Influence of the Health-Service Reform in Germany on the Pharmacist’s Role in Phar-macotherapy

Overview

The present paper describes the pharmacist’s role in Germany during the health-service reform andshows his prospects within pharmacological therapy and his role in contemporary modern society.However, emphasis is placed on the out-patient provision of drugs. The development of the recentyears clearly indicates the effects of the health-service reform on all concerned in German healthservices. For this reason the present paper has been extended to include the description of the currentsocial and health guidelines for health services. Moreover, it also describes the individual stages ofthe health-service reform in Germany between 1989 and 1997. The theoretical part was supportedby patient’s opinion polls. With examples of 500 interviewees from Bavaria and Baden-Württem-berg, patient habits were surveyed regarding drug consumption, compliance, self-treatment, anddrug information as well as the patient’s expectations of the pharmacist. Depending on the growthof scientific knowledge in health services and on the need for medical care, the pharmacist’s rolehas to undergo continuous changes, worldwide. Due to the analysis and scrutiny of the transforma-tion of German health services – for Germany has a state health insurance in traditional solidarity– the present paper gives a prediction concerning further development, and, above all, the necessarychanges in the pharmacist’s work in the framework of health services to be carried out. Generallyit is possible to say that the obtained knowledge has general validity which other countries can makeuse of while considering their local conditions.

Key words:
health-service reform – Germany – pharmaceuticals – pharmacist’s role