Kentucky pharmacist intervenes on anticoagulation nonadherence
Pharmacy advocates share their stories on healthreform.gov.
Pharmacist.com is proud to provide accounts of pharmacists’
dedication, initiative, and commitment to the cause of advancing our
profession. The next installment in our series of advocates’
letters—culled from contributions to pharmacist.com www.pharmacist.com and healthreform.gov—comes
courtesy of Amy Thompson, PharmD, who has been working as a pharmacist
for the Kroger Company’s Mid South Division—located in the
Lexington, KY, area—since May 2009. She wrote this letter while
serving in her previous position as the Patient Care Services Director
of the Community Wellness Centers in Mount Sterling, KY, where she had
been using Outcomes, an online
medication therapy management (MTM) tool. Thompson makes the case for
pharmacist inclusion in health care reform by sharing two specific
examples of her successful patient interventions.
If you haven’t done so already, post your own story on healthreform.gov, and send a
copy of the text to Allison
Wiley at APhA.
Dear Mr.
President:
I am a community pharmacist who provides MTM services to patients at
local pharmacies in central and eastern Kentucky. I would like to share
two of the many interventions that I have had with patients this past
year as a result of this service.
In the first intervention, I discovered that an Outcomes-covered
patient had been taking an excessive dose of aspirin. On this excessive
dose, the patient was at risk of a serious bleeding event. I discussed
the risks of taking too much aspirin and recommended that the patient
decrease the daily dose. The patient accepted the recommendation and
began taking a lower dose of aspirin every day. This intervention
prevented serious complications without sacrificing effectiveness and
proven health benefits. In this second example, I was performing a
medication check-up with an Outcomes-covered patient at Ross Drug in Mt.
Sterling, KY. I noticed the patient was no longer taking an important
blood-thinning medication. When the pharmacist inquired about this, the
patient responded that she had run out of refills and didn't think the
medication was needed any longer. After consulting with the physician,
it was determined that the patient was still supposed to be taking the
medication daily. The physician authorized a new prescription along with
appropriate monitoring. My intervention helped to prevent a
life-threatening event.
As you develop health care reform proposals, I'm writing as a
pharmacist to ask that you ensure that any proposal recognizes the role
that pharmacists can play in improving the quality and safety of
medication use and improving health outcomes. As the medication expert
on the health care team and one of the most accessible health care
providers, I am in the unique position of helping to coordinate patient
care and providing preventive services such as MTM services.
Unfortunately, my medication expertise is one of the most underutilized
resources in the health care system. As you know, patients with complex
medication regimens and/or with chronic illnesses constitute the bulk of
our current health care spending. Well-coordinated and high quality care
is essential for ensuring quality of life for these patients. In a
variety of practice settings, pharmacists, collaborating with patients
and physicians, have improved the health outcomes for these patients and
have reduced health care costs in both the public and private sectors
through MTM programs. Patient access to pharmacist-provided patient care
services is an absolutely essential step to achieving better quality in
our health care system. These critical services help to ensure proper
medication use while improving medication adherence, both of which
improve therapeutic outcomes and reduce overall health care costs. Such
services empower patients to become active participants in their health
care. The health care reform debate provides an opportunity to build
upon these public and private MTM successes. Therefore, as you consider
how to improve our nation's health care system, I urge you not to
overlook the valuable role that pharmacists can play and expand patient
access to pharmacist services. I welcome the opportunity to discuss my
experiences in improving patient outcomes. Please do not hesitate to
contact me with any questions.
Related resources on www.pharmacist.com
Beth Farnstrom, (bfarnstrom)
Posted July 13, 2009, 5:00 pm EDT
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