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International Journal of Environmental... Jan 2020Nowadays, the classic perception of the pharmaceutical profession in community pharmacies is facing worldwide extinction due to many factors. Among the numerous factors,... (Review)
Review
Nowadays, the classic perception of the pharmaceutical profession in community pharmacies is facing worldwide extinction due to many factors. Among the numerous factors, online pharmacies are increasingly gaining ground thanks to their ability to facilitate customer demand. Nevertheless, they are endangering "face-to-face" contact, affecting the building of customer loyalty based on direct "human" interaction, and consequently reducing pharmacists to mere commercial figures. Patient-centered care communication is emphasized as the essential element to build a solid and appropriate interpersonal relationship with the patient, to make the consultancy process effective, and to strengthen the pharmacist's professionalism in community pharmacy. This paper presents a narrative review of existing literature with the first aim of pinpointing the factors affecting pharmacy professional practice, and secondly, of how to improve patient-centered communication skills. A more widespread introduction of in-depth study and practice of behavioral, communication, educational, and sociological methodologies and techniques would allow for the development of more effective skills used for providing an efficient consultancy service, improving the capacity of future professionals to approach public relations.
Topics: Community Pharmacy Services; Education, Pharmacy; Health Communication; Humans; Patient-Centered Care; Pharmacists; Professional Role; Professional-Patient Relations
PubMed: 31952127
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17020536 -
American Journal of Hospital Pharmacy Jul 1993The various legal theories under which pharmacists may be found liable are reviewed. The pivotal element in determining pharmacist malpractice is the study that was owed... (Review)
Review
The various legal theories under which pharmacists may be found liable are reviewed. The pivotal element in determining pharmacist malpractice is the study that was owed to the patient. A pharmacist's principal duties to the patient are to dispense the correct drug and to label it correctly; failure to fulfill either of these responsibilities had led to successful claims of malpractice. There have been only a few cases in which the court ruled that the pharmacist had a duty to warn the patient about a potential adverse drug effect or interaction. However, as the role of the pharmacist expands, more courts may begin to find pharmacists liable for failing to warn the patient under specific circumstances. Pharmacists have a heightened duty to warn the patient about potential problems associated with nonprescription drugs that they recommend. A pharmacist may escape liability if there was a lack of proximate cause. Similarly, the defenses of contributory or comparative negligence and voluntary assumption of risk are based on some conduct by the plaintiff that negates or modifies the pharmacist's negligence. Statutes of limitation can also exclude liability. Courts have not found pharmacists liable under strict liability theories. A breach of warranty claim has rarely been successful. Pharmacists could be found liable for negligent selection of therapeutic alternatives but probably not for injuries allegedly caused by correctly selected equivalent agents. Although no cases have been reported, pharmacists could be subjected to negligence-based liability for nondistributive pharmaceutical services. As pharmacists assume more responsibilities, pharmacist malpractice law will expand.
Topics: Duty to Warn; Humans; Institutional Practice; Liability, Legal; Malpractice; Pharmacists; United States
PubMed: 8362880
DOI: No ID Found -
The Journal of Dermatology Sep 2023Medication non-adherence is currently estimated to have caused at least 100 000 preventable deaths and over $100 billion in preventable medical costs. Adherence is... (Review)
Review
Medication non-adherence is currently estimated to have caused at least 100 000 preventable deaths and over $100 billion in preventable medical costs. Adherence is particularly poor in dermatological conditions, with more than 50% of patients discontinuing topical treatments within the first year. Pharmacists are among the most accessible health-care professionals with the potential to greatly impact medication non-adherence through patient education, medication therapy management, and improved access to care. This review aimed to determine how pharmacists have improved medication adherence in dermatology and discuss strategies for further involvement. An extensive medical literature search using the PubMed database was conducted to evaluate clinical studies, published in the last 20 years, that have evaluated the pharmacist's role and impact on adherence of to dermatological products. PubMed search terms include: "pharmacists' role in dermatologic medication adherence", "pharmacist-led interventions in dermatology", "pharmacist medication adherence dermatology" and "pharmacist intervention dermatology". A total of 18 relevant studies were identified. Pharmacists improved dermatological medication adherence by increasing access to medications, providing medication counseling programs, and performing treatment monitoring services. However, corticophobia may contribute to pharmacists' hesitancy in making corticosteroid over-the-counter recommendations. Pharmacists are accessible health-care providers with the potential to improve dermatological medication adherence. Future advanced training in dermatology medications may refine pharmacists' knowledge of dermatological products.
