In an educational session titled “Personalized Medicine Delivery That Plan Sponsors Value,” presented during the NCPA 2018 Annual Convention, several independent pharmacy presenters offered insights into maximizing and extending the impact of medication-delivery driver programs, from checking for fall hazards in the home to offering patient counseling through an iPad. As the panelists remarked, “delivery drivers are your eyes and ears on homebound patients.”

According to session speaker Jeff Neidig, RPh, Medi-Wise Pharmacy, Newcomerstown, Ohio, “There is a lot of opportunity for patient check in. Instead of just asking how they are going to pay for their prescription, ask ‘Are you keeping your appointments with your doctor?' or 'Have you had any changes in your diagnoses?' Think about the the things you can do to connect that patient with community resources.”

In addition, with health plans increasingly interested in patients’ medication management, another opportunity for local, independent pharmacies arises—medical check ins. “What can we do medically to check in with that patient?” Dr. Neidig asked session attendees.

Session speakers also relayed strategies for differentiating attendees’ independent pharmacies from competitors’ offerings to achieve an advantage and for positioning their pharmacies as viable partners in the healthcare continuum. They also describe ways that important patient information can be easily obtained at the point of delivery that adds to the pharmacy, provider, plan sponsor and patient.

For example, the session presenters recommend tip sheets covering information that sponsors would like documented, as well as checklists of delivery drivers’ activities that improve patient care. Potential opportunities for expanded delivery programs, the speakers commented, include in-home health screenings, such as immunizations, blood pressure checks, medication synchronization, comprehensive medication reviews, and blood sugar and blood pressure monitoring.

Any form of patient interaction, the speakers stressed, can prove beneficial. Session speaker Catherine Brown, PharmD, Main Street Pharmacy, Savannah, Georgia, said, “We also deliver OTC products and deliver gifts to patients regularly. It has been very beneficial to have staff members interact with patients who might not normally come to our store. When they need a prescription, they are more likely to come to our store.”

Prescription delivery, the panelists recommend, also paves the way to even more robust expanded delivery operations, including synchronization programs, identifying candidates for adherence packaging, and identifying nonadherent patients and referring them for MTM—benefiting patient and pharmacy alike.

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