Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy
CommentaryDefining professional pharmacy services in community pharmacy
Section snippets
Rationale
Current definitions of pharmacy services do not cover the complete community pharmacy service offering as they focus on defining services arising from the pharmaceutical care concept, or alternatively are restricted to services specifically delivered by pharmacists (Appendix A). Pharmaceutical care is one of the key terms used to describe pharmacy practice beyond the field of dispensing.1, 2, 3, 4, 5 The pharmaceutical care philosophy was transformed into a service-based definition, where
Defining a professional pharmacy service
In order to gain an understanding of the full suite of professional pharmacy services that are or may be offered by community pharmacy, the following definition is proposed:
A professional pharmacy service is an action or set of actions undertaken in or organized by a pharmacy, delivered by a pharmacist or other health practitioner, who applies their specialized health knowledge personally or via an intermediary, with a patient/client, population or other health professional, to optimize the
Model of pharmacy service provision
Professional pharmacy services fit within the overall service offering of a pharmacy (Fig. 1). There are a wide variety of pharmacy services provided by community pharmacy, both professional and non-professional. In contrast to professional services, non-professional services do not involve the application of any ‘specialized health knowledge,’ do not ‘optimize the process of care’ nor are directed toward ‘improving health outcomes and the value of healthcare.’
Pharmacy practice research has
Conclusion
Defining the range of professional pharmacy services facilitates a holistic understanding of the role and value community pharmacies provide as part of the healthcare system both independently and as a collective network. Furthermore, application of the definition allows for professional pharmacy services to be identified, and subsequently measured. This will assist the community pharmacy network to be evaluated in terms of the value created for the healthcare system. Pharmacies individually
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