Why is Consultant Pharmacy Good Medicine?
One of the consultant pharmacist’s most important duties is to prevent medication errors, adverse
drug reactions, and drug interactions. Most importantly, the consultant pharmacist ensures safe,
appropriate, effective treatment. The average person older than 65 may suffer from many health
problems: arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure, poor vision, or hearing loss, among others. Most of
these conditions are controlled by medications. But time takes its toll on the human body. Advancing
age and long-term use of multiple medications put older patients at risk for unpleasant side effects and
other medication-related problems. The consultant pharmacist reviews and manages the medicines used
to treat health problems common among older people to help prevent those problems.
Since older people take so many medications, and because the dosing schedule can be complicated,
nurses in nursing facilities and long-term care facilities often spend the bulk of their time organizing and
administering drugs. But consultant pharmacists design a pre-packaged system for each patient that is
efficient, accurate, and organized. It’s a personalized system that ensures each person gets exactly the
right medication at the right time. More importantly, it frees the nursing staff to do what they do best—
giving careful attention and comfort to each patient.
What makes consultant pharmacists so valuable is the careful, sensible way in which they serve
their patients. The consultant pharmacist is the health care professional who can make life better for you
and your family. Whether you are an elderly person in an assisted living facility, or a family caregiver,
the consultant pharmacist is a trusted advisor. We can keep you informed of your elderly mother’s new
drug regimen, consult with you about your aged father’s sudden melancholy, and ease your fears about
the uncertainties of caring for elderly parents at home.
The consultant pharmacist is an educator, a comforter, a knowledgeable health care professional,
and a family friend. We save money, we save lives, and most importantly, we make life better for a lot of
people. And in today’s world, that makes sense for all of us.
America’s Senior Care Pharmacists™
Some eye-opening facts and figures:
More than 44,000 deaths result each year from medication-related
errors, 7,000 of which are due to mistakes in prescribing or
dispensing the wrong drugs.
Nearly one in five elderly Americans living in the community is
taking at least one drug generally deemed unsuitable for their
age group because safer alternative medications are available.
Consultant pharmacists’ services are so important in safeguarding
the health and safety of nursing home residents that regular
pharmacist reviews of each resident’s drug therapy are
mandated by law in federally funded facilities.
In nursing homes alone, patient counseling, medication monitoring,
and other services provided by consultant pharmacists save
close to $3.6 billion each year in prevented hospitalizations
and reduced medication costs.