Understanding Medicines Information Questions
- A medicines information (MI) question is any query requiring interpretation, synthesis, or application of drug-related knowledge to support safe and effective prescribing or patient care
- MI questions range from simple factual queries (e.g., “What is the dose?”) to complex clinical scenarios requiring critical appraisal
- The pharmacist’s role is to provide accurate, timely, and contextualised information—not just raw data
The WWWW Framework for Clarification
Before answering any MI question, systematically clarify:
| Element | Key Questions to Ask |
|---|---|
| Who | Who is asking? (prescriber, nurse, patient, carer) Who is the patient? (age, weight, comorbidities) |
| What | What exactly is being asked? What is the clinical context? |
| When | How urgent is the response needed? When did the issue arise? |
| Why | Why is this question being asked now? What is the underlying concern? |
- Failure to clarify leads to incomplete or inappropriate answers
- The stated question is often not the real question—probe for the underlying clinical concern
Triage: Urgency, Risk, and Scope
Urgency categories:
- Immediate (patient safety at imminent risk)
- Same day (clinical decision pending)
- Routine (background information, audit, policy)
Risk assessment considerations:
- Could delay cause patient harm?
- Is the medicine high-risk (e.g., anticoagulants, insulin, opioids)?
- Is there a vulnerable patient group involved?
Scope determination:
- Can this be answered with a quick reference check?
- Does it require literature searching and critical appraisal?
- Should it be escalated to a specialist pharmacist or referred elsewhere?
References
- UK Medicines Information, “Guide to Providing a Good Medicines Information Enquiry Answering Service”
- NHS Specialist Pharmacy Service, “Medicines Information Competency Framework”
- Royal Pharmaceutical Society, “Professional Standards for Hospital Pharmacy Services”