Survey of Transplant-Related Pharmacy Services at Large Comprehensive Transplant Centers in the United States

Abstract

Large comprehensive transplant centers use multiple transplant pharmacists to perform patient care in the inpatient and outpatient environments. Most centers plan to expand FTEs. Further characterization of transplant pharmacists appears warranted.

A National Survey Assessing the Current Workforce of Transplant Pharmacists Across Accredited U.S. Solid Organ Transplant Programs

“…As compared to the Martin study, the present survey demonstrates that the role of the transplant pharmacist has dramatically expanded, especially in the evaluation and posttransplant ambulatory phases. Staino et al recently published the results of a survey from 14 large academic transplant centers (12). Results demonstrated a mean number of 4.25 FTEs per 325 transplant performed, or 1.3 pharmacist FTEs per 100 transplants, which is similar to the results from this survey.…”

“…This is particularly the case since the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) began certifying transplant centers (2). Despite this dramatic growth, little has been published detailing the role and responsibilities of the transplant pharmacist across the continuum of care (11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16). With ever-increasing demands for the transplant pharmacist to be involved in all phases of transplant care, it is important to develop standards of practice (17).…”

Considerations and approaches to expansion of solid organ transplant pharmacist services

“…A similar pharmacist to patient ratio was reported in a previous survey targeting larger transplant centers that performed 200 to 400 solid organ transplants in 2010. 4 Respondents were 14 centers representing 55 transplant pharmacists. This survey found a mean pharmacist to patient ratio of 4.25 pharmacist FTEs with a mean of 325 transplants per year.…”

A survey of pharmacists' roles in gastroenterology and hepatology

“…2,3 Prior studies indicate that clinical pharmacists are embedded in various settings managing a variety of conditions as part of a multidisciplinary team. [4][5][6][7] A recent report from the United States Public Health Service National Clinical Pharmacy Specialist Committee noted that pharmacists were able to maintain a 68% time in therapeutic range for patients on warfarin, reduce A1c by 2%, reduce systolic blood pressure by 11 mmHg, reduce diastolic blood pressure by 6 mmHg, improve human immunodeficiency virus remission rate to 76.7%, and achieve a 22.4% smoking cessation rate. 8 These figures highlight the significant clinical interventions and impact pharmacists provide in various practice settings.…”