Clinical Pharmacy Travel Medicine Services: A New Frontier

Abstract

Travel to remote destinations has increased dramatically in recent years. The Clinical Pharmacy International Travel Clinic (CPITC) was established in 1991 in the Kaiser Permanente Colorado Region to provide pre-travel advice to members to decrease their risk of travel-related diseases. The CPITC is unique from other travel medicine clinics because it is a pharmacist-run telepharmacy service. The team includes an infectious diseases physician, an infectious diseases clinical pharmacy specialist, 4 clinical pharmacists, and a pharmacy technician. The clinical pharmacists provide consultations via telephone. Both patient- and trip-related information are gathered to assess the traveler's health risks. Recommendations are provided regarding food- and water-borne diseases, insect-borne diseases, sexually transmitted diseases, and diseases related to animal bites. Additionally, detailed information is provided on vaccines that may be needed to protect travelers against various diseases. The travel consult is documented electronically. A copy of the consult, along with a booklet that provides travel information, is mailed to the patient. Success of the CPITC is demonstrated in several ways. The clinic initially served Kaiser Permanente members in the Colorado Region. The service has expanded and now also provides travel consults to Kaiser Permanente members in the Northwest and Ohio Regions. Patient satisfaction is high, and significant cost-savings have been realized secondary to avoiding the use of unnecessary vaccinations and medications. The CPITC allows resources to be leveraged and provides one center where individuals trained in travel medicine provide information to members, thus improving efficiency and decreasing cost.

Impact of a clinical pharmacy research team on pharmacy resident research

“…In addition to clinical pharmacists who provide outpatient dispensing services, KPCO has clinical pharmacy specialist (CPS) staff who provide primary care, anticoagulation, cardiovascular risk reduction, and medical specialty care in centralized and decentralized services. [18][19][20][21][22][23][24] Although CPS staff members' day-to-day practice activities are mainly focused on direct patient care activities, participation in research and scholarship, including precepting pharmacy residents and student pharmacists, is encouraged. Currently, KPCO accepts six trainees into its ASHP-accredited postgraduate year 2 ambulatory care specialty pharmacy residency program each year.…”

Future Clinical Pharmacy Practitioners Should Be Board-Certified Specialists

“…The benefit of pharmacist involvement in inpatient and outpatient clinical activities has been well documented in the literature. [29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38] Involvement of a clinical pharmacist in inpatient care has been shown to reduce morbidity, mortality, and health care expenditures. [29][30][31][32] For example, pharmacistmanaged anticoagulation services for ambulatory patients have been shown to reduce the risk of complications compared with usual care, supporting widespread implementation of pharmacistmanaged clinical services for patients requiring anticoagulation therapy.…”

“…It is no coincidence that such organizations have been able to demonstrate both improved patient care and decreased costs. [34][35][36][37][38] The ACCP has led the way in providing evidence of the economic benefit of clinical pharmacy services though publication of economic prospectus articles. 32,58,59 Showcasing successful health care models that include board-certified pharmacy specialists will lend further support to ACCP's position that most clinical pharmacy practitioners will be board-certified specialists in 20-30 years.…”

Measuring patient satisfaction in the Pharmacy Specialty Immunization Clinic: a pharmacist‐run immunization clinic at the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System

“…[5] This has resulted in the development and implementation of pharmacist-run immunization clinics, whose effectiveness and safety are well documented in the literature. [6][7][8] Pharmacists, who receive training in administration and provision of immunizations, create access to vaccines for patients, thereby increasing the benefit of protection from vaccine-preventable diseases to a greater proportion of the population. [7] Moreover, these immunization clinics result in economic and societal benefits which have been reported in the literature and provide support for further development and implementation.…”