Patient Access, Public Health Advisor, and Legal Variances

Troy Trygstad, PharmD, MBA, PhD; Brian Hille, BSPharm, RPh; Mindy Smith, BSPharm, RPh; John Beckner, BSPharm, RPh; and Ned Milenkovich, PharmD, JD, identify patient access and the role of a pharmacist as a public health advisor.

Transcript:

Troy Trygstad, PharmD, MBA, PhD: The American Pharmacists Association—Mindy, you’ve got some familiarity in your career—had this quote for a long period of time that may be even more amplified now, that “The equivalent of the US population is in a pharmacy once a week.” Right? And so, how many folks walk into an Albertsons?

Brian Hille, BSPharm, RPh: It’s a lot.

Troy Trygstad, PharmD, MBA, PhD: It’s a lot. It’s in the millions.

Brian Hille, BSPharm, RPh: Yes. And in my world, because we are a pharmacy within a grocery store, too, we have this opportunity with all of these people who just are coming in to buy their groceries on top of those who actually use our pharmacy. So, it’s amplified greatly in our kind of a setting. I think that’s actually why Safeway Albertsons, the grocery store, traditionally has done very well and was an early adopter, because we had access to these patients and they’re coming through our door anyway, and so we can touch them. To John’s point, we have such a huge opportunity during flu season. Knowing that only 23% of patients have received their booster dose for tetanus, that is a tremendous opportunity for pharmacists to identify those patients during the time of a flu shot.

Troy Trygstad, PharmD, MBA, PhD: But let’s also not forget that we usually end the season somewhere in the low 40s for flu vaccination. Right? So, one begets the other. But if we focus on flu vaccination and that effort, and we’ve got a regular workflow going on because folks are coming in to get that, let’s get those other numbers up as well, right?

Mindy Smith, BSPharm, RPh: And also with pediatrics, the pharmacist can leverage their trusted relationship and inform the family to make sure that if they cannot do the state guidelines—immunize a child under 5, for example—they are also reminding the parent to get their baby vaccinated, too. So, that role of being that public health advisor also is an important role, just as important as giving the vaccine to those that they can.

Troy Trygstad, PharmD, MBA, PhD: That’s right. So, the sign out in front of the pharmacy that says “Flu vaccine available” is necessary to let them know that the flu vaccine is available in the pharmacy. But it’s also important to cue the person: “Oh, it’s flu season. I know to get the flu vaccination even if I get it at work or somewhere else, right?”

Mindy Smith, BSPharm, RPh: Right, yes.

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