As pharmacies begin to work more closely with their prescribing physicians, many encounter this hurdle: they have to get doctors and nurses to rethink pharmacy.
With a true medication adherence program, you’re not simply dispensing medications. You’re at the center of patient care. This presents an opportunity to redefine your relationship with these doctors.
Learn how Centennial Pharmacy earns doctors’ trust through medication management and ongoing communication.
Provide a Service Physicians Appreciate and Value
Pharmacies and physicians are facing similar pressures. With the shift to value-based ratings and payments, they’re looking for ways to improve patient outcomes and reduce costs. It’s a perfect opportunity for pharmacists and physicians to pair up.
“When you’re going into the doctors’ offices, you want to provide a service they’re going to appreciate,” Lindsay says. “The doctors are very collaborative once you introduce them to the program and explain what the services are.”
Through a comprehensive adherence program, Centennial Pharmacy Services takes medication management off physicians’ hands. This minimizes the time nurses spend on med reconciliation, gives visibility to what other doctors have prescribed, and provides clarity on patients’ full medication regimens.
“PASS really puts us back into patient care. We’re able to kind of control the medication in a way that we really weren’t able to before,” Lindsay says. “We’re not just a pharmacy. We’re not just filling pills. We’re not just handing bottles over the counter. We’re actually part of the health care field, and the doctors rely on us.”
Become a Central Hub of Communication and Patient Care
As a result, Centennial Pharmacy Services has put itself right at the center of patient care.
“We’re able to contact the prescriber and say, ‘Listen, your patient is getting medications filled by this doctor.’ And they had no clue,” Lindsay says. “It’s incredible when you can take those medication regimens, show them to the doctor, and the doctor goes, ‘Wow. I’m writing for something the other doctor is writing for also.’”
It’s common for patients managing multiple chronic conditions to see more than five different prescribers. The pharmacy’s physician notification process has improved communication between doctors and streamlined the order process.
Now, most specialists make recommendations to the PCP, who reviews them and handles the prescription order.
“Unless there’s a really intense specialty treatment that’s needed — usually oncology, geriatric, palliative care — we’re able to use one prescriber,” explains Lindsay.
This has minimized duplicate therapies, opportunities for drug interactions, and polypharmacy — giving Centennial the ability to manage medications more effectively than ever before.
“It’s such a great feeling for the pharmacist because it gives them back their doctorate degree, which is something that has been taken away from them,” Lindsay says.
Want To Hear More From Lindsay?
This is the third of six posts in our From the Pharmacy series.
About Lindsay
Lindsay is president and co-founder of Centennial Pharmacy Services in the Philadelphia area. Lindsay reinvented her family’s corner pharmacy as a full pharmaceutical care provider with an adherence-focused business model. This model has captured the attention and business of universities, hospital systems, and insurance companies. As a result of Centennial Pharmacy Services’ multifaceted adherence program, partners report better patient outcomes and decreased health care costs.
About Heather
Heather provides strategic guidance, coaching, and support to customers who use Parata PASS adherence packaging. With 22 years of experience working as a nurse in settings across the health care industry, Heather speaks the language of patients, prescribers, and payers. She helps pharmacies communicate the value of their medication adherence programs to patients and partners to maximize their success.