[Primary care physicians and community pharmacists: a tandem collaboration that should be strengthened and (re)focused on the patient?].
In addition to the well-established interdisciplinary relationship of doctors and pharmacists when dealing with specific patients, new and more structured forms of interaction are emerging aimed at improving the overall quality and efficiency of patient care. We explore the challenges of a productive patient-centered collaboration between these two health care professions and describe three examples from french speaking part of Switzerland which demonstrate how primary care physicians and pharmacists can effectively collaborate on more than one level to the patient's benefit. Special attention will be given to the role of pharmacists at the heart of integrated health systems, which are about to be implemented in Switzerland. We further discuss current evidence on the role of community pharmacists in the management of cardiovascular risk factors and the coordination of treatment for chronic disease.
Département de médecine communautaire, de premier recours,et des urgences, HUG, Genève. herve.spechbach@hcuge.ch
Hervé
H
Spechbach
Marius
M
Besson
Jean-Luc
JL
Forni
D003157:Community Pharmacy Services; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D006801:Humans; D018802:Patient-Centered Care; D010595:Pharmacists; D058007:Physicians, Primary Care