Identifying Areas of Clinical Pharmacist Involvement in Advancing the Care of Patients with Multiple Sclerosis

Background: Clinical pharmacists are uniquely positioned to improve the care of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). There is limited literature regarding pharmacists in the care of the MS patient population. Most literature focuses on the role of a dispensing pharmacist working within a specialty pharmacy model. Additionally, roles of clinical pharmacists vary between MS centers. This research hopes to fulfill an unmet need by surveying current members of the MS care team to validate the importance of having a pharmacist included in the MS care team.

Objectives: Our objectives are to outline the primary areas that clinical pharmacists are involved in patient care at MS centers and identify the perceived value of that care by multiple providers in different disciplines. Additionally, we aim to identify opportunities to increase pharmacist utility in the clinical management of patients with MS.

Methods: The research study is a voluntary survey that will be randomly sent to fifty MS centers identified through the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC). Organizations that do not provide MS specific clinical care will be excluded from site selection. The survey will be in an electronic format only and will be available for eight weeks. Two separate surveys will be created; survey respondents will be asked to identify him/herself as a non-pharmacist provider (MD, PA, NP, RN, PT, OT, or LSW) or as a pharmacist provider (PharmD or RPh). The survey will collect insights on clinical pharmacists involvement in the MS clinic, rankings of the key activities, demographic information, and opportunities for role expansion.

Results: In process.

Conclusions: Results of this study will provide important information on the activities of clinical pharmacists, areas where clinical pharmacists can improve patient care, and opportunities for role expansion. The study will solidify significant roles that clinical pharmacists can fulfill as part of an MS interdisciplinary care team.

IRB approval pending for Rutgers University, the University of Colorado and the University of California, San Francisco