Pharmacy care has become an essential and indispensable matter, and is no longer a luxury within the framework of the modern pharmaceutical industry. Rather, it has changed the nature of the pharmacist’s work that exceeded the role of just dispensing drugs, or even customer service in its simple form.

The concept first appeared in 1990, by both Drs. Hepler and Strand aim to improve the patient's quality of life.

That concept now includes the active participation of pharmacists in patient care, through monitoring drug therapy, in cooperation with doctors and patients' families, and the application of the concept has become a sign of excellent patient service.

Pharmacy Care Functions

Pharmacy care is concerned with reducing errors of medications use, knowing the medical history of patients, not to repeatedly dispense medications and providing pharmaceutical supplies to patients properly. These functions can be summarized as follows:

- Sometimes, doctors forget to prescribe the appropriate dose of the drug, so the pharmacist should clarify the nature and details of doses to the patient, in addition to the appropriate times and drug interactions.

- Clarify the side effects of the product

- Informing the patient about storage instructions, as some drugs are destroyed at certain temperatures

- Follow up the effectiveness of the drug with the patient and suggest other alternatives if necessary

- If the drug is not available, the pharmacist should determine the alternatives and inform the attending physician to choose the appropriate alternative.

Characteristics You Should Have as an Professional Pharmacist

Here are some characteristics that a pharmacist should have to achieve better patient care in its best shape, including:

- Able to evaluate and summarize information

- Permanent access to developments in research and studies

- Development of presentation skills

- Technology-driven

What are the Mistakes of Medications’ Use?

Human errors done by pharmacists affect both patients’ health and pharmacy’s reputation, either by not getting the desired effect of the drug or by getting an unwanted effect.

Those medication/prescription mistakes can result into:

- Safety-related problems during the treatment

- The ineffectiveness of the drug

- Neglecting some symptoms and not giving the patient the appropriate medicine for it

- Giving the patient a dose more or less than required

- Appearance of some side effects for the drug

- Interaction between medications

Patient Care Purposes

- Protecting the patient from diseases or their symptoms

- Controlling diseases and stopping their prognosis

- Eliminating symptoms of diseases

- Recovery of patient

- Suggesting alternative or cheaper medications

- Making sure all drugs are available in your pharmacy  

How to Transform Your Pharmacy Care

There are many ways you can improve your pharmacy practices:

- Implementing the e-prescription system

- Preparation of IV solutions and high-risk antibiotics

- Collecting info about the patient

- Determining the medicinal complications

- Addressing the requirements of patients

- Designing the drug treatment regimes

- Designing the quality control plans

- Development of drug systems monitoring plans

- Control of drug treatment systems

Technologies that Contribute to Better Pharmacy Services 

- Automated medicine-dispensing devices

- Automatic dispensing devices in operating rooms and anesthesia

- Pharmacy management ERP

-Inventory management solution

- Automated drug-refilling systems

- Automated preparation of IV medications