May is Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month

by pharmacy on May 10, 2013

This May, we celebrate Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month, and with it we’d like to offer some tips and tricks to get your pharmacy and medical team members active in your communities. Raising awareness for these common and critical issues is more crucial than ever. May is also Celiac Awareness Month, which does indeed fall into the category of allergy awareness. Being vigilant about offering products, suggestions, and education to customers about asthma, treating asthma, living with a food allergy or environmental allergy, and how to raise awareness of these issues are just some way to give back to the area that your pharmacy is based in.

Events are a great way for pharmacies to network with other medical providers in the area, local television and radio outlets, and even students interested in the health and medical fields. Not only do these events offer potential press coverage for your pharmacy, but they open dialogue between professionals and customers living with asthma and a food allergy. Offering allergen free foods, a cooking demonstration on how to prevent cross contamination, or a book signing by an allergy-friendly cookbook author is another useful asset to any allergy and asthma awareness event held this May. Offering pulmonary screenings, an allergy checklist, or another type of survey can also be useful. Offering literature identifying common asthma triggers such as smoke or improper ventilation, or food allergens from exposure to gluten, soy, nuts, dairy, and shellfish can be helpful. Often, patients will not recognize symptoms of asthma or an allergy/food sensitivity, believing it to be common pollen allergies or an upset stomach. Press kits and further reading can be helpful in aiding customers in scheduling follow up appointments with their primary care physician if necessary.

Recruiting local sponsors to help with an allergy or asthma awareness event is also helpful. More and more local food vendors are cooking without gluten, and ship nationwide. Many grocers offer a gluten free food section, and there are ways of eating that eliminate soy, dairy, wheat, legumes, and more. Offering information into these eating plans, along with a grocery list or coupons from a local grocer or baker is a way to get the community involved. Having tables where gluten free or allergen aware chefs and bakers can market their goods is a wonderful first step toward raising awareness of not only celiac disease, but other common food allergies such as those to shellfish.

Finding businesses in your community to tell their story is key. Keeping connections local and making sure to have staff on hand to answer questions and field customer inquiries is important to the success of any event. How has your pharmacy addressed asthma and allergy awareness even when it is not May? What are some things that you have found helpful to draw customer’s attention to a healthier lifestyle or easier breathing? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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California Bill Would Classify Pharmacists as Medical Providers

by pharmacy on May 8, 2013

A bill that aims to see pharmacists recognized as, “health care providers who have the authority to provide health services” is making its way through the California state legislature. This bill has potential to travel quickly through the senate, or it could end up frozen and hung up on technicalities. The bill shows a changing attitude towards the services that pharmacists provide, and with it allows for a more open dialog about what medical providers can or could expect from a pharmacist listed as a medical provider in their facility.

The bill would allow California pharmacists to dispense smoking cessation drugs, train others about drug therapy, participate in reviews of patient milestones and have access to medical reports to offer suggestions or alternatives, furnish contraceptives, and more. Having pharmacists able to complete these tasks will free up valuable time and resources in hospitals, primary care clinics, and other health care settings. It would be a boon to the public by allowing pharmacists to perform physical exams, offer patients referrals to other healthcare providers, adjust and begin drug therapies, and more.

There is a vast shortage of health care providers in California, and this bill would enable many pharmacists to fill a much needed role for medical providers in the state. This will allow pharmacists to have the designation of “Advanced Practice Pharmacist,” and enable them to perform the basic health care assessments and services listed above. This designation is currently available for pursuit by pharmacists in the state of California, offering this advanced designation to over 40,000 pharmacists. Allowing pharmacies and pharmacists to offer their services in a variety of settings, and expanding the services which they can provide is a crucial step in easing the burden on an already overtaxed medical care provider system in California.

Pharmacists in California will be allowed to expand their services provided, allowing for basic services to be rendered by the pharmacists on staff instead of a primary care physician or another member of a medical team. Creating more health care providers is key, as California’s medical care options are set to change drastically when the Affordable Care Act goes into effect in 2014. California’s state level health care assistance program, Med-Cal, will not currently allow coverage for pharmacist rendered services under its current Medicaid program.

Changing the landscape of services that pharmacists can offer is just one goal that this bill hopes to accomplish. With the Affordable Care Act going into place, and more medical providers being open to expanding their practices to include pharmacists in a larger role in everyday tasks, the way that the public views their local pharmacist is set to change. If this bill moves through the senate, the ability of pharmacists and pharmacies to better serve their community and their state.

