Typical day in our pharmacy.  Pharmacists are at intake engaging with patients.  Yes, we did not tidy up before I snapped this candid of my staff!

When I graduated from pharmacy over 20 years ago, the buzz and excitement at the time was “pharmaceutical care”.  I can remember carrying to my first job a copy of Hepler and Strand’s “Opportunities and Responsibilities in Pharmaceutical Care”(1990).  Such was my enthusiasm to provide this type of care to patients.

What ensued was 20 years of practice where the majority of my time was spent signing my name on the plethora of prescriptions presented to me.  Mixed in with some counselling on new prescriptions or a smattering of other tasks such as dealing with drug plans, inventory, orders and narcotics, what’s striking is that about 80% of my time was spent on technical tasks which did not require the university degree I had worked so hard to attain.

Pharmacy practice has largely remained unchanged over the past 20 years.  Pharmacists still perform technical tasks a large majority of their time, tasks more suited to registered technicians and assistants.  Often the only interaction pharmacists have with patients is to give verbal and written information about new drugs.

It is not surprising that real change has not occurred in pharmacy practice as the profitability in pharmacy has historically depended on the drug product going out the pharmacy door as quickly as possible. Pharmacists, as the final check, were the rate limiting step for profitability, thus honing our skills for fast, efficient dispensing was paramount.

Today however, with the convergence of expanded scope practice and the changing landscape of pharmacy reimbursement, billable and cash paying services, the time is ideal for pharmacists to step out front and fully embrace our role as pharmaceutical care providers.  Medication reviews, care plans, adapting therapy, chronic disease management are all about optimizing drug therapy and solving drug related problems (DRPs).

However.…we simply cannot do this on the back end of work flow when we’re checking prescriptions.

Pharmaceutical care requires that we work WITH the patient, engaging them in their own care and decision making, becoming involved in their therapy, taking responsibility for drug therapy decisions and collaborating with other care providers.  To do this we need to be out front.  We need to dialogue with patients when they present to allow for assessment of their medications, chief complaints and chronic disease therapy.   The “pharmacist at intake” model has yet to be widely adopted, but initial pharmacist assessment is absolutely critical to providing patient centered care.  Here’s my top 5 reasons why:

1. It is nearly impossible to find and resolve DRPs with only a patient profile and a prescription hard copy in front of you (ie: the most common “pharmacist checking” scenario). The vast majority of problems are not discovered due to a lack of discussion with the patient. Assessment of the patient (not just the patient’s file) and shared decision making along with the patient are essential.
2. Checking prescriptions can be done at a fraction of the cost by a registered technician. Pharmacists are no longer needed for back end checking. Therapeutic assessment of the prescription can be done on the front end of work flow along with the patient.
3. If our only interaction with a patient is to provide information (ie: counselling), we will shortly be regarded as irrelevant. This is the information age and approximately 92% of adults aged 18-39 now carry a computer in their pocket.  Information is at our patients’ fingertips and pharmacists are no longer the only source of drug information.
4. Profitability from drug product is shrinking (low fees/margin, PPNs, loss of rebates/pan-Canadian, cuts on short fills/blister packaging). Profitability from expanded services is increasing.  Identifying opportunities and providing expanded scope service requires assessment and engagement of the patient by the pharmacist.
5. Pharmacist on the back end is highly in-efficient.  If a pharmacist does discover a DRP through back-end counselling, the prescription has already been entered, prepared, checked, and the patient has waited.  Now the team must go through the entire process again to fix the problem and the patient waits yet again.  This is a highly inefficient use of staff resources.

Pharmacists have an incredible opportunity to step into their true role. No other profession has the expertise to guide patients and engage in shared decision making to optimize drug therapy.  Pharmacists have unique knowledge of therapeutic guidelines, patients’ current drug therapy, alternative drug therapy options, drug benefit lists, drug administration solutions, and previous response to medications. We cannot afford to wait another 20 years.  We need to step out from behind the counter and engage our patients where they’re at.