Andrea Kowalski, Director of Clinical Services Shrivers Pharmacy
Right now, pharmacies across the nation are looking very different as they have become the frontlines for covid vaccines, covid testing and monoclonal antibody administration. The services provided in the pre-pandemic pharmacy have been forced to the back burner, but it doesn’t mean that those services have become any less important. Although the new landscape of pharmacy is met with a new set of challenges, it is time to adapt and turn our focus back to the clinical services that have played such a vital role in taking care of our patients.
A new challenge that has presented itself is the fact that fewer patients want to come into the pharmacy and more are opting for home delivery of their medications. This has significantly affected our hypertension clinical service through Flip the Pharmacy, as we can’t physically take blood pressure readings for all of our patients. However, with the incorporation of the latest change package, we have made a few adaptations that have helped this service be successful.
First, a focus on medication synchronization has helped us flag high risk patients, increase the number of phone interactions as their fill date becomes predicable, and make actual improvements in outcomes as their adherence increases. Secondly, in order to perform the meaningful collection of blood pressure readings, we have found blood pressure monitors that are covered by some payers and the patient can collect readings over the phone with the pharmacist. This has empowered our patients to take their healthcare into their own hands as they have the tools to monitor their improvement and a pharmacist to help them along the way.
To learn more, listen to Andrea join the Flip the Pharmacy Best Practices webinar!