The Pharmacist’s Expanding Role in the Care of Patients with HIV/AIDS Infection

Objective. To collectively document the pharmacist’s increasing role in the management of HIV-infected patients beyond those duties already listed in the 2003 American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) position statement. Background. In 2003, ASHP published a position statement on the pharmacist’s role in the care of patients with HIV infection. Almost a decade later, numerous published papers have described the developing roles of clinical pharmacists in the provision of pharmaceutical care for this patient population. Methods. A literature review was conducted by searching PubMed, Ovid and Embase databases from January 2002 through November 2011 using the following combined search terms: pharmacist or pharmacy and HIV. Results. Pharmacist’s duties have continued to expand within HIV care at the national level, the state level, and the local/community level. The pharmacist’s growing roles are documented in the inpatient/hospital, outpatient/ambulatory care, community pharmacy, academia, and pharmaceutical industry settings. Specifically, the literature describes pharmacist-lead initiatives in the areas of patient education with an emphasis on medication adherence, delivery of prevention messages and interventions to patients, collaboration with and education of healthcare providers in an interdisciplinary model, working with government organizations and serving on advisory panels, conducting clinical research and providing university-level education. Conclusion. The health care system is increasingly dependent upon pharmacist’s expertise in the management of HIV infection