The ins and outs of pharmacy services at a program of all-inclusive care for the elderly.

A program of all-inclusive care for the elderly (PACE) is a medical care model currently used in 75 clinical settings across the country. The goal of the model is to allow a participant to live independently in the community as an alternative to living in a long-term care facility. To be eligible for enrollment, participants must meet the following criteria: 55 years of age or older, at a nursing-facility level of care (as determined by the state), living in the PACE service area, and can be safely cared for in the community at the time of enrollment. Once enrolled, care for the participants is provided by an interdisciplinary team (IDT) comprising several medical professionals, including pharmacists. Although not a required member of the IDT, pharmacists can be instrumental to the care of PACE participants. When available, pharmacy services can be divided into dispensing pharmacy services--providing onsite access to medications--and consultant clinical pharmacy services--providing consultant, acute, and chronic disease management, education, administration, and academic/scholarly services. With a lack of current pharmacy services at many PACE organizations and the potential for expansion of pharmacy services, pharmacists can be beneficial for both the IDT and participants in a PACE setting.