Patients ’ Expectations And Knowledge of Patient Counseling Services That Are Available From Pharmacists1

The purpose of this article is to present research findings from a stream of research undertaken in the 1990s that address three questions: (i) Why are patient’s expectations and knowledge of counseling services provided by pharmacists important?, (ii) What do patients expect from pharmacists?, and (iii) How are patients ’ expectations of pharmacist services formed? The results from this stream of research show that many patients lack an understanding about the expanded counseling roles that pharmacists are prepared to provide. A predominant patient expectation of pharmacists is that of a supplier of prescription products rather than that of a concerned counselor regarding medications. There is much more work to be done to inform patients about what their pharmacist is capable of doing in the health care system and how pharmacist services can add value to a patient’s health care. “All too frequently, the patient is met by a clerk, who delivers the prescription to the pharmacist, who resides in splendid isolation within a glass enclosure. After an inordinately long time the clerk returns with the medication and rings up the sale. I’ve seen this entire transaction completed without any verbal exchange whatsoever!... Although this picture of th