To maximise impact, hospital pharmacists need to increase visibility

Hospital pharmacists are essential to patient care and the integrity of the healthcare system. By applying their expertise as medication experts, they act to improve patient outcomes and reduce the cost of medication therapy. These outcomes have been demonstrated by numerous studies. In one meta-analysis, it was observed that the addition of a hospital pharmacist on interdisciplinary rounds in the intensive care unit (ICU) reduced adverse drug events, patient mortality, and length of stay.1 Another study found that the introduction of a clinical pharmacist to the ICU team led to cost savings of $1977 (€1822) on medication over the 24-week study.2 Despite their positive impact on patients and the healthcare system, hospital pharmacists are underrepresented in the media and with the public. These gaps in representation contribute to a lack of visibility within and outside of the hospital setting. Visibility is important as it is linked to professional advocacy. The lack of visibility may result in underrepresentation of hospital pharmacists in leadership or governance activities. One study evaluating healthcare professional representation on hospital boards in New York City found that while physicians and nurses were represented, not a single pharmacist was found on hospital boards in the city.3 Encouragingly, one pharmacist was found to sit on the governing body of a federally qualified health centre.3 One way to increase visibility is by increasing public knowledge of the … Correspondence to Dr Peter Chengming Zhang, University of Toronto Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, Toronto, ON, Canada; petercm.zhang{at}mail.utoronto.ca