Practice Tips

It has been announced by Benzer Pharmacy, that the Tampa- Fla.-based chain will be addressing the demand for clinical solutions to supervise overprescribing patients. The company will be tackling this issue by providing medication therapy management, or MTM, to its customers.

“Medication therapy management is a patient-centric approach to bridge the gap between pharmacists and patients. By providing increased access to pharmacists, patients are able to take on a more active role in their wellness journey,” Alpesh Patel, president of Benzer Pharmacy, said.

There is no shortage of hurdles when it comes to achieving patient-facing care. Here are some key challenges and how the industry is trying to address them.

Long wait times: The biggest reason for dissatisfaction with a pharmacy is long wait times, said Oscar Cateriano, director of dispensing U.S. Retail, at BD.

Pharmacists still are waiting for the handcuffs to come off. That’s the consensus of industry leaders who are frustrated with the challenges of getting reimbursements for a wider range of services these professionals can perform. It’s a topic at the center of enabling patient care in community-based pharmacy.

“We talk about pharmacists being able to practice at the top of their license,” said CVS Health executive vice president of retail pharmacy and supply chain Kevin Hourican.

An elderly patient comes home from a doctor visit with a new set of prescriptions to manage her high blood pressure. The new meds are added to her already crowded daily regimen, but the first week is fine, in part because the patient has family members in town who help her adjust to the new medications.

But then the family leaves, and the patient struggles to remember the correct dose of her medication and when to take it. Not long after, she suffers a mild stroke and is rushed to the hospital.

To complement its growing lines of IV and tamper-evident products, Medi-Dose/EPS is adding Steri-Tamp Tamper-Clear Syringe Seal to its lines of IV and tamper-evident products.  

Officials at the Ivyland, Pa.-based company say that the Tamper-Clear Syringe Seal provides a tamper-evident seal with clear visibility of syringe graduations. They say that it is easily applied over the syringe cap and maintains the integrity of the medication and packaging--even when refrigerated. Once removed, the seal cannot be reapplied and removing the syringe cap destroys the seal. 

BOSTON — Health Dialog, a leading provider of integrated population health management solutions for health plans, risk-bearing providers and self-insured employers, recently hosted a complimentary webinar where Peter Goldbach, the company’s chief medical officer and a national authority on shared decision-making, provided strategic advice to help organizations execute effective shared decision-making programs that reduce costs, improve outcomes and increase patient satisfaction.