Pharmacists at Harcourts PharmacyLeave a comment

While responsibilities vary among the different areas of pharmacy practice, pharmacists play an integral role in a patient’s treatment. Pharmacists practice in nearly all areas and specialties in healthcare – sometimes behind the scenes and not obvious to the public eye, but as the medication expert on the healthcare team, pharmacists are necessary in all facets of healthcare. Pharmacists dispense medications to patients in accordance with doctor’s orders and consult patients on medication usage and contraindications. Pharmacists communicate directly with physicians in order to correctly deliver medications.

Pharmacists offer you advice on the different medications you take and the possible side effects – in turn we can offer alternative medicines and various treatments as safer options. Their knowledge and expertise extends to all aspects of the preparation, distribution, action and uses of drugs and medicines. Pharmacist responsibilities include a range of care for patients, from dispensing medications to monitoring patient’s health and progress to optimize their response to medication therapies. Pharmacists also provide expertise about the composition of drugs, including their chemical, biological, and physical properties and their manufacture and use. They ensure drug purity and strength and make sure that drugs do not interact in a harmful way. Pharmacists are medication experts ultimately concerned about their patients’ health and wellness.

Pharmacists are an integral part of the health care team, and are among the most trusted and accessible health care professionals. Pharmacists are also in a unique position to identify potential drug interactions early on, and to educate patients on the proper use of medication. These efforts have had significant impact on patient satisfaction and quality of care, and can help contain health care costs. The skill set of the pharmacist provides a unique opportunity to deliver optimal medication utilization to manage acute and chronic diseases as well as many other roles that are beyond an outdated view that limits pharmacy practice to the distribution of medication. The pharmacist is uniquely positioned to provide disease state management through appropriate medication therapy management that has been demonstrated to improve patient outcomes and decrease overall health care costs.

In a rapidly evolving health care system with increased demands for results and personalized care, the pharmacist is a critical partner in the provision of care. The principal goal of pharmaceutical care is to achieve positive outcomes from the use of medication which improves patients’ quality of life with minimum risk. Pharmacists strive to:

• Cure disease
• Eliminate or reduce symptoms
• Arrest or slow a disease process
• Prevent disease, Diagnose disease
• Alter physiological processes for desirable result in the patient’s health.

Pharmacists have responded positively to health service changes and to developments in drug treatment. They make a substantial contribution to the overall quality of health care by ensuring that the prescriber’s intentions are translated into the safe, effective and economic use of medicines; that the prescribers themselves have the information necessary to make such decisions; and that patients have the information they need to obtain maximum benefit from their treatment.