Pharmacy

Pharmacy (from the Greek φάρμακον = drug) is the profession of compounding and dispensing medication. More recently, the term has come to include other services related to patient care including clinical practice, medication review, and drug information. Some of these new roles are now mandated by law in various legislatures. Pharmacists, therefore, are drug therapy experts and the primary health professionals who optimize medication management to produce positive health-outcomes.

Hospital Pharmacy

In much the same way that hospital pharmacists have different roles to community pharmacists, hospital pharmacies have different roles to community pharmacies. Some pharmacists in hospital pharmacies may have more complex clinical medication management issues whereas pharmacists in community pharmacies often have more complex business and customer relations issues.

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Unlike community pharmacies, which are usually independently owned, hospital pharmacies can usually be found within the premises of the hospital. Hospital pharmacies usually stock a larger range of medications, including more specialized medications, than would be feasible in the community setting. Traditionally, hospital pharmacies have also prepared various injectable preparations such as saline, total parenteral nutrition (TPN), and other drug infusions; but there has been a trend to outsource these functions to specialised pharmaceutical companies.

Related Topics:
Total parenteral nutrition - Outsource

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