Center to Advance Palliative Care

Hello,
Great point! Yes, pharmacists play a big role in providing hospital-based palliative care, and many consultation services have pharmacists as members. Pharmacists collaborate with the IDT to develop strategies for symptom management, educate clinical staff and patients and families on medication issues, help to develop safe / feasible / effective medication plans for addressing patient needs after hospital discharge, participate in developing order sets and protocols, and so on. Some programs have pharmacists with dedicated FTE for providing palliative care; at other sites there may be one or two clinical pharmacists who have an interest in and expertise in palliative care who become the “go to” individuals when palliative care patients have complex pharmacotherapy needs. I believe you are very much on target when you say there is a role for a pharmacist on an interdisciplinary palliative care team. Regards, Kathleen Kerr, Senior Analyst, University of California San Francisco, Palliative Care Leadership Center