Evolving Role of Pharmacists in Care Coordination: A National Survey

Abstract

Care coordination focuses on interdisciplinary collaboration to provide high-quality health care at reduced costs. Pharmacists have integrated themselves into collaborative teams and are expected to continue expanding their role in order to provide services to patients throughout the continuum of care. This report details an online survey that was used to determine whether pharmacists envision an expanded role in care coordination in the next 5 years, in light of health care reform and the US Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010), and to determine the types of tools pharmacists will need to better facilitate care coordination. Results indicate that pharmacists predict an expanded role in care coordination in the near future as well as the need for innovative tools to aid in this expansion, especially electronic tools such as mobile technology and social media.