The three dimensions of managed care pharmacy practice

Our goal is to provide a framework for pharmacy in an evolving healthcare marketplace by identifying and discussing the three dimensions of pharmacy practice: (1) pharmacy practice across the continuum of care; (2) the major elements of pharmacy practice; and (3) the evolution of pharmacy during the five stages of the development of managed care. The framework was devised under the proposition that there is a substantial consistency in what patients need or should expect from pharmacists. As integrated health systems develop, pharmacists must apply their skills and knowledge across the continuum of care to ensure that they play an integral part in the systems. In a managed care environment characterized by change and the development of integrated health systems, pharmacists have opportunities to become involved directly in patient care in such areas as disease prevention, home healthcare, primary care, and subacute care. Information systems, hospital drug distribution, clinical pharmacy, and the fiscal environment comprise the major elements of pharmacy practice within an integrated health system, and the way in which each of these elements evolves as the healthcare market adapts to managed care is critical to pharmacy practice. If the pharmacy profession can demonstrate its ability to manage disease and health, improve outcomes, and reduce costs within the evolving healthcare system, pharmacists will play a vital role in the managed healthcare market in the approaching new millennium.