APhA Academies reflect on the Pharmacists’ Patient Care Process of the Joint Commission of Pharmacy Practitioners

Applying the patient care process in practice The Pharmacists’ Patient Care Process is not net new; it is generally the care pharmacists have historically been providing patients in all practice settings. What is new is the development of a contemporary consensus-based document supported by national pharmacy organizations that articulates how all pharmacists in all care settings should be providing care. The document also recognizes key elements within each step of care. Regardless of the setting (e.g., hospital, community, clinic, long-term care, or managed care), when a patient receives care from a pharmacist, the process performed by the pharmacist is the same. APhA–APPM Overview of pharmacists’ patient care process Pharmacy practice is evolving into patient-centered care with the pharmacist serving as an accountable and integral member of the health care team. To refl ect this change, in November 2013, the Joint Commission of Pharmacy P r a c t i t i o n e r s (JCPP) adopted a vision for pharmacy practice that states, “Patients achieve optimal health and medication outcomes with pharmacists as essential and accountable providers, within patient-centered team-based health care.” The JCPP identifi ed three key drivers to reach the vision: (1) development, adoption, and implementation of a consistent, uniform, and widely applied patient care process; (2) quality measures to quantify the value of services provided; and (3) robust health information technology to support patient care and payment for pharmacists’ services.1 The fi rst key driver, the Pharmacists’ Patient Care Process, was developed through a review of several recognized resources on pharmaceutical care and medication therapy management using a collaborative, consensus-based process. The fi nal document was adopted for implementation by JCPP in May 2014 and supported by 13 national pharmacy organizations.2 The process includes the following fi ve steps: collect, assess, plan, implement, and follow up: monitor and evaluate (Figure 1). As the role of pharmacists transforms in the health care system, implementation of a uniform patient care process establishes and promotes consistent expectations about pharmacist-provided patient care to patients, health care providers, payers, and regulatory bodies. In addition, a consistent process of care is needed to deliver services that permit objective measurement of patient care outcomes and quality measures that are comparable from one pharmacist to another and from one setting to another across the health care system. Regardless of