Clinical Services

Disease State Management

Pharmacist involvement in disease state management has been shown to improve patient care and satisfaction. The degree of involvement may vary from patient to patient but should include routine evaluation of patient medication therapy including appropriateness, adherence, safety, and efficacy, ensuring that each patient is receiving necessary monitoring, and providing needed counseling and education. More advanced management may include providing routine monitoring/testing, evaluation of vital signs and laboratory data, providing recommendations, and adjusting medications as allowed by local protocols and state law.

Medication Reconciliation

The goal of medication reconciliation is to obtain an accurate list of all current medications, including prescription and non-prescription drugs (OTCs), vitamins, supplements, herbals, and alternative medicines. Through this process, discrepancies and drug-related problems can be identified and resolved, decreasing the risk for medication-related harm and adverse effects.

Patients, family members, caregivers, and other care providers may all be engaged in order to obtain an accurate medication list. Once an accurate list is obtained, this should be provided to individuals involved in the patient’s care to further decrease the risk for harm.

Immunizations

Smoking/Tobacco Cessation

Tobacco use is associated with a significant increase in the risk for cardiovascular disease. Despite this, the CDC found that approximately 44% of adults who smoke report not being asked to quit during any healthcare visit within the last year, though approximately 68% report wanting to quit.

More than half of adult cigarette smokers report trying to quit within the last year, but less than ten percent were successful. Smoking cessation aids, such as nicotine replacement therapy, pharmacotherapy, and behavioral modification, can help patients to quit smoking.