Pharmacists receive arguably the most well-rounded training of any healthcare profession, yet most are underutilized counting pills behind a counter.
Nearly ⅓ of patients report that the pharmacist looked too busy to speak with them about their personal medical concerns.
- Consumer Reports Annual Questionnaire 2014
Today’s pharmacists are highly trained, highly underused professionals who can save you trips to the doctor, optimize medication usage, prevent harmful drug interactions and administer immunizations.
The pharmacist role on the healthcare team is becoming more clinical every day, with provider status and medication therapy management leading this change. Telepharmacy can help pharmacists practice at the top of their license by shifting their focus to the patient. Here’s how:
Focus on patients
Telepharmacy reallocates the task of prescription processing to the technician so that the pharmacist is no longer a rate-limiting step in the workflow. This allows pharmacists to focus on patients without being interrupted or falling behind. For example: in our workflow, prescriptions enter “smart queues” so that pharmacists can easily manage the workload that builds up while they are counseling patients and providing clinical services. Our software enables pharmacists to verify prescriptions when they are free to do just that.
The pharmacists’ time is in high demand. Telepharmacy acts as a tool to help optimize day-to-day tasks so pharmacists can focus on fulfilling their obligations in the pharmacy.
Impact more patients
Barriers to crucial healthcare access can be addressed through modern technology. At TelePharm, we’re on a mission to make pharmacists the most accessible healthcare provider in the world. Telepharmacy creates new opportunities for pharmacists by giving them the ability to reach more patients, impact more lives and better influence health outcomes. It also allows a pharmacist to be used virtually anywhere without being a financial burden.
Access to a pharmacist’s knowledge and expertise translates to better care for underserved patients, even if economics require the pharmacist to be located offsite utilizing technology to communicate with patients.
[Drug Topics Article] Connected: Telepharmacy Unites the Team
Advancing the role of the technician
There’s been a lot of discussion lately about the varying responsibilities and evolving role of pharmacy technicians. In a telepharmacy, the certified pharmacy technician sees an advanced role that includes managing the day-to-day operations of the pharmacy with the virtual supervision of a licensed pharmacist. In addition, many industry stakeholders, including organizations like the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB) and the American Society of Health System Pharmacists (ASHP), are advocating for pharmacy technicians to become more professionalized.
Advancing the role of the technician increases the time a pharmacist can spend with patients. This enables pharmacists to focus on outcomes, higher-level clinical services and operate at the top of their licenses.
Pharmacists: practice at the peak
Pharmacists are trained to do so much more than simply verify prescriptions behind the counter. It’s time we implement a workflow that enables pharmacists to perform at the peak of their abilities to ensure we’re offering patients the best care possible. It’s time for telepharmacy.
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