Future of Pharmacy

New tools and technology applications proliferate as multiple, industrywide shifts take hold in pharmacy.

By leveraging do-it-yourself testing momentum, community-based and retail pharmacies can solidify their position as health care hubs with a category management approach that enhances the consumer experience and boosts store relevance and revenue.

Patient-controlled analgesia typically consists of opioids or local anesthetics, but it may also include non-opioid analgesics or other medications.

A survey of women in New York confirmed that nearly three-quarters would be comfortable getting a contraceptive prescription from a pharmacist.

Increasing workplace diversity, addressing health disparities, and overcoming disruptions from COVID-19 are considered top goals among pharmacy stakeholders.

Walgreens plans to focus on improving pharmacy staffing and retaining and rewarding current staff.

As a new year approaches, pharmacists have so much to look back on and be grateful for, and a world of opportunity in front of them. Here are a few things to be ready for right away in 2023.

Currently, no national pharmacy organization has defined wellness in the pharmacy profession, which is needed so that others have a sense of guidance around wellness within the profession.

In recent years, pharmacist roles have evolved as critically important caregivers who increasingly provide essential health care services far beyond medication dispensing.

Updated prescribing guidelines issued in 2014 and 2016 may explain lower use of opioids by 11.7% among patients with chronic, nonsurgical pain.

Leaders must fully understand the benefits of diversity and create an environment in which it thrives to cultivate and inspire the next generation of inclusive leaders.

In addition to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, significant public health concerns include opioid overdoses, maternal mortality disparities, and climate change.

Last year in particular, pharmacists played a greater role in patient care with an increased workload as they connected patients, providers, and payers.

Purpose-built assisted reality solutions help streamline processes and maintain regulatory compliance from the laboratory to the factory floor.

Automation can lessen the administrative burden on providers and accelerate specialty prescribing and dispensing to provide patients with quality care the moment they need it.

As a part of the Women in Pharmacy series, Catherine Duggan, FRPharmS, CEO of International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP), explains her hopes for the pharmacy profession following pharmacists’ pivotal and expanding roles in the pandemic.

More than 90% of independent pharmacy customers want technology to enhance their experience. Is your pharmacy ready?

If pharmacists increasingly take up the prescribing mantle, then they must see to their competence to exercise that authority.

Health care is inherently human, so digital health care technology aimed at advancing human health needs empathy to be successful.

Pharmaceutical companies are looking into AI as the new method to not only reduce research and development costs, but also prevent costly errors.

QR codes are currently used in various health care settings, such as in hospitals for patient verification, but more recently for health care-related education.

With a trained representative focused on building relationships with prescribers in the community, pharmacies have the opportunity to significantly expand how they do business.

Motivational interviewing is an evidence-based method of communicating with patients who are ambivalent or resistant to change for the sake of their health.

The value proposition for point-of-care testing in the pharmacy is extensive, as pharmacies can provide a convenient, accessible, and cost-saving alternative for patients.

As individuals in a society, all people have implicit, or unconscious, beliefs that they have been socialized to hold; however, health care professionals’ implicit biases can impact patients’ lives.

The forthcoming strategic plan will be focused on guiding future NIH research efforts to improve the health of all women throughout the life course.

Motivational Interviewing is a collaborative conversation style that can empower patients to stay the course and achieve better outcomes.

Specialty pharmacies need processes, systems and tools to quickly determine medication delivery status, reassure confidence, and alleviate patient anxiety.

There are several important policy issues that could impact pharmacists’ ability to positively affect the quality of care for patients through the use of pharmacy performance measures.

Analytics allow for a better understanding of the needs of various patient populations and the barriers they face in accessing care.