What Are The Different Types Of Pharmacies?
You might think that a pharmacy is a pharmacy, right? However, there are different types of pharmacies out there, which are explained below.
Retail Pharmacy
Retail pharmacy is also called community pharmacy. They can be easily located in your locality. These are most traditionally called chemist or pharmacist shops. These shops offer the community access to medications they need and advice to ensure the effective and safe use of medications that they provide. They can let their customers know about drug interactions and the interaction of medications with alcohol and also help prevent troublesome medicine combinations.
Compounding Pharmacy
A compounding pharmacy produces and prepares medications in new and improved forms. This can include reformulating a tablet to solution form which can help in easy administration of the medicine for some patients. A compounding pharmacy can also dispense ready-made medication in some situations.
Hospital Pharmacy
This is the place where medication management occurs in a clinic, hospital, or nursing home. Hospital pharmacies can also be involved in compounding medications for sterile medications or individualized dosing and clinical trials. These pharmacies may also be involved in administrative functions in the storage, selection, distribution, and prescription protocols of medications.
Clinical Pharmacy
A clinical pharmacy can exist in many settings like hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, and other medical centers. A clinical pharmacy aims to ensure the best possible use of medications to have optimal outcomes. These pharmacies can help predict interactions between medications and prevent adverse reactions.
Consulting Pharmacy
This is a comparatively new branch of pharmacy that was initiated in 1990. A consulting pharmacy primarily aims at performing theoretical reviews of medications in place of dispensing them. Consultant pharmacists can visit patients in-home or work in nursing care homes to offer their services. They help patients use their medications most effectively and safely.
Industrial Pharmacy
This includes the pharmaceutical industry and involves the research, production, quality control, packaging, sales, and marketing of medications. An industrial pharmacy will have pharmacists to advocate for the use of their products and also to inform practitioners about the benefits and actions of their medications.
Ambulatory Care Pharmacy
This type of pharmacy offers healthcare services to patients in rural areas, especially geriatric patients. Ambulatory pharmacies are mobile and can meet patients at their location. Therefore, they help decrease the number of hospital visits needed by the patients. Oftentimes, they are directly or indirectly employed by a managed healthcare organization.