How Specialty Pharmacies Can Support Patients Managing Chronic Diseases
Specialty pharmacy team members have an opportunity to extend their patient care role by providing support to patients who are battling chronic diseases.
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By - Specialty pharmacy team members such as pharmacists and nurses can extend their patient care role by providing additional support to patients with chronic diseases and advocating for better patient outcomes.
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In the second 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, discusses ways pharmaceutical staff members can extend their patient care role to support and care for patients who struggle to manage their chronic diseases.
Marrero Nieves explains how she encourages and empowers patients by sharing her own experience battling a chronic autoimmune disorder and stresses the importance of communication between providers and patients: “Communication between the provider and pharmacist is imperative to good disease outcomes for the patient. So, as pharmacists, we don't just fill the prescription; we also look at the patient history, allergies, medication list, diagnosis dose, frequency, and strength to be sure that the medication that we are dispensing is going to be appropriate and safe to take with their current regimen of medication.”
Although pharmacists play an integral role in preventing and managing chronic conditions, nurses are constantly in contact with patients. This allows the nursing staff to help patients who struggle to stick to their treatment plans, and according to Law Rhames, developing a routine is the most essential part of sticking to a treatment plan.
“Get on a routine — it's really important. I take a vitamin every day, and I say to myself, ‘Oh, it's just a daily vitamin; I'll take it.’ And because I don't have a routine, I forget, and you won't believe how many days a week I don't take my vitamins because I haven't put myself on a routine. Routines are so important.”
Additionally, Law Rhames emphasizes that patient resources at pharmacies are always available and urges patients to use these. “Patients may sometimes think care stops at their doctor's office and may not even know that they have a pharmacy that they can leverage that offers some great services and resources,” she reiterated.
In this episode, Marrero Nieves graciously shares how she personally stays on track with her biologics dosing schedule. “Biologics can be dosed three times a week, weekly, biweekly, monthly, every three to six months, so adherence is very key with these medications because there is that potential for developing resistance to certain therapies. So, I like to provide my patients with personal aspects of what I do when I take my biologics because I understand the struggle of maintaining compliance. I set alarms on my phone and use a planner and the calendar on my smartphone. I also provide those tips to patients and explain what I do to maintain compliance.”
“Because missing doses can increase the risk of resistance or create antibodies to certain biologics, compliance is key. If the patient has a trusted friend or relative, they too can help by talking to the patient,” suggests Marrero Nieves. “Maybe, they can also send a text message reading, ‘Hey, you're due for your medicine. Go ahead and take it.’ I do that with my family. My mom takes medication every six months, so I'm reminding her, saying, ‘Hey, you're due. Take your medicine.’ She'll make her appointment and take her medication that way.”
Maintaining an open and honest line of communication between the specialty pharmacy care team and the patients is a simple yet overlooked solution to creating a comfortable treatment plan tailored to each individual battling a chronic condition.
