Community pharmacists are on the front lines of patient care and play a key role in helping people who rely on their medications to stay healthy and out of the hospital.
They know their community members, many of whom have complex medical conditions and will come through their doors ten times in a month. They educate patients about taking their medications correctly, make sure they are following through on physician recommendations, guide them to preventive services, and more.
Community pharmacists who serve on BPHC’s Pharmacy Workgroup are looking at the challenges pharmacies face in serving our patients and helping to develop solutions that align with DSRIP goals. Recently, the Workgroup collaborated with BPHC to educate patients who are on antipsychotic medication on the importance of A1C testing.
Medication adherence has been identified as an issue that pharmacies across the board seek to improve. Antidepressant medication management for the “acute” and “continuation” phases of treatment are also priority measures for our PPS.
In April, several pharmacies began a pilot to identify and follow up with patients in these two phases of their antidepressant medication treatment and measure patient compliance with filling their prescriptions pre- and post-intervention.
Participating pharmacies are: E Jerome Pharmacy, J&N Pharmacy, Jolin Pharmacy, Mount Carmel Pharmacy, and Total Care Pharmacy.
We look forward to reporting on their results.
Published June 1, 2017