# A Multi-Dimensional Analysis of the Changing Role of Clinical and Community Pharmacists in Romanian Healthcare

## TL;DR

This paper reviews the evolving roles of Romanian pharmacists and highlights barriers and opportunities for their better integration into healthcare systems.

## Contribution

The study provides a systematic and bibliometric analysis of pharmacist roles in Romania, identifying gaps and suggesting systemic changes.

## Key findings

- Romanian pharmacists have untapped potential to improve treatment outcomes through clinical advice.
- Pharmacovigilance is not currently emphasized in university curricula, contributing to professional limitations.
- Health insurance coverage and updated training are needed to fully integrate pharmacists into multidisciplinary teams.

## Abstract

Community and hospital pharmacists in Romania are valuable to healthcare, but their involvement in multidisciplinary teams is still not up to the mark when measured against international standards. A systematic literature review search was conducted using the PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Scopus databases, following the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, complemented by a bibliometric analysis with VOSviewer, to identify research trends and key contributors in the field. This review examines studies such as counseling effectiveness, clinical contribution, and professional obstacles faced by pharmacists in Romania published between 2014 and 2025 that mainly focus on community practice, integration into hospitals, and new areas such as pharmacogenetics and pharmacovigilance. The studies surveyed patients on how they evaluated counseling, tracked clinical pharmacists who adjusted drug doses through therapeutic monitoring, checked whether healthcare professionals followed safety warnings, and checked management systems within institutions. High costs and the removal of pharmacovigilance from compulsory university courses add to the obstacles. Romanian pharmacists already possess the knowledge or skills to raise treatment success and shield patients from unsafe self-medication through timely clinical advice. To use this capacity fully, the system must change, including health insurance covering pharmaceutical services, compulsory updating of course content, and official interdisciplinary protocols for this potential to be fully exploited.