Patient Problem Solving and Preventive Care

Abstract

Medications are powerful tools that, if used correctly, can prevent or treat disease. If used incorrectly, there is potential to cause great harm to people who take them. These unintended effects, called adverse effects, can occur from any medication. As health care teams, which include physicians, pharmacists, and other health care providers, are making decisions about using specific medications to treat an individual patient, they must weigh the potential risks against the desired benefit of each medication to minimize the chance of harm to the patient. As important members of the health care team, pharmacists work collaboratively with patients’ other health care providers in all types of patient care settings ranging from community pharmacies to hospitals and long-term care facilities. Across these settings, pharmacists take specific actions that regularly contribute to improving patient safety. In addition to training on medications, pharmacist education and training includes assessing health status of patients, providing education and counseling, managing diseases, and using health care technologies. Pharmacists use this education and training to prevent medication errors, drug interactions, and other adverse medication events from reaching patients. With the expanding number and complexity of medications, pharmacists’ roles and responsibilities have expanded broadly beyond medication distribution. Pharmacists are providing patient care in almost all health care settings to help people of all ages get the most from the medications that are prescribed to them. Examples of pharmacists’ patient care services include providing health and wellness screenings, managing chronic diseases, assisting patients with medication management, administering immunizations, and working with hospitals and health systems to improve patient care and reduce the number of patients who are readmitted to the hospital following their hospital stay.