The evolving profile of cognitive pharmaceutical services in Australia

Globally, the availability and delivery of cognitive pharmaceutical services (CPS) by pharmacists has expanded over time. Australia has been no exception to this trend, with government funding to support the provision of certain CPS significantly increasing over the last two decades. Whilst medication management services have been consistently funded by the government for more than 15 years, fluctuations in the funding of other CPS have been observed; for example, certain disease state management CPS and introduction of funded MedsChecks. Furthermore, legislative changes have broadened pharmacists’ scope of practice and the CPS provided, contributing to an increase in user-pay services. Although the literature to date has highlighted positive impacts associated with CPS on economic, clinical and/or humanistic outcomes, context-specific, real world evidence for the benefits of CPS is much needed to ensure the profession engages in evidence-based practice. The aim of this commentary is to outline the changes in CPS provision and funding within the Australian context, the existing evidence for CPS, and highlight the implications for future research.