Pharmacists Are Ideal Chronic Care Givers

Thank you for your article “A Far Different Pharmacy” (June 26). As a faculty member at a school of pharmacy and clinical pharmacy practitioner, I have been involved in developing and overseeing numerous pharmacist-run disease management services for the last decade.

While I agree that some community drug store pharmacists are entering the patient care arena for primarily financial reasons, as referred to often in your article, there are many pharmacists in a variety of health care settings (e.g., community, hospital, outpatient clinic) who are motivated to provide patient care services because of the need for better control of chronic illnesses.

A recent article in the Annals of Internal Medicine (June 6) points out that only 50% to 60% of patients take medications correctly.

The Pew Environmental Health Commission determined that the incidence of asthma will double by the year 2020 to approximately 30 million Americans, yet study after study demonstrates that our “traditional” health care system has done a poor job of providing adequate care to this population.

There is clearly a need for better care through proper drug therapy utilization; what health professional can be more ideal for such a role than a clinical pharmacist? With four years of training specifically in drug therapy and most universities providing Doctor of Pharmacy degrees (i.e., an emphasis on clinical, patient-care-oriented, training), we are a perfect fit for bridging the gap between patients and primary care providers.

--STEVEN CHEN

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