THE
OUTPATIENT
PHARMACIST
/ welcome
A message from our founder:
During pharmacy school, I had a wonderful inpatient preceptor. After I finally admitted to her that I was not enjoying the hospital setting, she specified that I preferred "walky talky" patients, and I think that's the essence of an outpatient pharmacist - in general, our patients walk to us, talk to us, walk away from us, repeat.
I was recently discussing some of the nuances of inpatient and outpatient pharmacy practice with a friend and colleague, and I had a realization: when caring for a particular community, all inpatient pharmacists are in the same building while outpatient pharmacists are scattered throughout the community.
My hope is that this is a space for us to connect.
/ outpatient vs inpatient
What's the same?
Collaboration
Pharmacists in almost all settings interact with other healthcare professionals on a regular basis.
Care
Pharmacists in almost all settings spend their days both directly and indirectly caring for patients in a variety of ways.
Clinical
Pharmacists in almost all settings use clinical decision-making when taking care of patients.
What's different?
Inpatient providers take care of patients that are admitted to the hospital (or other inpatient facility) and therefore require round-the-clock care/monitoring. Outpatient visits can last a few minutes to a few hours, but the patient is able to leave the encounter with a great deal of autonomy and responsibility.