Pharmacy-Based Travel Health Services in the United States

Abstract

Pharmacists and pharmacies are highly visible and accessible to the public and have long been regarded as a source for immunization services in the United States. As international travel continues to increase and grow in popularity in this country, there is a pressing need for expanded access to preventative health services including routine and travel vaccinations and medications for prophylaxis or self-treatment of conditions that may be acquired overseas. In the United States, the scope of pharmacy practice continues to expand and incorporate these preventable health services to varying degrees on a state-by-state level. As a result, pharmacists can help to increase access to and awareness of the need for these services to insure that patients remain healthy while traveling abroad and that they do not acquire a travel-related disease while on their trip. For those pharmacists interested in starting a travel health service, considerations should be undertaken that ensures that they have the necessary training, education, and skill set in order to provide this specialty level of care and that their practice setting is optimally designed to facilitate this service. Outcomes from studies that have evaluated pharmacy-based travel health services are positive, which further supports the role of the pharmacist in this setting. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to highlight United States pharmacy laws and regulations, pharmacist training, travel clinic considerations, and patient care outcomes from pharmacy-based travel health services.

Health-promoting services provided in pharmacies

“…Four studies mentioned the vaccination services in the pharmacies. [ 6 10 11 24 ] The study by Todd et al . in the UK used the geographic information system and reported that people have access to the pharmacies more than the general physicians.…”

“…The study reported that the vaccination by the pharmacies is effective in preventing the transmission of diseases from other countries to the US. [ 24 ]…”

“…Numerous people die each year due to the diseases that are preventable by the vaccines. [ 24 ] While the pharmacies can play a positive role in this regard. The pharmacists can educate the people on the immunization, provide recommendations for vaccination, and administer the vaccines.…”

“…The assessment showed that of the 18 included studies eight had good quality[ 3 6 10 11 12 13 14 15 ] and 10 had moderate quality. [ 1 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 ] To assure uniform handling of the data, a form was used for data extraction which included title, author(s), year of publication, country of study, study purpose, applied methodology, and the results-the mentioned functions for the pharmacies. The narrative analysis method was used to analyze and report the data.…”

The Frequency and Efficiency of the Application of Online Sources for Searching Drug Information and Self-Treatment

“…Expanding the work functions of pharmaceutical workers and increasing the subjects of pharmaceutical consultation and the list of medical services are actively studied around the world [1][2][3]. So, in the USA, the possibility of informing the population about immunization, including tourist vaccinations, the use of drugs for the prevention or self-treatment of diseases, and pharmaceutical care [4] is discussed. The pharmaceutical specialist is a reliable and accessible source of information, which often leads to violations of the rules and procedures for the sale of drugs.…”