Page 52 - InsideOut Magazine

“By providing patient care services, pharmacies can position themselves as a convenient and less costly setting for health promotion and disease prevention, and address a public health need. 2015 will be a year where pharmacies can set themselves apart as critical players in shaping healthcare delivery.”
- A.J. Caffentzis, President, Community and Specialty Pharmacy, AmerisourceBergen
Hard Lines Evaporate
to Benefit Patients
As the roles and responsibilities
of pharmacists evolved, the hard lines that once separated traditional pharmacy and clinical sectors began to evaporate.
Pharmacists now provide clinical services throughout large hospital systems, physician offices, ambula- tory/outpatient clinics and long term care (LTC) facilities. Hospital system pharmacists routinely make rounds with physicians to ensure patient drug regimens are appropriate and adhered to. Retail pharmacists pro- vide immunizations and screenings in between filling prescriptions in retail drugstores or pharmacies lo- cated in grocery stores. Community pharmacists collaborate with man- aged care organizations, healthcare systems and retail drugstore chains to provide transitional patient care.
Regardless of setting, services pro- vided by pharmacists have proven
to positively influence therapeutic outcomes and reduce healthcare costs. In 2011, a systematic review and meta-analysis of 289 research studies showed pharmacists’ involve- ment in direct patient care dra- matically improved patients’ health, resulting in:
85 percent increase in blood pressure control
85 percent increase in anticoagulation therapy management
82 percent increase in blood glucose control
60 percent reduction in hospital length of stay
Earlier research, published in 2004, revealed that pharmacists providing anticoagulation-medication manage- ment in hospitals saved lives and reduced hospital stays. At hospitals without pharmacist-provided hepa- rin management, death rates were 11 percent higher, length of stay was 10 percent higher, and Medicare charges were 7 percent higher. Simi-
6 lar results applied to warfarin.
As more data accrues from electronic health records, recognition of phar- macists’ impact on patient health and healthcare costs — across all classes of trade — continues to draw accolades from the medical commu- nity and positive nods from federal regulators.
Look for Evolving Roles in Healthcare, Part 2, in our next issue of InsideOut to learn how pharmacists positively affect provisions of the Affordable Care Act, and how increased recognition of their diligence toward optimal patient outcomes may finally change Title XVIII of the Social Security Act and allow pharmacists’ provider status.
1 Francke, Latiolais, Francke & Ho, Mirror To Hospital Pharmacy, American Society of Hospital Pharmacists, 1964, accessed January 2015 at ashp.org
2 William A. Zellmer, History of Hospital Pharmacy, Institutional Pharmacy Practice, accessed January 2015 at ashp.org
3 American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, ASHP Statement on Unit Dose Distribution Systems, Am J Hosp Pharm. 1989; 46:2346, accessed February 2015 at ashp.org 4 National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, NAPLEX & MPJE Programs, accessed January 2015 at nabp.net
5 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, Graduate Degrees Defined, accessed January 2015 at aacp.org
6 Hospitals & Health Networks, These Days, They’re Indispensible: Pharmacists Step Up, February 1, 2011, accessed February 2015 at hhnmag.com
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51 percent decrease in hospital readmission
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