What patients need—and what gets in the way

McPhillips and James walk through the practical and emotional barriers that delay patients from seeking care—scheduling friction, embarrassment about sensitive symptoms, a low sense of urgency for minor complaints, health literacy gaps, and logistical hurdles such as transportation and childcare. They argue that at-home tests for conditions such as flu, COVID-19, urinary tract infections, and sexually transmitted infections help patients clear these barriers by offering privacy and a lower-stakes starting point before (or instead of) a full provider visit, with pharmacists positioned to absorb some of the workload from overwhelmed prescribers.

The conversation then shifts to how pharmacists should handle the counseling moment itself. James notes that patients bringing in self-test results are still uncommon today, but sees pharmacists as well positioned to normalize the practice, pointing to possible future categories such as at-home strep and flu testing. Both agree that the biggest counseling misstep is rushing in with information instead of pausing to gauge a patient's emotional state, and they close by reframing the pharmacist's role in these moments as that of a true frontline primary care provider.