Topics: Humans; Pharmacists; Dermatology; Medication Adherence; Nonprescription Drugs
PubMed: 37489577
DOI: 10.1111/1346-8138.16895 -
Research in Social & Administrative... Jan 2021Since the start of the new Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in December 2019, pharmacists worldwide are playing a key role adopting innovative strategies to minimize the... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Since the start of the new Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in December 2019, pharmacists worldwide are playing a key role adopting innovative strategies to minimize the adverse impact of the pandemic.
OBJECTIVES
To identify and describe core services provided by the pharmacist during the COVID-19 pandemic.
METHODS
A literature search was performed in MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, and LILACS for studies published between December 1st, 2019 and May 20th, 2020 without language restriction. Studies that reported services provided by pharmacists during the COVID-19 pandemic were included. Two independent authors performed study selection and data extraction with a consensus process. The pharmacist's intervention identified in the included studies were described based on key domains in the DEPICT v.2.
RESULTS
A total of 1189 records were identified, of which 11 studies fully met the eligibility criteria. Most of them were conducted in the United States of America (n = 4) and China (n = 4). The most common type of publication were letters (n = 4) describing the workplace of the pharmacist in hospitals (n = 8). These findings showed the different roles of pharmacists during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as disease prevention and infection control, adequate storage and drug supply, patient care and support for healthcare professionals. Pharmacists' interventions were mostly conducted for healthcare professionals and patients (n = 7), through one-to-one contact (n = 11), telephone (n = 6) or video conference (n = 5). The pharmacists' main responsibility was to provide drug information for healthcare professionals (n = 7) as well as patient counseling (n = 8).
CONCLUSIONS
A reasonable number of studies that described the role of the pharmacists during the COVID-19 pandemic were found. All studies reported actions taken by pharmacists, although without providing a satisfactory description. Thus, future research with more detailed description as well as an evaluation of the impact of pharmacist intervention is needed in order to guide future actions in this and/or other pandemic.
Topics: COVID-19; Humans; Pharmaceutical Services; Pharmacists; Professional Role
PubMed: 33317760
DOI: 10.1016/j.sapharm.2020.07.003 -
American Journal of Health-system... May 2020
Topics: Drug Compounding; Drug Contamination; Humans; Pharmacists; Practice Guidelines as Topic
PubMed: 32246715
DOI: 10.1093/ajhp/zxaa055 -
The International Journal of Pharmacy... Apr 2017To describe pharmacist practice and roles performed in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) worldwide and to map these findings along the medicines management pathway... (Review)
Review
OBJECTIVES
To describe pharmacist practice and roles performed in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) worldwide and to map these findings along the medicines management pathway (MMP).
METHOD
Quasi-systematic review.
SEARCH STRATEGY
Google Scholar, Medline/PubMed and Embase were searched utilising the selected MeSH terms.
RESULTS
Thirty sources of information were reviewed. Overall, pharmacist practice in the NICU involves a wide-range of roles, with the most commonly reported involving patient medication chart review, therapeutic drug monitoring and the provision of medication information. Studies highlight that pharmacist contribution to total parenteral nutrition (TPN) regimens and patient medication chart review is beneficial to patient outcomes. Roles beyond the regular scope of practice included involvement in immunisation programmes and research. Most of the data were collected from the USA (13 of 30), followed by the UK (6 of 30) and reports from other countries. The American, British, South African and Australian articles have reported very similar roles, with a pharmacist firmly integrated into the overall structure of the NICU team.
CONCLUSION
The literature identifies that there is insufficient evidence to describe what roles are currently performed in NICUs worldwide. This is due to the lack of recently published articles leading to a large gap in knowledge in understanding what contemporary pharmaceutical services in the NICU comprise. Further research is required to address these gaps in knowledge, and identify the impact of the pharmacist's role on neonatal patient outcomes as well as to determine how to better resource NICUs to access pharmacy services.
Topics: Drug Monitoring; Humans; Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; Patient Outcome Assessment; Pharmaceutical Preparations; Pharmacists; Pharmacy Service, Hospital; Professional Role
PubMed: 27324459
DOI: 10.1111/ijpp.12284 -
Ciencia & Saude Coletiva 2019The objective is to analyze the insertion of the pharmacists work in primary health care in Brazil. The search was performed on BVS, SciELO, Lilacs e Medline databases... (Review)
Review
The objective is to analyze the insertion of the pharmacists work in primary health care in Brazil. The search was performed on BVS, SciELO, Lilacs e Medline databases from 1998 to 2016. From the 157 articles found, excluding the duplicates, theses, dissertations and reviews, after the complete reading the review included 9 articles dealing with the pharmacist's work describing experiences, attributions, potentialities, difficulties and challenges. Results show incipient production and predominance of qualitative studies starting in 2007. The insertion in the team is the central topic of the studies, pointing out the challenges and the difficulties related to the recognition and acceptance of the pharmacists interventions. The potentialities reside in the area of actions directed to the client, the families and the team, as well as in the professional training field as well as in the dissemination of the results of the pharmaceutical actions. The pharmacists' isolation in the primary care prevails, albeit there are perspectives of strengthening the integration in the team that has been stimulated by the recent institutional and regulatory transformations in the national scenario. Beyond the present difficulties and experiences reported, the researchers focus on the potentialities for the professional practice, glancing at the construction of the future.
