Clinical pharmacy
Encyclopedia
Clinical pharmacy is the branch of Pharmacy
where pharmacist
s provide patient
care
that optimizes the use of medication
and promotes health
, wellness
, and disease
prevention
. Clinical pharmacists care for patients in all health care settings but the clinical pharmacy movement initially began inside hospital
s and clinics. Clinical pharmacists often collaborate with physician
s and other healthcare professionals.
Clinical pharmacists have extensive education
in the biomedical, pharmaceutical, sociobehavioral and clinical sciences. Most clinical pharmacists have a Doctor of Pharmacy
(Pharm.D.) degree
and many have completed one or more years of post-graduate training (e.g. a general and/or specialty pharmacy residency). Many clinical pharmacists also choose to become Board Certified through the Board of Pharmacy Specialties (BPS) which was organized in 1976 as an independent certification agency of APhA (American Pharmacists Association). A pharmacist may become a Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist (BCPS), a Board Certified Oncology Pharmacist (BCOP), Board Certified Nuclear Pharmacist (BCNP), Board Certified Nutrition Support Pharmacist (BCNSP), a Board Certified Psychiatric Pharmacist (BCPP), or a Board Certified Ambulatory Care Pharmacist (BCACP) through the Board of Pharmacy Specialties (BPS). There are also subspecialties within the Pharmacotherapy specialty: Cardiology and Infectious Disease. It is denoted as an "Added Qualification" or AQ. In order to obtain one of these specialties you must first be a Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist (BCPS) and then submit a portfolio to the Board of Pharmacy Specialties for review to determine if they will grant you the added qualifications. An up-to-date explanation of pharmacy education leading to the Doctor of Pharmacy degree and Specialty Board Certification can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvPb5peBnAY.
Within the system of health care
, clinical pharmacists are experts in the therapeutic use of medications. They routinely provide medication therapy
evaluations and recommendation
s to patients and other health care professionals. Clinical pharmacists are a primary source of scientifically valid information
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 some states, clinical pharmacists are given prescriptive authority under protocol with a medical provider (i.e., MD or DO), 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
Scope of clinical pharmacy:
A video explaining the scope of health-system pharmacy practice and clinical pharmacy can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SANWMoTXY-k&NR=1.
Pharmacy
Pharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs...
where pharmacist
Pharmacist
Pharmacists are allied health professionals who practice in pharmacy, the field of health sciences focusing on safe and effective medication use...
s provide patient
Patient
A patient is any recipient of healthcare services. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, advanced practice registered nurse, veterinarian, or other health care provider....
care
Health care
Health care is the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in humans. Health care is delivered by practitioners in medicine, chiropractic, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, allied health, and other care providers...
that optimizes the use of medication
Drug
A drug, broadly speaking, is any substance that, when absorbed into the body of a living organism, alters normal bodily function. There is no single, precise definition, as there are different meanings in drug control law, government regulations, medicine, and colloquial usage.In pharmacology, a...
and promotes health
Health
Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...
, wellness
Wellness (alternative medicine)
Wellness is generally used to mean a healthy balance of the mind, body and spirit that results in an overall feeling of well-being. It has been used in the context of alternative medicine since Halbert L. Dunn, M.D., began using the phrase high level wellness in the 1950s...
, and disease
Disease
A disease is an abnormal condition affecting the body of an organism. It is often construed to be a medical condition associated with specific symptoms and signs. It may be caused by external factors, such as infectious disease, or it may be caused by internal dysfunctions, such as autoimmune...
prevention
Preventive medicine
Preventive medicine or preventive care refers to measures taken to prevent diseases, rather than curing them or treating their symptoms...
. Clinical pharmacists care for patients in all health care settings but the clinical pharmacy movement initially began inside hospital
Hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
s and clinics. Clinical pharmacists often collaborate with physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
s and other healthcare professionals.