How has your pharmacy expanded or modified roles of your team to meet the needs of your community in a changing healthcare world? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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Millions of Reasons to Switch to CPOE

by pharmacy on April 24, 2013

The medical field has benefited greatly from the use of computers in the workplace. Computer Provider Order Entry (CPOE) is just one of those benefits, but is one of the more important and potentially lifesaving. Given the amount of prescriptions dispensed improperly over the course of a day (Which the Institute of Medicine estimates to be roughly 1 error per day, per patient), reducing medication errors is a great reason to switch to CPOE that can help keep your customers safe.

By implementing a CPOE system, the amount of time spent processing a medication order decreases, and the margin for error is much less. Over 17 million prescription errors can be prevented through the use of CPOE. Brigham and Women’s hospital was able to reduce their overall error rate by 81% by using CPOE instead of traditional prescribing methods. Offering patients access to better healthcare with less costly and potentially dangerous errors is key to a pharmacy’s success.

Adding CPOE to your location’s workflow may seem like a daunting task. How to best merge your CPOE with the needs of your healthcare practice is an important decision to make. Having a testing period of your CPOE before it goes live is crucial to making sure that your team members understand its functions, benefits, and how it will improve both their workflow and client care at the same time. Making the transition from paper exchanges to CPOE orders can be difficult, and identifying the most common scripts that may change is a great way to get your employees learning about CPOE. Making sure that the process is monitored throughout its rollout period is another task to consider. Often, some practices can change at night. 24 hour pharmacies may operate differently than a location that has a set closing time. Making sure the CPOE works for all shifts is crucial.

Identifying your pharmacy’s weak areas and addressing them in your CPOE is a way to bolster overall success, provide better customer care, and allow your team to adjust and improve on these areas in real time. Creating a CPOE process that employees can understand and have had time to get used to—instead of upgrading overnight, is helpful. Making sure that all members of your team understand the benefits of CPOE and can use the program to its full potential are great starting points.

Has your pharmacy switched to CPOE? What have you found most daunting, or has been the biggest improvement to your daily workflow? Share in the comments below.

 

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Pharmacists in the Primary Care Setting?

by pharmacy on April 17, 2013

Many pharmacists are finding employment in an uncommon setting in 2013—primary care facilities. This care model enables pharmacists to focus on patient care. Pharmacists that work in this type of facility offer medication information, health and wellness screenings such as diabetes screening, and more. Pharmacists that opt to take these positions save patients time and possibly expensive hospital trips, as well as saving hospitals valuable time and resources.

Offsetting costs and increasing overall customer satisfaction are vital to any successful primary care setting. Pharmacists can integrate their services into a primary care office with a little time and effort. May primary care areas are open to funding trial projects if their budget has the funds available. Stressing the overall customer satisfaction rate, the amount of time saved by a clinic that has a pharmacist on staff, and other benefits, such as reducing overall medication costs, are crucial to finding a place in a primary care setting.

Pharmacists can offer patients significant health benefits when added to a PCP team. Patients with diabetes, hypertension, or another commonly treated condition can benefit greatly from having a pharmacist available to discuss issues with. Adding a pharmacist to a PCP team ensures that patients have access to someone that has extensive knowledge of medication regimes that can often be complicated and exhausting to remember. Pharmacists can streamline programs and offer suggestions to help clients manage their conditions easily, while preventing medication abuse and following up on patient adherence to treatment plans.

Often, new pharmacists can complete some of their educational training on site at a primary care clinic. This gives the pharmacists experience in working with clients, managing a variety of cases, and managing prescribed medications. Refilling and suggesting scripts, aiding with financials, modifying treatment plans, and helping patients to understand and control their chronic conditions are just some of the things that a pharmacist can learn while a team member at a primary care office.

Pharmacists can conduct vaccine clinics throughout the year to help patients prevent common illnesses. Implementing an influenza clinic or Gardasil vaccination for young adults are just a few examples of the sort of public service that a pharmacist could add at their primary care location. The landscape for pharmacists is changing as the requirements to obtain licensing become stricter. Pharmacists have to complete clinic hours, and often can opt to do so in the primary care setting. Clinics often serve under represented populations, so working at a mobile health clinic or an urban primary care facility is a great way for a hopeful pharmacist to gain valuable experience about serving at risk groupings.

Pharmacists can weigh the benefits of working in a traditional pharmacy over working directly with patients. Overall, the choices are varied. When it comes to patient care, working in the primary care setting offers a hands-on experience that some larger traditional pharmacies may not be able to deliver. How have you navigated the changing times for pharmacists in the primary care setting? Share your story in the comments below.

