The Consultant Pharmacist’s Role in Long-term Care Facilities

As the elderly portion of the US population continues to grow at an alarming rate, it is expected that the extent of their drug utilization will also escalate proportionately. The typical geriatric patient often presents with multiple medical disorders that are being treated with multiple drugs. With the elderly, as the number of medications increase numerically, the incidence of adverse drug reactions may increase exponentially. At times, one drug may be prescribed to treat the adverse effects of another medication. Studies show that the cost benefits of having consul-tant pharmacists conduct drug regimen reviews on patients in long-term care facilities resulted in a savings of $220 million. These cost savings resulted from the influence of consultant pharmacist