The word fall can bring many thoughts to mind. For some, images of corn mazes, pumpkin patches and hayrides, come to mind. For me and many other pharmacists, vinyl gloves, the smell of rubbing alcohol and vaccine inventory come to mind. While recently considering how becoming a pharmacist has forever changed my anticipation of autumn, I was reminded that not so very long ago, vaccination at the pharmacy was a novelty rather than the routine that it is today. I am sure that those pharmacists entering the new frontier of flu season had similar thoughts to those of us who are now facing practice transformation of another kind. Self doubt and questions like "how will I fit this in" and "should pharmacists even be doing this" circulated through pharmacist minds. Fast forward several years and a pharmacy not giving immunizations is the exception. So the bottom line is that "we did it", we fit immunizations into our workflow and we definitely should be doing it, because look at the positive effect on our communities. Flip the Pharmacy is a similar frontier and because of our past struggles and successes, we know that we will be able to do this too. We will find a way to fit e-care plans into our workflow and screen for patients in need of medication synchronization while we fill their prescriptions. Some day these processes will be as common place as getting your flu shot from your local pharmacist.
Fall is a time of transformation and I am excited to be a part of a Flip the Pharmacy practice transformation team.