Weekly Comment 21 Sep 15: The case for counselling – it’s compelling
September 21, 2015
THE professional responsibility of
pharmacists to counsel patients
has been understood and clearly
documented in numerous
guidelines, including those
developed by the Pharmaceutical
Society of Australia (PSA) and
the Guidelines for Dispensing of
Medications from the Pharmacy
Board. The Medicines Information
to Consumers (MIC) program
was launched through the Third
Community Pharmacy Agreement
(CPA) to encourage pharmacists to
use consumer medicine information
(CMI) to promote the quality use of
medicines.
Whilst counselling is not mandatory
and no legislation or regulation
specifically requires a pharmacist
to supply a CMI leaflet to a patient,
the professional obligations and
benefits of providing both written
and verbal advice about the safe and
appropriate use of medicines are
universally accepted.
Today pharmacists have resources
available via their desktop and
mobile devices which assist in
effective patient counselling.
These resources include concise
counselling points to guide the
pharmacist, dosing information,
information about indications
not covered in a CMI, interactions
screening that provides clinically
significant alerts with supporting
information, as well as access to the
most up-to-date CMIs available.
Patients who receive effective
counselling are more likely to take
their medication correctly and be
aware of precautions and potential
adverse effects. Counselling is one of
the most important and rewarding
aspects of effective dispensing and
helps build trust between patients
and pharmacists as our profession
moves towards delivery of expanded
clinical services.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 21 Sep 15To see the full newsletter, see the embedded issue below or CLICK HERE to download Pharmacy Daily from 21 Sep 15
