Quality assurance in home health agencies: the role of the clinical pharmacist.
Drug therapy for home care patients, most of whom are elderly, is becoming increasingly complex. In addition, these patients are usually left to their own resources to manage drug therapy. Clinical pharmacy services are therefore a vital component to assuring and maintaining positive therapeutic outcomes in home care. The Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) of Baltimore includes clinical pharmacy in its array of existing home health care services. The VNA system is described and two case studies are presented that illustrate how clinical pharmacy services can directly affect quality of care.
D000368:Aged; D003152:Community Health Nursing / Q000592:standards; D004358:Drug Therapy / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D006699:Home Care Services / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008396:Maryland; D010593:Pharmaceutical Services / Q000592:standards; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care