The CombiConsultation: a new concept of sequential consultation with the pharmacist and practice nurse/general practitioner for patients with a chronic condition.

The primary health care system is generally well organized for dealing with chronic diseases, but comprehensive medication management is still a challenge. Studies suggest that pharmacists can contribute to effective and safe drug therapy by providing services like a clinical medication review (CMR). However, several factors limit the potential impact of a CMR. Therefore, we propose a new pharmaceutical care service for patients with a chronic condition: the CombiConsultation. The CombiConsultation is a medication evaluation service conducted by the (community) pharmacist and either the practice nurse or general practitioner. It consists of 3 steps: medication check, implementation and follow-up. The pharmacist primarily focusses on setting treatment goals for 1 or 2 drug-related problems in relation to a specific chronic condition. In this manuscript we describe the process and characteristics of the CombiConsultation. We compare the CombiConsultation with the CMR and explain the choices made and the implications for implementation.

Medication Regimen Complexity Index

This complexity index could be used in clinical practice to more accurately target patients who would benefit from intensive pharmaceutical care service such as medication therapy management.

Advancing Pharmacy Service using Big Data – Are We Fully Utilising the Big Data’s Potential Yet?

Big data is anticipated to have large implications in clinical pharmacy, in view of its potential in enhancing precision medicine and to avoid medication error. However, it is equally debatable since such a powerful tool may also disrupt the need of pharmacist in healthcare industry. In this article, we commented the contribution of Big Data in various aspects of clinical pharmacy including advancing pharmaceutical care service, optimising drug supplies, managing clinical trials, and strengthening pharmacovigilance. The future direction of the usage of Big Data related to clinical pharmacy will be discussed. This article is open to POST-PUBLICATION REVIEW. Registered readers (see “For Readers”) may comment by clicking on ABSTRACT on the issue’s contents page.