Proposed Model Would Allow Pharmacists to Become Independent Clinicians

Although pharmacists are considered medication experts, interestingly enough, they do not have the authority to prescribe. A research team in the United Kingdom developed a paper aiming to answer why this is and designing a model for pharmacists to become independent clinicians. According to this model, clinicians who dispense medications will alsoprescribe, manage, and alter medication therapy for patients.

The plan rests on 3 key premises:

• The health care system must encourage integration of pharmacists into the current clinical service structure to utilize their new credentials appropriately.
• Pharmacists will need further education in clinical skills to allow autonomous clinical evaluation of patients.
• Society will need government-led legislative and social adoption of these pharmacists’ new clinical capacities.

Image credit: Zoran Zeremski | stock.adobe.com

The researchers also created an action plan for integration of this model. The plan includes revision of current guidelines for pharmacy education to include examination technique, prescribing, and medication management. This would be done by adding Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) to the current curriculum to advance clinical proficiency. Additionally, pharmacists need access to pertinent patient information, including all medical records, labs, and charts. Finally, policymakers will need to amend governance and legislation to account for pharmacists’ expanded responsibilities and their new clinician authority.

The limitations of this plan lie in a few critical areas. Societal and cultural shifts would be required to accommodate pharmacists’ new clinical qualifications. Pharmacists would also need additional training in risk management because with expanded responsibilities, pharmacists would need to perform greater risk assessment and management. The authors also mention that growing pains may occur as pharmacists adapt to their new professional identity.

Although there is much work to be done and many questions to be answered, the pharmacist clinician model is promising. If properly implemented, increasing the pharmacist’s clinical authority could ensure increased access to care for patients and advance the practice of pharmacy.

Reference

Forsyth P, Radley A, Rushworth GF, et al. The Collaborative Care Model: Realizing healthcare values and increasing responsiveness in the pharmacy workforce. Res Social Adm Pharm. 2023;19(1):110-122. doi:10.1016/j.sapharm.2022.08.016