Topics: Brazil; Humans; Patient Care Team; Pharmaceutical Services; Pharmacists; Primary Health Care; Professional Role
PubMed: 31577002
DOI: 10.1590/1413-812320182410.30772017 -
Annales Pharmaceutiques Francaises Mar 2022During the twentieth century, French colonial rule in West Africa was marked by the establishment of a homogeneous health organization in the colonies. It was based on... (Review)
Review
During the twentieth century, French colonial rule in West Africa was marked by the establishment of a homogeneous health organization in the colonies. It was based on the health service of the colonial troops, the hospital service under the general service and other services such as health police, epidemics and hygiene. This health system made it possible to protect the colonizers and indigenous populations from the major endemics of the time, to conduct research on new diseases hitherto unrecognized and to bring "civilization" to the overseas territories. The pharmacist's missions in the colonial health system were manifold. Our study aims to shed light on the profession of colonial pharmacist in the health history of French West Africa. To do this, it concerned the period between the creation of the Federation of French West Africa (1895) and the end of colonization (1960). Drawing on the available documentation, including archival material and bibliographic sources, this article shows that the colonial pharmacist was already exercising a multidisciplinary profession. He was in fact hospital manager, wholesaler-distributor, pharmacy, biologist, chemist, botanist, teacher, central actor in public health.
Topics: Africa, Western; History, 20th Century; Humans; Male; Pharmaceutical Services; Pharmacists; Pharmacy; Public Health
PubMed: 33992644
DOI: 10.1016/j.pharma.2021.05.003 -
American Journal of Health-system... Mar 2022
Topics: Domestic Violence; Humans; Pharmacists
PubMed: 34741596
DOI: 10.1093/ajhp/zxab427 -
Journal of the American Pharmacists... 2021There is a critical need in primary care to proactively prevent, identify, and resolve poor medication-related outcomes. However, more than 80% of primary care practices...
BACKGROUND
There is a critical need in primary care to proactively prevent, identify, and resolve poor medication-related outcomes. However, more than 80% of primary care practices do not have clinical pharmacists as members of expanded care teams. The emergence of eConsult services in primary care settings presents an opportunity for primary care providers (PCPs) to consult with clinical pharmacists as "on-demand" pharmacotherapy specialists.
OBJECTIVES
The objectives were to (1) determine the use of a clinical pharmacist in an existing eConsult network, (2) characterize the use and type of clinical pharmacist eConsults sent by PCPs, and (3) measure the implementation percentage of pharmacist recommendations by PCPs.
METHODS
The study was conducted in a federally qualified health center using an existing eConsult platform. A clinical pharmacist was contracted to receive eConsults and was expected to respond within 2 business days. PCPs were introduced to the pharmacist eConsult service through presentations that reviewed the clinical pharmacist's education/training, suitable pharmacist eConsult topics, and workflow for sending a pharmacist eConsult.
RESULTS
A total of 57 eConsults containing 123 individual questions were answered. Advanced practice nurses (APRNs) sent 3 times the number of eConsults and individual questions per eConsult compared with physicians (P < 0.0001). Most eConsult questions from APRNs related to adverse drug events/drug interactions (44%), drug or dosage changes to reach therapeutic goals (18%), and renal/hepatic dosage adjustments (13%). However, physician eConsult questions were primarily targeted on patient-specific drug or dosage adjustments (62%) and comprehensive medication regimen reviews (17%). A total of 74% of the pharmacist eConsult responses had at least 50% of the recommendations implemented by PCPs.
CONCLUSION
This study revealed the use of a pharmacist eConsult service for medication-related questions in an existing eConsult network for PCPs. As more practices enroll in value-based plans, pharmacist eConsults can improve the quality and safety of prescribing and chronic medication management.
Topics: Humans; Patient Care; Pharmacists; Primary Health Care; Referral and Consultation; Specialization
PubMed: 33678565
DOI: 10.1016/j.japh.2021.01.006