Clinical pharmacists have extensive education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
in the biomedical, pharmaceutical, sociobehavioral and clinical sciences. Most clinical pharmacists have a Doctor of Pharmacy
Doctor of Pharmacy
A Doctor of Pharmacy is a professional doctorate degree in pharmacy. In some countries, it is a first professional degree, and a prerequisite for licensing to exercise the profession of pharmacist.-Kenya :...
(Pharm.D.) degree
Academic degree
An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...
and many have completed one or more years of post-graduate training (e.g. a general and/or specialty pharmacy residency). Many clinical pharmacists also choose to become Board Certified through the Board of Pharmacy Specialties (BPS) which was organized in 1976 as an independent certification agency of APhA (American Pharmacists Association). A pharmacist may become a Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist (BCPS), a Board Certified Oncology Pharmacist (BCOP), Board Certified Nuclear Pharmacist (BCNP), Board Certified Nutrition Support Pharmacist (BCNSP), a Board Certified Psychiatric Pharmacist (BCPP), or a Board Certified Ambulatory Care Pharmacist (BCACP) through the Board of Pharmacy Specialties (BPS). There are also subspecialties within the Pharmacotherapy specialty: Cardiology and Infectious Disease. It is denoted as an "Added Qualification" or AQ. In order to obtain one of these specialties you must first be a Board Certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist (BCPS) and then submit a portfolio to the Board of Pharmacy Specialties for review to determine if they will grant you the added qualifications. An up-to-date explanation of pharmacy education leading to the Doctor of Pharmacy degree and Specialty Board Certification can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvPb5peBnAY.
Within the system of health care
Health care
Health care is the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in humans. Health care is delivered by practitioners in medicine, chiropractic, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, allied health, and other care providers...
, clinical pharmacists are experts in the therapeutic use of medications. They routinely provide medication therapy
Therapy
This is a list of types of therapy .* Adventure therapy* Animal-assisted therapy* Aquatic therapy* Aromatherapy* Art and dementia* Art therapy* Authentic Movement* Behavioral therapy* Bibliotherapy* Buteyko Method* Chemotherapy...
evaluations and recommendation
Recommendation
A recommendation can be:* In technical contexts, a norm or a norm * Recommender systems use Information filtering systems to create computer generated recommendations* European Union recommendation, in international law...
s to patients and other health care professionals. Clinical pharmacists are a primary source of scientifically valid information
Information
Information in its most restricted technical sense is a message or collection of messages that consists of an ordered sequence of symbols, or it is the meaning that can be interpreted from such a message or collection of messages. Information can be recorded or transmitted. It can be recorded as...
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 some states, clinical pharmacists are given prescriptive authority under protocol with a medical provider (i.e., MD or DO), 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
- Prescribing drugs
- Administering drugs
- Documenting professional services
- Reviewing drug use
- Communication
- Counseling
- Consulting
- Preventing Medication Errors
Scope of clinical pharmacy:
- Drug Information
- Drug Utilization
- Drug Evaluation and Selection
- Medication Therapy Management
- Formal Education and Training Programs
- Disease State Management
- Application of Electronic Data Processing (EDP)
A video explaining the scope of health-system pharmacy practice and clinical pharmacy can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SANWMoTXY-k&NR=1.
See also
- History of pharmacyHistory of pharmacyThe history of pharmacy as an independent science is relatively young. The origins of historiography pharmaceutical back to the first third of the nineteenth century which is when the first historiographies that while not touching all aspects of pharmaceutical history is the starting point for the...
- Professional Further Education in Clinical Pharmacy and Public HealthProfessional Further Education in Clinical Pharmacy and Public HealthProfessional Further Education in Clinical Pharmacy and Public Health is a Danish professional postgraduate higher further education for Danish pharmaconomists ....
External links
- Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy
- American College of Clinical Pharmacy
- Board of Pharmacy Specialties
- Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics
- Services a Clinical Pharmacist can Provide
- The Clinician's Ultimate Reference
- The British Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
- Clinical Pharmacist Medication Information Hotline