Consortium recommendations for advancing pharmacists' patient care services and collaborative practice agreements

Abstract

ObjectiveTo develop consensus recommendations that provide principles and strategies for effectively implementing health care system changes, including an optimized role for pharmacists to engage in team-based, patient-centered care. Data sourcesAn interdisciplinary group of stakeholders representing 12 states and 10 pharmacy practice settings. Consortium participants represented many areas of pharmacy, medicine, and nursing. SummaryThe health care environment in the United States is undergoing unprecedented change, with myriad health care reform initiatives, mounting evidence for the positive contributions of pharmacists, and federal government interest in pharmacist-provided services from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Surgeon General. Many individuals and groups have asserted that pharmacists are a dramatically underused resource that could help improve outcomes within our health care delivery system, if properly engaged as essential members of the health care team. In January 2012, the American Pharmacists Association Foundation convened a roundtable consortium in Washington, DC, for dialogue on the role of pharmacists in patient care. The consortium participants' seven recommendations for advancing pharmacists' patient care services and collaborative practice agreements included (1) use of consistent terminology; (2) provider control over collaborative practice details; (3) infrastructure that embeds pharmacists' patient care services and collaborative practice agreements into care; (4) use of electronic health records and technology in patient care services; (5) relationships among the health care team that are strong, trusting, and mutually beneficial; (6) incentive alignments based on meaningful process and outcome measures; and (7) redesign of health professionals' practice acts, education curriculums, and operational policies. ConclusionPharmacists deliver many patient care services to sustain and improve health. In an era of health care reform, advancing the level and scope of pharmacy practice holds promise to improve health and reduce costs for care. Published evidence supports the role of pharmacists as essential members of the interdisciplinary health care team and emphasizes that pharmacists are well positioned to perform medication- and wellness-related interventions that improve patient outcomes. The consortium participants' seven recommendations provide methods and infrastructure for empowering collaborative, interdisciplinary care.