A healthcare team typically comprises different medical experts who possess general medical knowledge and the specialized knowledge needed for specific challenges. However, certain medical experts can be found in just about any medical team in any medical setting. A pharmacist is one of them.
When we think of pharmacies and pharmacists, a drug store where someone hands out medication from behind a counter and responds to queries often comes to mind. However, a pharmacy plays a much bigger role in healthcare delivery.
Pharmacies and pharmacists often work in the background with medical teams, coordinating the safe and effective use of drugs. They are responsible for identifying effective medications for patients, determining proper dosage, monitoring drug administration, and ensuring that desired treatment outcomes are accomplished.
If you have been thinking of a pharmacy as just a place to grab some drugs, this post explores why they can be incredibly instrumental to healthcare delivery. It also looks into the important roles that pharmacies play in healthcare and examines some of the professionals responsible for keeping a pharmacy going.
How pharmacies contribute to healthcare delivery
Pharmacies are a major component of healthcare systems across all levels, from primary care to secondary care, alternative care, etc. They contribute a lot to healthcare delivery, from clinical services to drug research, information on drugs, drug quality checks, and ensuring safe, effective drug administration.
Here’s how they help improve patient outcomes:
- A first port of call for minor ailments
Pharmacies facilitate access to primary healthcare by treating a wide range of minor ailments. People often go to a pharmacist first to complain about their symptoms before considering seeing a doctor.
In many states, pharmacists are licensed to assess patients and issue prescriptions without the input of a physician. As such, they ease the pressure on primary healthcare facilities.
- Managing prescriptions
Pharmacies are responsible for processing prescriptions, ensuring they are legal, safe, and appropriate. This often entails collaborating with healthcare facilities and other relevant institutions and checking a patient’s medical records to ensure that the prescription meets their needs safely and efficiently.
Also, pharmacies offer information and support to promote the likelihood of positive patient outcomes.
- Managing chronic illnesses
Pharmacies contribute quite a lot to the management of chronic conditions, from providing medical supplies to patients to serving as a first point of care delivery in emergencies. They also work closely with patients and other healthcare team members to ensure compliance with treatment requirements.
- In-patient and out-patient care
Pharmacies assist healthcare facilities in taking in patients and placing them on a path to recovery. And after they are discharged, a pharmacy can continue to serve the patient in various capacities, from facilitating complete recovery to helping prevent recurrence or health complications and promoting general health and wellness.
- Facilitating personalized medicine
Personalized medicine is one of the most powerful medical trends to emerge in recent times. As the name implies, it entails formulating medicines for the exact needs of an individual patient.
Pharmacies are at the forefront of this initiative.
- Supporting domiciliary care
Pharmacies deliver medical supplies to adult care homes and patients receiving care from home. They also offer information and support to supplement the efforts of others in a domiciliary care team.
- A reliable source for drug information
Pharmacies are the go-to source for authentic information about drugs in any community. They’re a reliable place for anyone who needs information about anything on drugs, from old drugs to new or even controversial ones.
- Public health advocacy
Pharmacists are ethically obliged to offer medically sound advice to everyone in a community. They advise people on a wide range of wellness and lifestyle issues and provide easy access to educational materials.
Roles that contribute to smooth service delivery in pharmacies
Some pharmacies are a one-person show run by the owner, who is most likely a pharmacist. But in most cases, pharmacies are managed by many different professionals who cater to various aspects of the organization.
The most common roles include:
- Pharmacist
Pharmacies are responsible for the proper dispensation and effective administration of drugs. Well-trained pharmacists are products of a 3 to 4-year pharmacy program and extensive field experience.
Getting a PharmD online from the University of Findlay is a good place to start for those looking for a flexible but well-rounded path to a successful career in pharmacy. The program uses a combination of online coursework, on-campus immersion, and experiential learning to set students up for licensure and successful practice. It offers a rigorous curriculum covering everything from physical pharmacy to biopharmaceutical concepts, clinical assessment, therapeutic management, and soft skills.
- Pharmacy clerk/pharmacy dispenser
These are entry-level pharmacy roles that don’t require a 4-year degree. Pharmacy clerks and pharmacy dispensers work under the supervision of pharmacists to fill prescriptions, maintain patient records, document transactions, and keep the pharmacy neat, well-stocked, and well-organized.
- Long-term pharmacist
This refers to pharmacists responsible for managing patients with chronic illnesses. They collaborate with other members of a medical team to assess patients, dispense medication, monitor patients’ progress, and manage patient data.
- Healthcare outcomes pharmacist
This is a part-medical and part-managerial role where a pharmacist combines medical knowledge and organizational skills to plan and execute patient care plans. Responsibilities include medication therapy, vaccination programs, disease state management programs, medical databases, etc. It also entails ensuring compliance with regulatory standards.
- Pharmacologist
As a pharmacologist, you work with pharmacies and pharmaceutical companies to develop and distribute drugs, from personalized medication to new therapies for diseases like cancer and cardiac conditions.
- Pharmacy manager/Director of pharmacy
These are high-level administrative roles far-removed from the front desk or counter. They work in the background to ensure smooth operations in a pharmacy. Pharmacy managers are directly involved in the management of day-to-day activities. A director of pharmacy is more concerned with high-level and strategic decisions like securing deals with suppliers, creating new roles, readjusting existing ones, etc.
Conclusion
Pharmacies are indispensable to effective healthcare delivery. They are frequently the first port of call for patients, especially for minor ailments. They are responsible for ensuring the proper use of drugs and preventing adverse events resulting from errors in drug prescription or misuse of drugs.
They’re also community advocates and educators, offering authentic information to the public on all things drugs while advocating for healthy lifestyles and more effective healthcare policies.