Should Pharmacists Prescribe Medicine? Some Already Do.

Newswise — Pharmacists’ prescribing medications is a topic often discussed when health policy experts explore how to improve patient safety, medication-use outcomes, and access to medical services. The American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy (AJHP), published by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), examines the sometimes-controversial topic in its current issue.

The December 15 issue explores aspects of pharmacist prescribing, including education, training, and credentialing; collaborative practice with physicians; current domestic and international prescribing practices; reimbursement; and public health needs. The issue includes:

- Prescribing Authority for Pharmacists, an editorial by C. Richard Talley, AJHP editor. http://www.ajhp.org/content/68/24/2333

- Advanced-Practice Pharmacists: Practice Characteristics and Reimbursement of Pharmacists Certified for Collaborative Clinical Practice in New Mexico and North Carolina, a practice report by Matthew Murawski, Ph.D., associate professor of pharmacy administration at the Purdue University College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, West Lafayette, Ind. http://www.ajhp.org/content/68/24/2341

- Pharmacist Prescribing: What Are the Next Steps?, a commentary by Lisa Nissen, B.Pharm, Ph.D., FSHP, FHKPA, associate professor and deputy-director for the Centre for Safe and Effective Prescribing, School of Pharmacy, Pharmacy Australia Centre of Excellence, University of Queensland. http://www.ajhp.org/content/68/24/2357

The ability to serve patients through prescribing is a key component of ASHP’s Pharmacy Practice Model Initiative (PPMI), a program to help advance pharmacy practice to provide the best possible health care services to patients. PPMI, which was launched with a consensus conference in 2010, advocates that prescribing should be included in pharmacists’ scope of practice, through a credentialing and privileging process, and as part of a collaborative practice health care team. “Pharmacists are the patient care providers that are the most highly educated about today’s complex, high-risk, medications,” said Stanley S. Kent, M.S., FASHP, ASHP president. “Pharmacists’ unique qualifications and accessibility to patients make them an invaluable resource to improving patient care as prescribers working closely with physicians and other providers as part of a comprehensive team.”

About ASHPFor more than 60 years, ASHP has helped pharmacists who practice in hospitals and health systems improve medication use and enhance patient safety. The Society's 35,000 members include pharmacists and pharmacy technicians who practice in inpatient, outpatient, home-care, and long-term-care settings, as well as pharmacy students. For more information about the wide array of ASHP activities and the many ways in which pharmacists help people make the best use of medicines, visit ASHP's Web site, www.ashp.org, or its consumer Web site, www.SafeMedication.com.