As co-owners of two community pharmacies, a compounding pharmacy, and a consulting company, my business partner and I have created practices that have developed and implemented value-added services. The services we have implemented include immunizations (flu, pneumonia, shingles and TDaP), health screenings, disease state management, medication therapy management, medication adherence program, medication synchronization services, consultations for CPAPs, ostomies and wound care, and continuous medication monitoring. Although I described these services as “value-added”, it is not the service in and of itself that is of value to patients, but rather the pharmacists’ knowledge and their ability to problem-solve for the patient. As I write this blog today, I am reminded of a statement made by one of my pharmacy colleagues when asked what makes a good pharmacist and his reply was “It’s about the therapeutics, stupid!”
My colleague was absolutely dead-on. We can offer many value-added services, but if pharmacists do not have the clinical knowledge and skills to ensure that patients are achieving their therapeutic outcomes with safe and effective drug therapy, then these services are just a shell with no real value. As our health care system moves to a value-based system and providers are evaluated based on their performance, then it will be those pharmacists who keep up with the literature, keep their knowledge current and relevant, and are capable of identifying and resolving drug therapy problems who will thrive in this new system.
Unfortunately, there is not an easy way for pharmacists to keep their knowledge current and it requires a lot of work and energy. It requires that pharmacist keep up with the guidelines, read and understand landmark studies, be involved in professional organizations, and apply their knowledge consistently in the practice setting. For some it may require some remediation, whereby they may need to take a series of courses on therapeutic topics that they need to further their understanding. But it does not end there, because to become comfortable with new knowledge, it is important that it is applied to everyday situations until it becomes entrenched in memory. Perhaps purchasing an updated therapeutics textbook as a guide will help, along with a case study workbook to apply new knowledge and therapeutic skills. Another approach is to connect with a faculty mentor who can provide you with reading material and cases to help you become a better clinician. Employers should invest in their employees and encourage them to attend local/state/national conferences, which would help increase their value as employees to better the practice. Even with employer support, it still is up to the individual pharmacist to read, assimilate, and apply new knowledge. In other words all of us need to become life-long learners.
At the end of the day, those pharmacists who keep their therapeutic knowledge current and relevant will be of great value to the health care system. More and more payers are recognizing the value of good and effective pharmacists in reducing total health care spend and improving patient outcomes. I am convinced that the future of our profession lies in our ability to affect patient outcomes, collaborate with other providers, and improve the bottom line of payers. Now is the time to prepare yourself for the this future which is coming fast and furious. It will all serve us well to remember our value to the system is all about our therapeutic knowledge and how well we can apply it to our patients!