2.  Pharmaceutical Care is a patient-centered, outcomes oriented pharmacy practice that requires the pharmacist to work in concert with the patient and the patient's other healthcare providers to promote health, to prevent disease, and to assess, monitor, initiate, and modify medication use to assure that drug therapy regimens are safe and effective.

3.  The goal of Pharmaceutical Care is to optimize the patient's health- related quality of life, and achieve positive clinical outcomes.  A structured approach to achieve these goals: 1) It requires an established patient-to pharmacist relationship. 2) It requires records of medication to be kept and, with the patient’s informed consent, additional patient specific information to be collected, organized, recorded, monitored and maintained. 3) It requires patient-specific medical information to be evaluated and, in the case of prescribed medicines, a therapy plan to be developed involving the patient and the prescriber. 4) It requires the pharmacist to ensure that the patient has all supplies, information, and knowledge, necessary to carry out the drug therapy plan. 5) It requires the pharmacist to review, monitor, and modify the therapeutic plan in concert with the patient and healthcare team.

4.  Elements to provide quality pharmaceutical care are: (1) Knowledge and skills of personnel, (2) Systems for data collection, documentation, and transfer of information, (3) Efficient workflow processes, (4) References, resources and equipment, (5) Communication skills, (6) Commitment to quality improvement and assessment procedures.

5.  The implementation of pharmaceutical care is supported by knowledge and skills in the area of patient assessment, clinical information, communication, adult teaching and learning principles and psychosocial aspects of care.  To use these skills, responsibilities must be reassessed, and assigned to appropriate personnel, including pharmacists, technicians, automation, and technology. A mechanism of certifying and credentialing will support the implementation of pharmaceutical care.

6.  The implementation of pharmaceutical care is supported by data collection and documentation systems that accommodate patient care communications (e.g. patient contact notes, medical and medication history), inter-professional communications (e.g. physician communication, pharmacist-to-pharmacist communication), quality assurance (e.g. patient outcomes assessment, patient care protocols), and research (e.g. data for pharmacoepidemiology, etc.). Documentation systems are vital for reimbursement considerations.

7.  The implementation of pharmaceutical care is supported by incorporating patient care into the activities of the pharmacist and other personnel.

8.  The implementation of pharmaceutical care is supported by tools, which facilitate patient care, including equipment to assess medication therapy adherence and effectiveness, clinical resource materials, and patient education materials.  Tools may include computer software support, drug utilization evaluation (DUE) programs, disease management protocols, etc.

9.  The implementation of pharmaceutical care is supported by patient-centered communication. Within this communication, the patient plays a key role in the overall management of the therapy plan.

10.  The implementation and practice of pharmaceutical care is supported and improved by measuring, assessing, and improving pharmaceutical care activities utilizing the conceptual framework of continuous quality improvement.

11.  Pharmaceutical care involves the process through which a pharmacist cooperates with a patient and other professionals in designing, implementing, and monitoring a therapeutic plan that will produce specific therapeutic outcomes for the patient.

13.  The pharmacist conducts interviews with the patient in a setting designed to ensure privacy. The data obtained is accurate, appropriately organized and kept current. Patient data is confidential and is provided to others only with informed consent of the patient or as required by law.

14.  The pharmacist, collaborating with other healthcare providers and the patient, identifies and evaluates the most appropriate action to ensure the safety and effectiveness (including cost effectiveness) of current or planned pharmacotherapy and to minimize current or potential future health-related problems.  The pharmacist documents, in the patient’s record, the plan and desirable outcomes for each problem identified.

15.  The pharmacist works with the patient to maximize patient understanding and commitment to the pharmaceutical care therapy plan.  The pharmacist ensures that the patient knows how to use all necessary medication and any equipment associated with monitoring or administration properly.

16.  The pharmacist regularly reviews the patient progress towards achieving the desired outcomes and provides a report to the patient’s other healthcare providers as appropriate.  As progress is achieved, the patient should receive positive reinforcement to encourage continuing co-operation.  If the expected progress is not being achieved, then the plan should be modified, applying the principles used in formulating the original plan.

17.  When the desired outcomes have been achieved, a follow up procedure should be established to ensure the continued wellbeing of the patient.

18.  Pharmaceutical care reflects a systematic approach in making sure that the patient gets the right medicines, in the right dose, at the right time and for the right reasons.