Flexibility has always been a critical skillset among pharmacists. They are frequently at the forefront of innovations in medicine, packaging, records, dispensing and technology.
In addition to making advances through products and processes, the ability to adapt is even more critical for pharmacists during unexpected crises.
Pharmacists adapt quickly during COVID-19
The COVID-19 crisis demanded a response that tested systems and processes across the globe. To continue helping customers, pharmacists needed to adapt to the constantly shifting needs of the pandemic. In many cases, this meant creating new procedures to perform our services and deliver our products.
Medication delivery methods needed to be re-tooled to keep supply flowing. To minimize infection control concerns, we made central drop deliveries and instituted the use of paper manifests rather than electronic to reduce cross-contamination with frequently-touched objects.
Soon after the lockdown declaration, our industry transitioned to virtual functions, and pharmacists embraced the new landscape and socially distanced themselves to support the needed change.
Many processes were rethought, and improvements were created and launched. For example, we enhanced the delivery of dynamic yet secure messaging and e-prescribing, which is vital to improving the professional interactions between providers, patients and pharmacies.
Video conferencing got some of our people envisioning new uses for telemedicine, like consulting with nurse managers, administrators and large groups of long-term care (LTC) caregivers on medication therapy management. We also looked at ways for our consultant pharmacists to virtually connect individually with nursing home residents on a variety of topics.
Pharmacist adaptability will continue to drive innovation
As they envision a highly automated system by 2023, our software engineers also spent time during lockdown developing possible ways to streamline the process of prior authorizations, which today is very time-consuming. When rolled out, these improvements will allow physicians and the nursing facility to communicate through an app, rather than the current cumbersome system of telephones and faxes, saving staff time and reducing frustrations.
Another technology solution that will take the industry paperless is the creation of virtual communication pathways for ordering medications, which would make cumbersome paper-based processes faster, safer and more efficient. For example, after hospital discharge, an app might communicate to nursing homes via the electronic medical record, which would generate a transmittal of the patient’s discharge paperwork to the accepting facility.
Despite the past year of turmoil, we find ourselves energized, committed and optimistic about the future. The adaptability and flexibility that were so critical during COVID-19 will now be turned to improvements. We will continue to work on innovating processes, products and systems – not in reaction to a crisis, but to deliver better results for residents and partners.
T.J. Griffin is PharMerica’s chief pharmacy officer and senior vice president of long-term care operations. He is a seasoned healthcare executive with 30 years in long-term care and retail pharmacy management. In his current role, he helps deliver on the PharMerica promise of Care, Commitment and Collaboration by maintaining the highest quality standards in the industry through innovative pharmacy operations and clinical excellence.
The opinions expressed in McKnight’s Long-Term Care News guest submissions are the author’s and are not necessarily those of McKnight’s Long-Term Care News or its editors.
