Practice of Home Medical Care of Cooperation between Regional General Hospital and Private Pharmacists

As a general hospital that plays a supporting role in regional medical care, our hospital has been addressing the problems regarding the “Study Project for Cooperation Between Pharmacies in Medical Institutions Offering Home Medical Care and Private Pharmacies” initiated by the Ministry of Health and Welfare in 1997. In this cooperative system, efforts have been made by hospital pharmacists and private pharmacists to interlink such systems as the system for instructing patients being discharged regarding their medications and the delivery system. In this regard there has been an increased exchange of information between pharmacists on patients requiring medical care at home. This system of cooperation between hospital and private pharmacists in home medical care is thought to be an effective way to improve the quality of treatment, and thereby enhane the quality of life for such patients.