Community Pharmacy Clinic Opportunities
Due to the changing scope of pharmacy practice in Ontario and across Canada pharmacists performing an increasing amount of clinical services related to diabetes and other medication therapy management. The introduction of the MedsCheck Program, and more specifically the Diabetes Annual and Follow Up MedsCheck Reviews in September 2010, was a huge step forward with respect to pharmacy delivered cognitive services. One additional or parallel program that can be used to increase patient awareness of pharmacy services and promote improved patient care is hosting a clinic day. The two examples below are geared towards a typical community pharmacy and are posted here with the aim of sharing practice experience and increasing the availability of pharmacy based clinical services.
Multidisciplinary Diabetes Clinic Example
Clinic Description
This style of clinic was conducted on 3 separate instances with the goals of engaging the pharmacy's existing diabetes patient population, promoting clinical services offered within the pharmacy, and providing a multidisciplinary intervention for patients.
Each clinic was coordinated by pharmacy student who enlisted the support of a blood glucose meter manufacturing company representative as well as another healthcare professional able to provide an intervention related to diabetes care. Each clinic was set up to be one full business day in length (approximately 9:00 am to 6:00 pm) and host 12-18 patients total. The clinic structure included 3 stations; a Diabetes Annual or Follow Up MedsCheck with a pharmacy student, a diabetes care intervention from another healthcare professional, and a product demonstration by a blood glucose meter manufacturing company representative. The MedsCheck and diabetes care intervention both lasted up to 30 minutes and the product demonstration lasted approximately 10-15 minutes. This meant each patient was in attendance at the clinic for approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes.
The 3 different diabetes care topics used across the 3 clinic days were foot care, provided by a foot care nurse, healthy eating, provided by a registered dietitian, and physical activity, provided by a clinical kinesiologist. Each of these consultations was documented on a pre-printed form to facilitate patient flow through the clinic, and this documentation form was kept on file with the MedsCheck documentation.
In order to ensure the clinic day ran smoothly all of the necessary forms and MedsCheck Reviews were prepared the day before and the pharmacy staff were informed of the clinic day and their supporting roles.
Patients were recruited for the clinic using in store signage and a targeted telephone recruitment strategy where patients with diabetes and who were expected to be able to attend were contacted. Interested patients were provided an appointment time using a structured appointment schedule based on the specific clinic day. Appointments were scheduled every 30-45 minutes with periodic breaks throughout the day. After initial contact patients were reminded of the clinic appointment 1-2 days before and confirmation of their attendance was recorded. Clinics were very well attended with nearly every space filled across all 3 clinic days.
From the perspective of the pharmacy these clinics were successful in engaging the existing diabetes patient population and informing them of the clinical services that pharmacists can provide. Also, these clinics provided value for patients through the diabetes care intervention and MedsCheck Review, and also provided education on a new product. The clinics also provided the meter company representative additional exposure for their product. Additional benefits to the pharmacy include increased patient satisfaction, additional MedsCheck revenue, and experience hosting a clinic.
This style of clinic was conducted on 3 separate instances with the goals of engaging the pharmacy's existing diabetes patient population, promoting clinical services offered within the pharmacy, and providing a multidisciplinary intervention for patients.
Each clinic was coordinated by pharmacy student who enlisted the support of a blood glucose meter manufacturing company representative as well as another healthcare professional able to provide an intervention related to diabetes care. Each clinic was set up to be one full business day in length (approximately 9:00 am to 6:00 pm) and host 12-18 patients total. The clinic structure included 3 stations; a Diabetes Annual or Follow Up MedsCheck with a pharmacy student, a diabetes care intervention from another healthcare professional, and a product demonstration by a blood glucose meter manufacturing company representative. The MedsCheck and diabetes care intervention both lasted up to 30 minutes and the product demonstration lasted approximately 10-15 minutes. This meant each patient was in attendance at the clinic for approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes.
The 3 different diabetes care topics used across the 3 clinic days were foot care, provided by a foot care nurse, healthy eating, provided by a registered dietitian, and physical activity, provided by a clinical kinesiologist. Each of these consultations was documented on a pre-printed form to facilitate patient flow through the clinic, and this documentation form was kept on file with the MedsCheck documentation.
In order to ensure the clinic day ran smoothly all of the necessary forms and MedsCheck Reviews were prepared the day before and the pharmacy staff were informed of the clinic day and their supporting roles.
Patients were recruited for the clinic using in store signage and a targeted telephone recruitment strategy where patients with diabetes and who were expected to be able to attend were contacted. Interested patients were provided an appointment time using a structured appointment schedule based on the specific clinic day. Appointments were scheduled every 30-45 minutes with periodic breaks throughout the day. After initial contact patients were reminded of the clinic appointment 1-2 days before and confirmation of their attendance was recorded. Clinics were very well attended with nearly every space filled across all 3 clinic days.
From the perspective of the pharmacy these clinics were successful in engaging the existing diabetes patient population and informing them of the clinical services that pharmacists can provide. Also, these clinics provided value for patients through the diabetes care intervention and MedsCheck Review, and also provided education on a new product. The clinics also provided the meter company representative additional exposure for their product. Additional benefits to the pharmacy include increased patient satisfaction, additional MedsCheck revenue, and experience hosting a clinic.
Meter Selection Clinic - Currently In Development
Check back here soon for more details! This clinic will provide patients with an overview of the meters available and help them decide whether their current meter is appropriate or whether they would be happier switching to another meter. If you have any questions or comments about this clinic idea please share it with us using the contact form!