230px, A hospital pharmacist is checking a liquid solution.
Clinical pharmacy is the branch of
pharmacy
Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...
in which clinical pharmacists provide direct
patient
A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by healthcare professionals. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, nurse, optometrist, dentist, veterinarian, or other heal ...
care
Care may refer to:
Organizations and projects
* CARE (New Zealand), Citizens Association for Racial Equality, a former New Zealand organisation
* CARE (relief agency), "Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere", an international aid and ...
that optimizes the use of
medication
A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy ( pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field and ...
and promotes
health
Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organ ...
,
wellness, and
disease
A disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that a ...
prevention
Prevention may refer to:
Health and medicine
* Preventive healthcare, measures to prevent diseases or injuries rather than curing them or treating their symptoms
General safety
* Crime prevention, the attempt to reduce deter crime and crim ...
.
Clinical
pharmacist
A pharmacist, also known as a chemist (Commonwealth English) or a druggist (North American and, archaically, Commonwealth English), is a healthcare professional who prepares, controls and distributes medicines and provides advice and instructi ...
s care for patients in all health care settings but the clinical pharmacy movement initially began inside
hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emergen ...
s and clinics. Clinical pharmacists often work in collaboration with
physician
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
s, physician assistants,
nurse practitioner
A nurse practitioner (NP) is an advanced practice registered nurse and a type of mid-level practitioner. NPs are trained to assess patient needs, order and interpret diagnostic and laboratory tests, diagnose disease, formulate and prescribe ...
s, and other
healthcare professional
A health professional, healthcare professional, or healthcare worker (sometimes abbreviated HCW) is a provider of health care treatment and advice based on formal training and experience. The field includes those who work as a nurse, physician ( ...
s.
Clinical pharmacists can enter into a formal
collaborative practice agreement with another healthcare provider, generally one or more physicians, that allows pharmacists to prescribe medications and order laboratory tests.
Education and credentialing
Clinical pharmacists have extensive
education
Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...
in the biomedical,
pharmaceutical
A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy ( pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field and ...
, socio-behavioural and clinical sciences. Most clinical pharmacists have a
Doctor of Pharmacy
A Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD; New Latin: ''Pharmaciae Doctor'') is a professional doctorate in pharmacy. In some countries, it is a doctoral degree to practice the profession of pharmacy or to become a clinical pharmacist. In many countries t ...
(Pharm.D.)
degree and many have completed one or more years of
post-graduate training (for example, a general and/or specialty
pharmacy residency). In the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
, clinical pharmacists can choose to become Board-certified through the
Board of Pharmacy Specialties (BPS), which was organized in 1976 as an independent certification agency of the
American Pharmacists Association
The American Pharmacists Association (APhA, previously known as the American Pharmaceutical Association), founded in 1852, is the first-established professional society of pharmacists in the United States. The association consists of more th ...
. The BPS certifies pharmacists in the following specialties:
*Ambulatory care pharmacy (BCACP)
*Critical care pharmacy (BCCCP)
*Nuclear pharmacy (BCNP)
*Nutrition support pharmacy (BCNSP)
*Oncology pharmacy (BCOP)
*Pediatric pharmacy (BCPPS)
*Geriatric pharmacy (BCGP)
*Pharmacotherapy (BCPS)
*Infectious disease pharmacy (BCIDP)
*Compounded sterile preparations pharmacy (BCSCP)
*Cardiology pharmacy (BCCP)
*Transplant Pharmacist (BCTXP)
*
Psychiatric pharmacy (BCPP)
There are several types of clinical pharmacists in the United States. In California they are called advanced practice pharmacists (APh). In New Mexico, they are known as Pharmacist Clinicians (PhC) and lastly in Montana and North Carolina they are known as Clinical Pharmacist Practitioners (CPP). Clinical pharmacists in the Veteran Administration are known as Clinical Pharmacy Specialists (CPS).
Role in the health care system
Within the system of
health care
Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health pr ...
, clinical pharmacists are
expert
An expert is somebody who has a broad and deep understanding and competence in terms of knowledge, skill and experience through practice and education in a particular field. Informally, an expert is someone widely recognized as a reliable so ...
s in the therapeutic use of medications. They routinely provide medication
therapy
A therapy or medical treatment (often abbreviated tx, Tx, or Tx) is the attempted remediation of a health problem, usually following a medical diagnosis.
As a rule, each therapy has indications and contraindications. There are many differe ...
evaluations and recommendations to patients and other health care professionals. Clinical pharmacists are a primary source of scientifically valid
information
Information is an abstract concept that refers to that which has the power to inform. At the most fundamental level information pertains to the interpretation of that which may be sensed. Any natural process that is not completely random, ...
and advice regarding the safe, appropriate, and cost-effective use of medications. Clinical pharmacists are also making themselves more readily available to the public. In the past, access to a clinical pharmacist was limited to hospitals, clinics, or educational institutions. However, clinical pharmacists are making themselves available through a medication information hotline, and reviewing medication lists, all in an effort to prevent medication errors in the foreseeable future. In the United Kingdom, clinical pharmacists are routinely involved in the direct care of patients within hospitals, and increasingly, in doctors surgeries. They also develop
post registration professional education, professional curricula for workforce development, provide expertise on the use of medicines to national organizations such as
NICE
Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative ...
, the
Department of Health, and the
MHRA, and develop medicines guidelines for use in therapeutic areas.
Clinical pharmacists interact directly with patients in several different ways. They use their knowledge of medication (including dosage, drug interactions, side effects, expense, effectiveness, etc.) to determine if a medication plan is appropriate for their patient. If it is not, the pharmacist will consult the primary physician to ensure that the patient is on the proper medication plan. The pharmacist also works to educate their patients on the importance of taking and finishing their medications. Studies conducted into Pharmacist-led Chronic Disease Management show that it was associated with effects similar to usual care and might improve physiological goal attainment.
In some states in the USA, clinical pharmacists are given prescriptive authority under protocol with a medical provider, and their scope of practice is constantly evolving. In the United Kingdom clinical pharmacists are given independent prescriptive authority.
Basic components of clinical pharmacy practice include prescribing drugs,
administering drugs, monitoring prescriptions, managing drug use, and counselling patients.
See also
*
History of pharmacy
The history of pharmacy as an independent science dates back to the first third of the 19th century. Before then, pharmacy evolved from antiquity as part of medicine. The history of pharmacy coincides well with the history of medicine, but it's imp ...
*
Hospital pharmacy
A hospital pharmacy is a
department within a hospital that prepares, compounds, stocks and dispenses inpatient medications. Hospital pharmacies usually stock a larger range of medications, including more specialized and investigational medicatio ...
References
Citations
Sources
* https://www.pharmacyregulation.org/education/pharmacist-independent-prescriber
External links
Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy American College of Clinical Pharmacy Board of Pharmacy SpecialtiesJournal of Clinical Pharmacy and TherapeuticsUnited Kingdom Clinical Pharmacy AssociationClinical Pharmacy Education, Practice and Research
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Pharmacy
