[Roles of the hospital pharmacist and the cooperation between hospital pharmacy and insurance pharmacy in the introduction of home parenteral nutrition].

In the introduction of home parenteral nutrition (HPN), roles of the pharmacist are important from the viewpoint of drug therapy. In our hospital, patients are to be shifted to home medical care under the adequate guidance and proper adjustment by the cooperation between the clinical pharmacists and home medical care pharmacists. We are also enhancing the cooperation with the pharmacists in insurance pharmacies. At present, however, there are few insurance pharmacies that can concoct the injection of medicine, resulting in our insufficient responses to the needs of the patients. It is necessary and quite important to increase the number of insurance pharmacies that are allowed to manage the patient's medication as well as the concoction of injecting medicine. The cooperation between hospital pharmacy and insurance pharmacy (Yaku-Yaku Renkei in Japanese) is indispensable in order to promote home medical care; especially "the sharing of information" is most required between the two pharmacy groups.