Pharmacists are well trained and well placed to perform a wider range of primary-care functions than they are but state regulations hamstring their ability to interact with patients — for example by taking their medical histories and ordering tests — and with other clinicians. And Medicare hurts by merely reimbursing pharmacists for the prescriptions they order and not encouraging them to provide the deeper treatment they could offer because of their clinical training.
That’s a very expensive waste of talent and knowledge, as this Business Insider article reports.
Patients could get a lot more care from their pharmacists, improving patients’ medical outcomes and keeping them away from much more expensive sources of care, if regulators would only let them.
