Drug therapies are an increasingly important part of medical care, heightening the risk for prescribing errors and other drug-related problems. Keeping up with the growing array of prescription medications is a major challenge for physicians. Fortunately, there are specialists who focus solely on drugs and their role in healthcare. They're called pharmacists.
Today's pharmacists are trained to do much more than just dispense medications; in fact, one quarter of them work in hospital settings, focusing on complex clinical issues and participating in patient care. Numerous studies have found that pharmacists can improve patient safety and outcomes by helping avoid adverse events and by recommending optimal therapies and dosages.[1,2]
Unfortunately, the expertise of these drug specialists continues to be underused. A recent article highlighted the problem when a panel of doctors discussing resources on prescription drugs failed to even mention pharmacists.[3] In the online discussion that followed the article, pharmacists scolded the medical profession for this “atrocious” oversight.
The pharmacy profession has been trying to promote interdisciplinary collaborations, but convincing others outside the profession has been challenging.[4] Medscape is one of those rare places where pharmacists are welcome to learn alongside physicians and other healthcare professionals. More than half of all US pharmacists are registered members of Medscape. They complete many of the same continuing education programs as physicians, and they share interest in many of the same topics, from pain management to clinical treatment guidelines.
These different healthcare professions have much to offer each other. In order to capitalize on their respective knowledge bases and skills, pharmacists need to make themselves more available to physicians, and physicians need to recognize and utilize the expertise of pharmacists. Health systems should find ways to facilitate such collaborations. The more that happens, the more everyone will benefit, especially the patient.
That's my opinion. I'm Christine Wiebe, Associate Editor of Medscape Pharmacists.
Footnotes
Readers are encouraged to respond to the author at cwiebe@medscape.net or to Paul Blumenthal, MD, Deputy Editor of MedGenMed, for the editor's eyes only or for possible publication via email: pblumen@stanford.edu
References
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