Abstract
Clinical pharmacists are health care practitioners who have advanced education and training in comprehensive medication management. Clinical pharmacists participate in the management of specific medications or individual disease states and collaborate with other health care team. Despite the clinical pharmacist participate in healthcare team, there are several cases of challenge in the interprofessional relationship with other healthcare team especially related drug management.
The role of clinical pharmacists could be improved by increasing interprofessional communication between doctors and clinical pharmacist in the healthcare system. Previous studies reported that physicians were comfortable with pharmacists detecting and preventing prescription errors, but were uncomfortable with them recommending drug therapy to patients. Acceptance of pharmacists’ suggestions by prescribers is a necessary component of the evaluation of clinical pharmacy services.
Keyword: Medication safety, patient safety, pharmacy
Clinical pharmacists are licensed professionals with advanced education and training who work in all variety of patient care settings with a focus on comprehensive medication management . Clinical pharmacists focused on achieving optimal use of medications, emphasizing dosing, monitoring, identification of adverse effects, and economic efficiency to achieve the best possible patient outcomes. Globally, clinical pharmacists are becoming more and more recognized as vital members of the acute care and ambulatory patient care teams .
Clinical pharmacists participate in the management of specific medications or individual disease states and collaborate with the other health care team. As the example, patients benefit from team-based care through improved control of blood pressure, and a higher proportion of patients achieved controlled blood pressure when a pharmacist was part of the team .
Healthcare teams can have different members, but the person best suited for the job is usually given the most authority and responsibility for that particular aspect of care. The culture of trust, shared objectives, role and responsibility, good communication, and respect for one another are essential to the effectiveness of a healthcare team. Team activities should be guided by the patient’s best interests .
Even though clinical pharmacists are members of healthcare teams, there are still a number of obstacles in their interprofessional relationships, particularly when it comes to medication management. Increasing interprofessional communication between physicians and clinical pharmacists within the healthcare system could enhance the role of clinical pharmacists. Professional pharmacists are trained to analyse and judge the accuracy of medication information. As a result, the clinical pharmacist can be a very helpful source of information about the safety and effectiveness of drugs. The physicians concurred strongly that the clinical pharmacist was a trustworthy source of information about medications. Clinical pharmacists were frequently asked by physicians to provide information on medication alternatives, interactions, availability, and side effects .
The majority of hospital doctors were familiar with the clinical pharmacist, but they were unaware of the existence of clinical pharmacy services in their hospital. Hospital doctors were satisfied that clinical pharmacists were capable of providing clinical pharmacy services to evaluate and assess a patient’s drug therapy and monitor the pharmacotherapeutic needs of the patient in order to ensure the appropriate and safe use of drugs. However, they indicated that clinical pharmacy is not practised in a uniform manner in many hospitals .
Most doctors were unwilling to accept a clinical pharmacist’s decision to change a prescription, but a small minority of doctors could accept pharmacist recommendations and strongly agreed with the clinical pharmacist’s modification of a prescription. However, a different study indicated that although most doctors support clinical pharmacists’ patient counselling, they are against pharmacists writing prescriptions. According to earlier research, doctors felt at ease when pharmacists identified and avoided prescription errors, but not so much when they suggested medication therapy to patients. Prescribers’ acceptance of pharmacist recommendations is a crucial element in assessing clinical pharmacy services .
Prescribers’ reluctance to accept recommendations from clinical pharmacists can be attributed to a number of factors, such as a lack of knowledge about pharmacokinetic parameters on the part of the physician, a negative attitude toward clinical pharmacy, and the quality of the suggestions. As a result, clinical pharmacists and physicians must collaborate to determine which medication is best for each patient’s needs. Unfortunately, there are many barriers that prevent clinical pharmacists from making a positive impact on healthcare. These include doctors’ low acceptance of clinical pharmacists’ clinical roles, a lack of communication between doctors and pharmacists, patients’ lack of trust in clinical pharmacists’ ability to provide patient care, concerns about patient privacy and confidentiality, and a lack of support from hospital administration for collaboration between doctors and clinical pharmacists .