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April is Autism Awareness Month

by pharmacy on April 10, 2013

 Autism affects 1 out of every 88 children in the United States alone. The condition is known to affect five times more males than females, and its symptoms range from mild to severe. While some children can function on a daily basis and do so with quirks and odd habits, others are entirely nonverbal and their behavior patterns can change drastically from moment to moment. Pharmacies can offer support to families and youth alike by taking steps to provide adequate social and medical care in their facilities.

 

Often, pharmacies will be the last stop in what is often a busy schedule. Families do more in less than time than ever. Autistic youth and adults may have extensive—and expensive—behavioral and psychological assessments or evaluations. These coupled with the cost of a possible prescription drug treatment can be a hardship for families. Offering generic prescriptions where available in a patient’s medication regime can help offset a financial burden. Treating children with autism can cost a family up to $3 million dollars over their lifetime. Oftentimes, families will have to pay for occupational, behavioral, and psychiatric therapies out of pocket if their insurance program does not cover the costs for autism therapies. Helping clients manage prescription costs by verifying scripts are accurate and substituting generics where able are just some of the ways that a pharmacy can help its customers trying to manage their autism or aid a family member with the condition.

 

Another way that pharmacies can aid their customers and families with an autistic family member is to connect with support services in the area. Many autism acceptance social groups, playgroups for young children, and informative meetings for parents are available around the United States. Pharmacies can supply a list of autism support groups or resources available for their county by conducting a simple web search, or visiting Autism Key  to find an organization in their area. Finding support and knowing that one is not alone is a vital tool that can make sure that those living with autism, their parents, and families are able to receive the care and support from their local community that they need.

 

Fostering a relationship with a local autism charity to raise funds for autism awareness is another way that pharmacies may be able to raise awareness and support a good cause. The Dan Marino Foundation and the Autistic Self Advocacy Network are just two of the charities that are causes seeking to better the lives of those with autism and the people who love them.

 

There are numerous ways that your local pharmacy can both support and raise awareness for autism during the month of April, and this list names only a few—be creative and respectful in your efforts. Speaking for the population with autism is never the goal. Offering to help them share their personal stories and enabling your clients to lead a healthier and happier life, is. What are some tools that your team has implemented to raise autism awareness during April? Share with us in the comments below.

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Reaffirming the Importance of Prenatal Supplements

by pharmacy on March 27, 2013

Reaffirming the Importance of Prenatal Supplements

Prenatal vitamins are crucial for healthy mothers and healthy babies alike. However, many expectant mothers do not currently follow a prenatal vitamin regimen, despite knowing the many health benefits for doing so. Prenatal vitamins help keep expectant mothers from missing out on vital nutrients they may be missing in their diets, and keep mineral levels optimal to help ensure their babies the best chance at healthy development. Many mothers know they should be taking prenatal supplements if they are not already following a prenatal care regimen, and pharmacies can encourage women to fill vitamin prescriptions, help ensure they are taking the right vitamins to meet their unique needs, and more.

The Journal of the American Medical Association recently published an article on a Norwegian study that linked increased folic acid levels in early pregnancy with a 40% decreased risk of the unborn child developing severe autism. Autism rates are on the rise, and increasing folic acid supplementation is easily done with the proper prenatal vitamin. Customers that are concerned about nutrient quality can easily find vitamins to fill a wide variety of dietary concerns and budget constraints. High quality raw food prenatal vitamins exist and are marketed by the Garden of Life company. If your pharmacy does not carry these particular prenatal vitamins, consider doing so to encourage customers with dietary concerns to continue a supplement regimen.

There are many other benefits to prenatal vitamins beyond the obvious. Women may not realize how many minerals are lacking from their diet, and report healthier skin, hair, and nails while taking a prenatal vitamin. Of course, minerals are best found in food–but prenatal vitamins help fill the gap between foods eaten and other environmental factors. Ensuring that both mothers and babies get the best prenatal vitamin to help bridge any nutritional gaps is necessary for keeping your customers healthy and happy.

There are many factors to consider when customers choose a prenatal vitamin, and all pharmacy staff should be open to dialogue with customers. Being able to answer any questions that expectant families may have regarding their new vitamin regime as they welcome a new family member is crucial. Calling customers to remind them to fill prescriptions that they may have forgotten during such a busy time, or encouraging automatic refills is another way that pharmacies can help new parents acclimate to their busy lifestyle. Choosing the right prenatal vitamin is a great starting point, and further streamlining of a busy schedule can go a long way toward customer satisfaction.

 

 

 

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