Development of an ambulatory palliative care pharmacist practice

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Pharmacology
• Palliative Care

Background:

• Pharmacist roles in hospice and inpatient palliative care are documented.
• Limited information exists on palliative care pharmacists in ambulatory settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish a model for integrating an outpatient clinical pharmacist into a multidisciplinary palliative care team.
• To describe the first report of a palliative care pharmacist in a retail-based ambulatory care setting.

Main Methods:

• A palliative care pharmacist was integrated into a consultative ambulatory palliative care service at a cancer center.
• The pharmacist obtained necessary legal requirements to prescribe under a collaborative practice agreement.

Main Results:

• The pharmacist consulted 29 new patients, with pain management being the most common referral reason (93%).
• 98% of medication recommendations were accepted by oncologists.
• Physicians reported high satisfaction, valuing additional patient time, pain/symptom management, and psychosocial support.

Conclusions:

• This pilot program represents the first report of a palliative care pharmacist in a retail-based ambulatory setting.
• Initial findings indicate the successful implementation of this model.