CPNP outlines, via this commentary, that an integrated and holistic approach to patient care has been demonstrated to be cost effective and improves patient care and satisfaction. CPNP supports the integration of psychiatric pharmacists into primary care practices to provide comprehensive medication management as part of an integrated health care team to improve access to care, improve quality of care, decrease costs, and improve provider and patient satisfaction for patients with both serious mental illnesses and chronic medical conditions. The ultimate goal in promoting collaboration between mental and medical care is to improve the lives of persons with chronic mental illness and the lives of their families.
Psychiatric pharmacists must provide comprehensive medication management as part of an integrated health care team in order to most effectively improve access to care, improve quality of care, decrease costs, and improve provider and patient satisfaction for patients with SPMI and medical illnesses. Our ultimate goal in promoting collaboration between mental and medical care is to improve the lives of persons with chronic mental illness and the lives of their families.
For nearly 50 years, there have been pharmacists who have specialized in providing pharmaceutical care to individuals receiving psychotherapeutic medication. As a member of an interprofessional treatment team, the psychiatric pharmacist focuses on optimizing drug treatment by monitoring clinical response, recognizing and managing drug-induced problems, recommending appropriate treatment plans, ensuring that baseline and follow-up laboratory tests and physical assessments pertinent to drug therapy are ordered and utilized, and counseling the patient and family members about their medication.