There is very little disagreement among pharmacists that our societal purpose as a profession includes caring for the medication related needs of our patients.  Indeed, examples of pharmacists providing exemplary patient care can be found in the pharmacy and medical literature and is proudly described at professional pharmacy meetings across the United States.  Why then, is there still hesitancy on the part of consumers, prescribers and other health care providers to recognize the tremendous potential to patient care that pharmacists are capable and willing to contribute.  While many plausible reasons exist for why pharmacy is struggling to solidify it’s patient care role, one solution may be to ensure that our compassion for patients, genuine concern for their well-being and a desire to help them achieve better health is consistently communicated within our individual practices.  Unfortunately, changing the attitudes and behaviors of pharmacy staff members to adopt a new or enhanced patient care paradigm is not always an easy process.  However, it may be possible to lay the ground work for change by taking steps to create a vision and mission for patient care.

Only after identifying both your personal and professional goals related to patient care can you actually begin to convert your dreams and fantasies into reality.  Start by asking yourself what might well be a very difficult question.  “Why should I or the pharmacy I am responsible for provide a greater level of patient care than what is currently being offered?”  There are no right or wrong answers to this question and your response may range from a desire to address community health needs, help individual patients achieve better health, improve customer loyalty and satisfaction or simply to generate additional revenue.  Typically you will have multiple goals, but be careful not to begin with too many and be sure to state your goals in a way that results can be measured.  Having too many goals can lead to frustration and leave you feeling discouraged if you can’t measure your progress within a reasonable time frame.  In addition, if you are responsible for pharmacist and technician staff in your pharmacy, it will be important to identify their respective goals.  Understanding individual staff goals and helping them identify how their goals can be met by providing patient care will help gain the support needed to develop and implement new services.