Pharmaceutical care is the process of implementation of best pharmacy practice and is a framework for ensuring positive health outcomes in consultation with other health professionals. Diagnosis and prescribing remain the doctor's responsibility and are a vital part in minimising drug related problems. Pharmaceutical care should be provided to patients in the same way that medical and nursing care seek to achieve optimal balance between therapeutic outcomes and patients' needs. As members of the team of health care professionals, pharmacists bring specialist knowledge in the area of drug therapy. The costs flowing from misadventures caused by prescribed medication are grossly underestimated.
Cost estimates focus on episodes of sufficient severity to warrant hospital admission.
However, other direct costs include admissions to long-term care facilities, further visits to medical practitioners, additional prescriptions and the treatment of new medical problems arising from drug related problems. Pharmacists are focusing their attention on the patient's needs. Pharmacists must act on the knowledge that they share in the responsibility for the success or the failure of therapy. The adoption of the pharmaceutical care process as the standard of practice for Australian pharmacists is a major objective of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia.