cc licensed ( BY SA ) flickr photo by Maciej Lewandowski: http://flickr.com/photos/macieklew/336716711/

We all know change is upon us. The various pressure points prodding at pharmacy practice can seem overwhelming. Disappearing rebates and pharmacy profitability shifting to professional services means that filling prescriptions at top speed is no longer fueling profit and focus is shifting to billable professional services. Undoubtedly, much has to change in our practices to move forward into a new practice paradigm. What’s the path and how do we get there?

Conversations with colleagues and implementing change in my own practice has brought forward five main “change points”:

Work flow

Workflow as it currently is in most pharmacies is highly inefficient for the new era of pharmacy practice. We mostly see pharmacists at the back end of work flow checking and counseling patients. This is highly inefficient as problems are often not discovered until the prescription has been inputted, processed AND the patient has waited for “x” amount of time. If the pharmacist finds a problem at checking or counseling, the entire process starts over again. In addition, there is no assessment of the patient’s indication, possible drug related problems, or an efficient tagging of possible clinical services (ie: billing opportunities). The skill of being able to quickly pin point what clinical services we can bill for at each patient encounter is becoming more and more critical as profitability in product decreases and profitability in expanded services increases. (More on this in The Future of Pharmacy Practice.)

Responsibilities

We have been hearing for years that technicians need to take on more roles and responsibilities in the dispensary. In many provinces, technicians can check another technician’s work. For the new era of pharmacy practice, this is essential. Pharmacists will be more hands off in dispensing leaving the preparing and checking of prescriptions to their technicians. The availability of qualified pharmacy technicians and change in their scope of practice is paramount to change in pharmacy practice.

Software

Pharmacy software historically has fallen short in allowing clinical documentation. In saying that, most pharmacists haven’t been using or searching for this function. We need software developers to move forward in this area. (This may involve pressuring your software company for further change.) However, some software you can actually work with. It just may take some figuring on how to maximize your software functions for your documentation needs. Software incapabilities should not be used as a reason to not move forward with practice change. Move forward, work with what you have, and push for software updates to make documentation and collaboration requirements (ie: copious faxing) seamless in your practice.

Confidence

Pharmacists that I have worked with and/or mentored in practice change, often confess that they just don’t have the confidence to “make the call” when it comes to drug related problems. They’d rather put the ball back in the physician’s court to make decisions. Even when they are SURE that there is a better drug or regimen or dose for their patient, they send a fax so the physician can make the change. There are many reasons for this, better addressed in a separate post, but most pharmacists cite a lack of confidence, perceived or real lack of knowledge, and lack of time to feel comfortable assessing the patient and making the decision.

Most pharmacists are on the back end of dispensary workflow, being called forward by a technician for counseling or if they encounter what they determine to be a real problem. But there’s the problem. We are depending upon our technicians to identify problems or patient needs rather than assessing for ourselves whether the patient has a drug therapy problem. This workflow arrangement misses countless problems, and with the new billing framework, countless opportunities to bill for patient care services.

Tackling a lack of confidence and knowledge/skills can seem overwhelming but in fact it is not. It can be done in a step by step manner with each step building upon the previous one. Assessment and prescribing skills can be sharpened and confidence builds with the applying of new skills. The amount of time spent documenting, assessing and following up with patients also becomes shorter as comfort and skill level increases.

Expectations

Pharmacists’ relationship with physicians and patients is changing. Physicians are receiving more “notifications” of prescription changes and pharmacist prescribing rather than “requests” or recommendations. (And yes, this is causing some tension and confusion between the professions.) Patients, on the other hand, are experiencing a higher degree of care and assessment. While patients have to become accustomed to waiting longer to see a pharmacist, most will realize, through experience, that when they do see their pharmacist their drug therapy is ultimately improved.

Within each of these change points there are individual barriers unique to each pharmacists practice setting. How we address our barriers and move forward will ultimately determine the sustainability of pharmacy practice.