The U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) recently released a landmark report identifying a “rationale and compelling discussion to support health reform through pharmacists delivering expanded patient care services.”

In an exciting development for the pharmacy profession, U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, MD, MBA, released a letter publicly supporting the report. It is notable that a high-ranking government official would get behind a report that advocates pharmacists as health care providers.

The USPHS report is already generating a buzz within the profession, and APhA will be using the report in our advocacy and practice development work. The report and the letter from the Surgeon General are available on pharmacist.com.

The report, “Improving Patient and Health System Outcomes through Advanced Pharmacy Practice: A Report to the Surgeon General 2011,” was coauthored by several USPHS pharmacists and led by U.S. Assistant Surgeon General Scott Giberson.

APhA Board of Trustees member and student pharmacist Sara McElroy is currently on rotation with RADM Giberson and was instrumental in developing communication strategies for the report and interfacing with APhA so that we were ready with a public statement and news article as soon as the report was made public.