President's Remarks Point To Value Of Pharmacists On Patient Care Teams

Main Category: Pharmacy / Pharmacist
Article Date: 17 Jun 2009 - 4:00 PDT

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In remarks on health care reform to the American Medical Association's (AMA) House of Delegates on Monday, President Barack Obama pointed to pharmacists' participation on "multidisciplinary rounds" as an "island of excellence" that should become the "standard in our health care system."

In addition to assuring that patients receive the right medicine, at the right time, in the right dose, pharmacists' medication expertise is increasingly relied upon as part of patient care teams in hospitals to:

1. Manage patients' drug therapy in hospitals and outpatient disease management clinics, in collaboration with physicians;

2. Advise physicians and nurses on new medications, effective therapies, and the selection and administration of medications;

3. Monitor patients' responses to medications to make sure their medication therapy is safe and effective; and

4. Educate patients and their families about their medications.

Source: American Society of Health System Pharmacists