Clinical Community Pharmacy

This month I am at Kerr Drug here in Asheville. I am on my Advance Community rotation, which for most people is just another retail experience counting to 30 and all that jazz. Not for me. I am doing Clinical Community which to me is really a lot more like ambulatory care.

The pharmacists I am working with this month, Anthony and J.J., are there to do more than fill prescriptions. They spend the day doing medication reviews in multiple fashions. Patients that have Medicaid get "locked in" to a pharmacy when they get more than 11 prescriptions filled in one month. Once these patients are locked in, a pharmacist has to review all their medications every 3 months. Also. Medicare patients qualify to meet with a pharmacist once a year face to face to review all their medications. Anthony and J.J. also see City of Asheville and Mission Hospitals employees on a semi-annual basis to review their diseases states and medications as part of employee sponsored Wellness Programs.

After reviewing medications and disease management with the patients, we also contact the doctors. We fax them a note of what we talked about and make any recommendations we see. Usually we are trying to find cost savings alternatives for medications to reduce spending on the part of the patient and reduce healthcare dollars. And shots! LOTS of shots. Today, alone, we gave 9 Shingles vaccines, 6 H1N1, and 2 seasonal flu vaccines.

And there's follow up and billing. We also call the patients a few days or a week or so after our meeting or after their doctor has made changes to their medications to check up on them. We see how they're doing, how they like their medications, and have a way to hold them accountable to the goals they set with us for managing their disease. The best part is we can bill for these services. It has been a challenge for community pharmacists to show they know more than how to check pills and that they can make a difference in the lives of their patients. The federal government has acknowledged, to some degree anyways, that these are valuable services provided by pharmacists and they should be reimbursed for their time. Pharmacists know a lot more than they get credit for a lot of times, so remember to ask your friendly neighborhood pharmacist for help and advice next time you have a question about your health.