Pharmaceutical care is the direct, responsible provision
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 ...
-related care for the purpose of achieving definite outcomes that improve a patient’s quality of life.
Definition
Hepler and Linda Strand's definition is the most well-known definition for pharmaceutical care, coming from their article ‘''Opportunities and responsibilities in pharmaceutical care''’ from 1990. This was a landmark paper because it marked the start of the international movement to make pharmaceutical care more visible, and get the term and the type of care implemented in hospital and community pharmacy practice. During the following years both authors worked to make the concept applicable in practice
Another definition reads: Pharmaceutical care is the direct or indirect responsible provision of
drug therapy for the purpose of achieving the elimination or reduction of a patient's
symptoms
Signs and symptoms are the observed or detectable signs, and experienced symptoms of an illness, injury, or condition. A sign for example may be a higher or lower temperature than normal, raised or lowered blood pressure or an abnormality showi ...
; arresting or slowing of a disease process; or preventing a disease.
In 2013, a European organization, the Pharmaceutical Care Network Europe (PCNE), created a new definition that could satisfy experts from a multitude of countries. After a review of existing definitions, a number of options were presented to the participants and in a one-day meeting consensus on a definition was reached: Pharmaceutical Care is the pharmacologist/pharmacist's contribution to the care of individuals in order to optimize medicines use and improve health outcomes
.
Goal
The ultimate goal of pharmaceutical care (optimize medicines use and improving health outcomes) exists in all practice settings and in all cultures where medicines are used. It involves two major functions: identifying potential and manifest problems in the pharmacotherapy (DRPs), and then resolving the problems and preventing the potential problems from becoming real for the patient and his therapy outcomes. This should preferably be done together with other health care professionals and the patient through a review of the medication (and diseases) and subsequent counselling and discussions.{{citation needed, date=November 2020
See also
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ATC codes Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical Classification System
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Classification of Pharmaco-Therapeutic Referrals
The ''Classification of Pharmaco-Therapeutic Referrals'' (''CPR'') is a taxonomy focused on defining and grouping together situations requiring a referral from pharmacists to physicians (and vice versa) regarding the pharmacotherapy used by the ...
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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 ...
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ICD-10
ICD-10 is the 10th revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD), a medical classification list by the World Health Organization (WHO). It contains codes for diseases, signs and symptoms ...
International Classification of Diseases
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ICPC-2 PLUS ICPC-2 PLUS is an extended terminology classified to ICPC-2 International Classification of Primary Care, which aids data entry, retrieval and analysis. ICPC-2 PLUS takes into account the frequency distribution of problems seen in primary health car ...
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International Classification of Primary Care
The International Classification of Primary Care (ICPC) is a classification method for primary care encounters. It allows for the classification of the patient’s reason for encounter (RFE), the problems/diagnosis managed, primary or general hea ...
ICPC-2
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Pharmacists
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 ...
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Pharmacotherapy
Pharmacotherapy is therapy using pharmaceutical drugs, as distinguished from therapy using surgery (surgical therapy), radiation (radiation therapy), movement (physical therapy), or other modes. Among physicians, sometimes the term ''medical ther ...
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Referral (medicine) In medicine, referral is the transfer of care for a patient from one clinician or clinic to another by request.
Tertiary care is usually done by referral from primary or secondary medical care personnel.
In the field of sexually transmitted dise ...
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Drug Therapy Problems
References
Bibliography
* Robert J. Cipolle, Linda M. Strand, Peter C. Morley. Pharmaceutical Care Practice: The Patient-Centered Approach to Medication Management Services. McGraw-Hill 2012.
Álvarez de Toledo F, et al. Atención farmacéutica en personas que han sufrido episodios coronarios agudos (Estudio TOMCOR). Rev Esp Salud Pública. 2001; 75:375-88.Pastor Sánchez R, Alberola Gómez-Escolar C, Álvarez de Toledo Saavedra F, Fernández de Cano Martín N, Solá Uthurry N. Classification of Pharmaco-Terapeutic Referrals (CPR). MEDAFAR. Madrid: IMC; 2008.Álvarez de Toledo Saavedra F, Fernández de Cano Martín N, coordinadores. MEDAFAR Asma. Madrid: IMC; 2007.Álvarez de Toledo Saavedra F, Fernández de Cano Martín N, coordinadores. MEDAFAR Hipertensión. Madrid: IMC; 2007.
External links
Fundación Pharmaceutical Care EspañaPharmaceutical Care - Facebook Page
Pharmacy