[Evidence-based pharmacology in community and hospital pharmacies--a vision of the future?]

Pharmacists are academically trained drug and medication specialists. Also in the eyes of the law, pharmacists are more than just specialised sales people for medication. As laid out in the regulations governing pharmacies, pharmacists see patients and experts in the fields of medicine, dentistry and veterinary science to whom they have to offer advice. The pharmacist's advisory activities, though, must not interfere with an existing doctor-patient relationship. All pharmaceutical activities in community and hospital pharmacies should therefore be based--similar to the medical faculty--on an evidence-based practice in the sense of an evidence-based pharmacy adopting all principles of Evidence-based Medicine. The challenge for pharmacists and doctors should therefore be to work together to increasingly develop common strategies in order to achieve optimal treatment for the benefit of the patient. Especially in the treatment of chronically ill patients, synergistic effects could be reached through open exchange and a closer linkage between medical and pharmaceutical activities. Such closer contacts between the two disciplines could be made at interdisciplinary colloquia or special subject-specific round table discussions. Pharmaceutical Care (PhC), i.e. the optimisation of medicational therapy of chronically ill patients through accompanying intensive pharmaceutical advice is desirable from the patient's point of view and could take some load off medical practitioners. Any questions as to the use of medication, potential side-effects or undesirable interaction with other medications, but also regarding additional preventive measures can be posed to qualified personnel by the patient collecting his/her medication in the pharmacy. Also, as community pharmacists see themselves as active medication specialists and valuable qualified advisors to the patient with regard of self-medication, increased investment in internal communication between colleagues and external communication with patients is desirable. In the hospital setting, the pharmacy is to be regarded as the central medication information office and should participate in interdisciplinary working groups for the development of clinical guidelines and substitution possibilities. Furthermore, hospital pharmacy should be consulted on pharmaco-economic questions and on planning and conducting clinical studies.