The pharmacist's role in reducing patient delay in seeking treatment for acute myocardial infarction.
The most common reason for delay in treatment of an AMI is the patient's failure to seek care promptly. Individuals diagnosed with CHD, including those who have experienced an AMI, are considered to be at high risk for an AMI. These patients have the same or greater delay times as individuals without prior AMI or CHD. Pharmacists interact with these high-risk individuals and their families frequently in person or by telephone. During these interventions, they have the opportunity, through education and counseling, to improve their patients' understanding of early symptoms of AMI and the need for and benefits of prompt evaluation and treatment. Hearing this message from their pharmacist and from other health care providers in other settings will hopefully lead the high-risk individual to seek care promptly when needed. Successfully conveying this message could effectively reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with CHD.
Holt
M R
MR
Eckerd Corporation, Chesapeake, Va., USA.
Hand
M M
MM
D003376:Counseling; D006801:Humans; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000628:therapy*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010593:Pharmaceutical Services; D010595:Pharmacists; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations