Enhancing pharmacy practice models through pharmacists' privileging

Director's Forum is designed to guide pharmacy leaders in establishing patient-centered services in hospitals and health systems. This article focuses on the concept of granting clinical privileges to pharmacists (acute and ambulatory care) to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of medication use. As the practice models change in hospital pharmacy practice to require the pharmacist to enter into pharmacy board-approved consult agreements, institutional privileging of pharmacists will be necessary. The pharmacy director must understand the steps of the credentialing and privileging process and should apply the process where appropriate in the department. Through hospital medical staff actively supporting pharmacists' privileging, the national Pharmacy Practice Model Initiative (PPMI) can meet its goals of integrating pharmacists as effective members of the patient care team with tangible accountability for achieving optimal drug therapy outcomes.