Community pharmacists are the health professionals who are most accessible to the public. Though concept of community pharmacists is not well established in India. Because, In India community pharmacist dispense only medicine but in developed countries roles of clinical pharmacists are beyond that.
Here, we shall inform you how community Pharmacy is important for Indian Economy and how it is affecting millions of life in USA.
Pharmacists are the only healthcare providers to whom a patient can see virtually 24 hours a day, 7 days a week without an appointment and without a consultation charge.
In USA, Pharmacists are offering an increasing array of primary care services like immunizations, laboratory tests, birth control prescriptions and tobacco cessation drug therapy.
Let’s see how they performing in these other areas:
Immunization:
Almost all states of the USA, allows pharmacists to administer vaccines.
The word vaccine is derived from the Latin word vaccinus, which means “pertaining to cows”. First successful vaccine was developed by Edward Jenner in 1796 after he observed that milkmaids who had previously caught cowpox did not later catch smallpox and learned that inoculated cowpox protected against inoculated smallpox.
The first organized immunization training for a group of 50 pharmacists was held in Seattle, Washington, in late 1994. In 1996, CDC endorsed Pharmacy-Based Immunization Delivery program was started by American Pharmacists Association (APhA). In this program, Pharmacists are educated for vaccine knowledge and administration techniques.
Pharmacists have to receive extra certificate to administer vaccine in USA and other pharmacists who are not certified to administer vaccine, also have an important role which includes -history and screening of patient, patient counseling, documentation, formulary management and public education and awareness.
Laboratory tests prescription and performance:
Pharmacist can prescribe certain laboratory tests to ensure that medications are producing the results expected by doctor. These tests will also help to prevent and detect any problems that may result from treatment.
Pharmacists can prescribe tests like Complete blood count (CBC), Blood sugar, INR test (while patient on warfarin), Electrolytes, Creatinine, Creatinine kinase etc.
Pharmacists are ranked among the most trusted professionals, according to the results of an annual Gallup poll. These trusted healthcare professionals are easily accessible to most Americans, with nearly 60000 community pharmacies in the US. Approximately 18% of these pharmacies have Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) waived status and can perform any of the approximately 120 CLIA-waived tests.
Birth control prescriptions
Six states have passed such legislation: California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maryland, New Mexico, and Oregon. Several other states, including Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, and New Hampshire, are considering legislation.
These states’ laws allow people to bypass a doctor’s visit by giving pharmacists the authority to prescribe and dispense birth control.
Pharmacists do ask people to self-screen for birth control by filling out a questionnaire at the pharmacy. This way, the pharmacist can figure out whether they good candidate for certain types of birth control. For exm, Some people who have a history of blot clots or those who smoke, are at higher risk of side effects when using certain types of birth control.
Along with reviewing your questionnaire, the pharmacist will ask them about their medical history, their other medications etc. With this information, pharmacists will determine whether which birth control method is safe for patient and help them to choose the best option. The pharmacistsare also providing them information about how effective the method is, and how to use it.
Tobacco cessation drug therapy
Cigarette smoking is estimated to cause more than 480,000 deaths annually. Smoking-related illness in the United States costs more than 300 billion dollar each year. Pharmacists are well-positioned to initiate treatment and support individuals throughout the quitting process. Pharmacists are accessible – 91% of Americans live within 5 miles of a community pharmacy.
Pharmacists have a four-year, doctoral-level degree with extensive coursework in pharmacology, clinical patient care, drug selection and more. And there are many resources available for all healthcare providers who need a refresher in tobacco cessation counseling.
In a study including over 1,400 participants, researchers showed that pharmacist-provided smoking cessation interventions have quit rates on par with other healthcare professionals.
We have to remember that patients are most important part of whole healthcare system, but not physicians or pharmacists any other. Patients are buyers of medicines and they are responsible for earning of every single penny by pharmaceutical companies, hospitals and other healthcare professionals.
That means, patient centric rules should be created. And healthcare professionals are allowed to practice accordingly.
In USA, Healthcare industry is amongst top economy drawer and If India is dreaming to become 5 trillion economy, then healthcare industries have to contribute more. And to strengthen healthcare sectors, ROLE OF PHARMACISTS SHOULD BE EXTENDED BEYOND OLD BELIEFS.
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