The role of pharmacists in the comprehensive care of patients with hepatitis c: A systematic review

Abstract

Objective: To identify and characterize the actions/interventions carried out by pharmaceutical services to approach patients with Hepatitis C and propose a clinical pathway for managing the disease that involves pharma-cists. Methodology: A systematic review was conducted in PubMed and EMBASE using the terms “Hepatitis C,” “Pharmaceutical Services,” “Community Pharmacy Services,” and “Pharmacies.” Articles published until March 31, 2019, whose central topic was the activities carried out by the pharmaceutical services in the care of patients with Hepatitis C, were included. Information on the activity performed, the person in charge, whether the intervention was individual or collective, and the implementation environment was collected. The activities were grouped into promotion and prevention, administrative management, pharmaceutical care, research, and other support services. Based on the above, a clinical pathway for the management of Hepatitis C involving pharmacists was proposed. Results: Sixty articles were included, mainly descriptive studies. Most publications reported interventions in the United States and Spain. Pharmaceutical staff involvement was identified at each stage of the care process, including the provision of harm reduction services, Hepatitis C virus screening, enrolling patients to treatment, medication prescription, and laboratory orders. Conclusions: The actions/interventions carried out by the pharmaceutical service for Hepatitis C management were identified and characterized. A clinical pathway has been proposed to integrate professional pharmaceutical services with other patient care activities.