Describing and Evaluating the Clinical Pharmacist's Role in a Canadian Multiple Sclerosis Clinic

The current approach to treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) involves use of disease-modifying therapies to slow progression of the disease, as well as the symptomatic management of fixed neurological deficits. Although pharmacists are uniquely positioned to support MS care teams with all aspects of medication management, their presence is rare among MS ambulatory care teams in Canada.

To document the pharmacist's contributions and to evaluate the impact of the pharmacist's role following creation of a clinical pharmacist position in a Canadian MS clinic within a large, urban, university-affiliated, tertiary care centre.

This study was conducted in 2 parts: a prospective, descriptive case study of the clinical pharmacist's role and a retrospective assessment of medication-related patient calls before and after implementation of the pharmacist position.

The pharmacist performed a variety of clinical activities, with the greatest proportions of time spent on patient care (63.3%), drug access research (15.7%), and development and review of internal documents (9.0%). Patient care primarily involved conducting patient assessments, making medication recommendations, and assisting patients with medication-related issues. The proportion of medication-related issues resolved remained similar at 92.9% before and 95.7% after implementation of the clinical pharmacist (p = 0.48). The median time to resolve medication-related issues was reduced from 4.1 to 2.9 days (p = 0.016) with pharmacist involvement.

Pharmacists can support MS care teams through a variety of medication-related clinical activities aligned with their scope and expertise. The presence of a pharmacist on the MS care team significantly reduced turnaround times for resolving medication-related issues, improving the efficiency and timeliness of care.