Coming of age: pharmacy practice in the 21st century.

Individuals, families, health plans and governments are struggling with the growing importance of managing chronic, non-communicable diseases. People in many countries are living longer and thus are facing many years of managing hypertension, diabetes and hyperlipidemia - often complicated by obesity, declining physical activity and changing diets. The financial burden this places on governments, employers, and individuals purchasing health care services is growing and solutions are being sought on how to both finance this care and deliver the best care possible. New ideas are emerging that look to newfound resources, and one untapped resource increasingly being utilized is the clinical pharmacist. After many years being primarily involved in medication supply-chain management, the assistance that highly skilled pharmacists can provide medical providers and their patients is now being recognized. In order to realize fully the benefits of clinical pharmacists, governments, health plans and medical providers are taking a second look at the wisdom of maintaining the long-standing policy of compensating pharmacists only for filling prescriptions.