Pharmacy U news

How many of us have encountered situations with patients where we find ourselves dealing with bigger problems because the smaller problems were not addressed earlier? We all have! Medication adherence, complex therapies, opioid use, managing drug interactions, the list can go on and on!

Emotions have everything to do with leadership! Emotions are the fuel of leadership. And when harnessed correctly, they can advance us a great distance. When we entertain the idea that pharmacy is the hope of healthcare, we must quickly recognize that hope is an emotion.

If you are selling your pharmacy business and want to maximize its value on the market, appearances matter. A store that is neat, organized and clean tells prospective buyers not only that they will have to spend less time getting it in working order, but also that you, the seller, have cared for your facilities, kept them in tip-top shape, and put the effort into not leaving a messy headache for the next owner.

In an effort to shed light on some of the most commonly searched questions about diabetes, and to debunk common misconceptions on this topic, I spoke with fellow pharmacist, and Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE), Dr. Fairuz Siraj on the Friendly Pharmacy 5 channel.

At the end of January, I got a new boss. Skip Bourdo was named as incoming CEO of Neighbourly Pharmacy. I had a great relationship with the previous CEO, Chris Gardner. Chris made my transition to an employee easy and allowed me the freedom to work on projects that I am passionate about. As soon as the press release went out about a new CEO, I started getting calls asking if I was concerned about an American coming in.

There seems no reprieve to the pharmacist’s daily battles, let alone carrying the weight of nurturing a high-volume prescription count, staff that need plenty of attention and keeping an eye on a business that depends on a ton of moving parts.

While a pharmacist is counselling a patient in-person, would it be appropriate for them to stop to answer the phone? Would we expect this of a surgeon or a plumber? Then why do we have to stop what we are doing mid-thought to answer the phone in the first two or three rings for the sake of good customer service?

Pharmacists monitor medication safety and efficacy within the drug delivery system. I very much like this definition, but I also understand the need to adjust it as we move forward. We don’t just dispense, we don’t just check for allergies and drug interactions, we aren’t just the medication experts. We are something larger than that which blends these elements (and many others) together for the benefit of the people we serve.