In 1999, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) issued a report calling for increased coordination of care to improve the quality of health care in the United States.1 The IOM report led to a change in the culture of our health care system and to the advancement of multidisciplinary teams known today as collaborative practice. Pharmacists are firmly established as an important element of the multidisciplinary health care team, yet there remains room for improvement in developing pharmacists’ relationships with other health care providers. Improving the relationship between pharmacists and physicians brings definitive benefits for the practitioners, such as facilitated exchange of patient information, more immediate resolution of drug therapy problems, and more positive work environments. The overall goal of promoting collaboration is not for the benefit of pharmacists and physicians but for patients’ benefit. A healthy relationship between pharmacists and providers allows prompt communication regarding the detection of medication errors, adverse effects, allergies, and compliance issues, which allows for more effective patient care.
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Cromer et al. (2009) studied this question.