Patients hiding CM use
June 6, 2016
PHARMACISTS are best placed
to assess potential issues in relation
to patients’ medications, especially
their undeclared complementary
medicines (CMs) usage, according
to Australian medicines information
pharmacist, educator and
researcher, Dr Treasure McGuire.
Although research published in
the Australian Family Physician
shows that two thirds of
Australians use CMs, 50% source
them at pharmacies, creating an
opportunity for pharmacists to
discuss how CM usage integrates
with patients’ total care.
“Often the pharmacist will know
more about what the patient is
actually taking than the primary
health prescriber,” McGuire said.
“This puts them in a unique
vantage point to identify potential
issues and opportunities in relation
to an individual patient’s health.”
McGuire also expressed
concern around the trends in
polypharmacy she has seen, calling
on pharmacists to update their
knowledge of polypharmacy issues,
and look at how they may be
able “to implement an integrative
service model to reach the best
possible health outcomes for their
patients.”
“As a pharmacist, understanding
how to integrate complementary
medicines into patient advice
is vital to prevent or reduce
medication risk.”
McGuire will present a
special session on Integrating
Complementary Medicine into
Patient Care at the upcoming 2016
Blackmores Institute Symposium in
Sydney on 13 August.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 06 Jun 16To see the full newsletter, see the embedded issue below or CLICK HERE to download Pharmacy Daily from 06 Jun 16
