Stanford Health Care

Serena Evans

As our nation embarks on a new normal post-pandemic, we can look back and confirm new challenges were faced by healthcare providers in every aspect of their professions during Covid19. Pharmacists continue to play a pivotal role in maintaining the integrity and balance within the healthcare system by adopting new responsibilities and incorporating their practices to accommodate the increased demand for their expertise resulting from the pandemic. Learning how to effectively provide patient consultations remotely became a priority to ensure compliance with published regulations for social distancing, reducing pressure on hospitals and clinics, and minimizing the contact for high-risk individuals in the health system. Tele pharmacy and teleconsultations are a few of the many innovative ways pharmacists continue to increase accessibility to pharmacy services as a result of the pandemic. Both allowed pharmacists to connect with patients remotely and provide consultations without requiring in-person visits. Tele pharmacy and teleconsultations can be particularly useful for medication reviews and answering medication-related questions. They have the potential to identify issues that may arise from taking multiple medications and provide medication adherence monitoring. These services were imposed not only to improve the access to healthcare for COVID-19 confirmed cases or for possibly infected patients, but to also maintain the continuum of care in the health system. As pharmacists are trained to identify and resolve medication-related problems such as nonadherence, drug-drug interactions, and adverse drug reactions, they also have a unique perspective on medication affordability and access.

"Pharmacist consultations are more important than ever and will continue to play a critical role in ensuring proper medication management and providing guidance on proper medication use"

They can help navigate the complex world of insurance and pharmaceutical pricing to ensure patients have access to the medication they need. Patient consultations via in-person, or teleconsultation, give the pharmacist the ability to also apply their medication-related expertise as it relates to affordability for patients to have access to medications. As patients are feeling more comfortable adapting to the new normal of masks and frequent Covid-19 testing, they are now faced with an increasing cost associated with inflation. Pharmacists have the opportunity and obligation to engage insurers, foundations, and manufacturers to ensure patients can afford their medication and that cost is not the reason for poor outcomes. A pharmacist also plays an important role in promoting preventative care and disease management. For instance, they may consult a patient on lifestyle modifications to manage a patient’s desire to stop smoking or help aid a patient taking oral oncolytic and struggling to manage the severe side effect profile impacting their daily activities all resulting from the specialty medication. The pandemic has highlighted the importance of pharmacist consultations in ensuring medication safety, ensuring affordability, and closing the continuum of care. The pandemic has also shown us the need to continue the further expansion of various telemedicine and Tele pharmacy services to aid in the continuous demand for remote patient care. Pharmacist consultations are more important than ever and will continue to play a critical role in ensuring proper medication management and providing guidance on proper medication use.