to the advanced heart failure (HF) team between December 1, 2010, and July 31, 2011, and had at least 1 attempted e-mail intervention. The primary outcome was the number of accepted interventions, while the secondary end point was the time until a physician e-mail response. Results: A total of 51 e-mail interven