Using the case of a patient receiving home enteral nutrition,we evaluated the usefulness of information provided by pharmacists in team medicine,as well their contribution to the quality of medicine practiced by teams.Problems were solved in the use of an enteral nutrition product through pharmacists instructing the community medical team with regard to changing the product,the hospital team concerning dosage,addition of water,formulation and antisepsis and providing guidance to the patient’s family.Pharmacists were evaluated on the usefulness of their pharmacy knowledge in solving problems,and communication skills.The medical care practiced by the teams was evaluated from the standpoint of its specialty-oriented,patient-oriented,paramedical-oriented,and coproduction-oriented characteristics.
The pharmacy knowledge of pharmacists was found to be useful in solving problems and their communication skills to raise the effectiveness of team medicine.Having a good balance between the above four characteristics helped the medical teams to solve problems.We consider that pharmacists can make a good contribution to community medical teams when they appreciate the roles of the paramedicals who form them,and offer pharmacy knowledge in the most appropriate manner.
