Community pharmacist-physician collaboration in managing polypharmacy and multimorbidity in Poland and Portugal

Abstract

Pharmacist-physician collaboration is fundamental in managing the increasing burden of chronic diseases, which often contribute to polypharmacy (five or more medications) for treatment. Polypharmacy is a matter of serious concern since it is linked with negative health outcomes. Like in Poland, the Portuguese healthcare system faces the burden of chronic diseases with a high frequency of multimorbidity (two or more chronic health problems) in more than 70% of adult patients in the primary care setting. In Portugal, the cooperation of primary care physicians and pharmacists is also scarce. But in my opinion, they should be working closely together to ensure the safe and effective use of medications, minimize adverse drug reactions, and optimize therapeutic outcomes to reduce polypharmacy as it was recognized by the physiciansin- training in the study by Wrześniewska-Wal et al., especially when managing patients with multimorbidity.