How Specialty Pharmacies Can Empower Patients Managing Chronic Diseases
Specialty pharmacies have an opportunity to extend their patient care role by empowering patients who are managing chronic diseases.
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By - Specialty pharmacy team members such as pharmacists and nurses have the opportunity to extend their patient care role by providing additional support to patients with chronic diseases and advocating for better patient outcomes.
In the first part of a two-part series of Healthcare Strategies, Shaunte Law Rhames, RN, BSN, an infusion care nurse supervisor working in inpatient management services, and Nichol Marrero Nieves, PharmD CSP, a patient management service pharmacist who specializes in neurology, behavioral health, and chronic inflammatory diseases at AllianceRx Walgreens Pharmacy, one of the nation's largest home delivery and specialty pharmacies for patients with rare and chronic diseases, discuss ways pharmacies can extend their patient care role beyond a doctor’s visit to empowering patients who struggle to manage chronic diseases.
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Marrero Nieves highlights how pharmacists can encourage and empower “patients by educating them on chronic diseases — chronic diseases come in many varieties and can go from autoimmune disease to cancer, so teaching patients how to live a healthier lifestyle can help prevent many diseases.”
While pharmacists play an integral role in preventing and managing chronic conditions, nurses are constantly connected to the patients. They can provide professional advice to augment the self-efficacy, coping, and self-management skills of each patient.
“As a nurse, these are the things that we have to hone in on and understand about our patients to better help them. Some other things nurses can do to encourage prevention beyond the doctor's visit would be to provide education and resource materials,” Law Rhames explains.
Additionally, Law Rhames emphasizes the importance of “being a listening ear for them beyond the visit as well as their advocate, encouraging them to listen to their bodies and setting health and lifestyle expectations that are realistic and obtainable. Often, just having a small achievable goal can increase a patient's desire to do more.”
According to Marrero Nieves, when patients form trusting and accessible relationships with healthcare providers, the providers see better patient outcomes and disease prevention.
“When patients come to speak with the pharmacist to ask questions about their medication, or disease state, that's when we take that opportunity to ask the patient if they want to learn more about how to prevent other diseases. Many patients are receptive and want to learn more, not only how to control their current disease but how to prevent other diseases.”
Maintaining an open and honest line of communication between the pharmaceutical care team and the patients is a simple yet overlooked solution to creating a comfortable treatment plan tailored to each individual.
Law Rhames believes “nurses should also work to identify and uncover barriers to learning that a patient may have. Maybe there's some fear stemming from previous bad experiences with medications, or maybe they feel unmotivated or don't have the time to be compliant. The important thing is uncovering those barriers and building trust so the patient feels supported and comfortable enough to share.”
In next week’s episode, Law Rhames and Marrero Nieves will return to reveal how they both remain connected to their patients and offer examples of how their pharmacy team members value patient health and safety when providing treatment-related guidance.
