Preparing Pharmacists for Collaborative/Integrated Health Settings.

Frank J Ascione

doi:10.3390/pharmacy7020047

Abstract

Pharmacy practice is changing to accommodate the need for pharmacists to be better team members in newly emerging collaborative care and integrated health systems. Pharmacy schools could lead this change by educating students to be effective participants in these relatively new models of care. Schools are encouraged to follow the approach outlined in the recent guidance published by the Health Professions Accreditors Collaborative (HPAC) for interprofessional practice and education (“the new IPE”). This approach includes articulating an IPE plan, establishing goals, assessing student achievement of the necessary IPE competencies, developing educational plans that are multi-faceted and longitudinal, and modifying the existing assessment/evaluation process to ensure the quality of the IPE effort. These curricular decisions should be based on existing and new research on the effectiveness of IPE on student’s attitudes, knowledge, skills, and behavior. A key decision is how to create effective interactions between pharmacy students and those of other professions. Educational emphasis should be directed toward team building skills, not just individual competencies. The pharmacy faculty probably need to enhance their teaching abilities to accommodate this change, such as learning new technology (e.g., simulations, managing online exchanges) and demonstrating a willingness to teach students from other professions.

Highlights

An integrative/collaborative approach to health care services is needed to create a more efficient workforce and positive health outcomes [1,2]
That apathy began to change with the publication of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) report in 1999 entitled To Err Is Human [6]
The purpose of this paper is to address the lack of educational focus and offer suggestions for curricular changes that support greater implementation of interprofessional practice and education principles in pharmacy education

Summary

Introduction

An integrative/collaborative approach to health care services is needed to create a more efficient workforce and positive health outcomes [1,2]. Integration is a means to improve services in relation to access, quality, user satisfaction and efficiency.”. Both approaches require enhanced cooperation among all levels of caregivers to ensure optimal service [1,3]. The call for more cooperation is not new and neither is the potential role of pharmacists in this effort [4,5] Despite those historical appeals, there was limited local, national, and international effort to vigorously promote this approach for many years. A key finding of the report was the observation that these deaths likely arose “from the decentralized and fragmented nature of the health care delivery system—or “non-system,” to some observers.”

Objectives

Discussion

Conclusion