Multidisciplinary Approach in Home Medical Care: A Survey on Information Sharing and Tasks Related to Medication Management and Pharmacotherapy

In home medical care, pharmacists must optimize pharmacotherapy through interprofessional collaboration. This study aimed to determine the differences in tasks related to medication management, pharmacotherapy, and information-sharing tools among professionals in home medical care. We conducted a questionnaire survey on 555 home medical care professionals. The results showed differences in tasks related to medication management and pharmacotherapy between medical professionals. Physicians and nurses were also found to more likely perform tasks related to medication management and pharmacotherapy. While some rehabilitation professionals and registered dietitians often perform tasks that leverage their expertise (eg, assessing motor and cognitive functions and checking for swallowing difficulties while taking medications), the proportion of tasks related to medication management and pharmacotherapy tends to be low. Although the most commonly used information collaboration tools among multidisciplinary professionals are telephone and fax, the application tool is considered as the most useful. This survey revealed the individual roles that home medical care professionals play and the differences between professionals in information collaboration. Pharmacists can provide high-quality pharmacotherapy by recognizing the specifics of the work of different professions and offering information collaboration that is tailored to the needs of other professionals.