Evolving role of clinical pharmacologists in Indian accredited hospitals

Over the past decade, the health-care sector in India has made significant progress. It is presently one of India's largest sectors, in terms of revenue and employment, and is continuing to expand rapidly. The huge pool of trained medical professionals in the country and the availability of high-quality medical services at affordable costs have given India the advantage over its peers in the rest of the world. Presence of world-class hospitals and skilled medical professionals has strengthened India's position as a preferred destination for medical tourism. Improving patient safety, medication management, infection prevention and control, quality performance and improvement, and environment of care are the primary objectives of hospitals. The hospitals involved in medical tourism are voluntarily seeking accreditation of their patient safety and service quality standards from accrediting bodies nationally and internationally. In India, the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH) is the constituent board of Quality Council of India, which has been set up to establish and operate accreditation program for health-care organizations. The accreditation program requires complete compliance to safe medication practices as a part of the management of medications in the hospital. This review discusses the evolving role expected to be performed by clinical pharmacologists as the primary custodian of medication management and medication safety process. As more hospitals in India aspire to become NABH accredited, it is expected that the role of clinical pharmacologists will be understood better and would be required to ensure proper and safe medication management system.