The Pharmacist Will Screen You Now
The Pharmacist Will Screen You Now
Pharmacists are the healthcare professionals most accessible to patients. There are 59,000-67,000 community pharmacies in the United States. It has been estimated by the US Department of Health and Human Services that by the year 2020, there will be roughly 76 pharmacists per 100,000 of the population; and, on average, all Americans will live within 2 miles of a pharmacy. Furthermore, pharmacists are the only healthcare providers who a patient can see virtually 24 hours a day, 7 days a week without an appointment and without a consultation charge.
These facts explain why most patients or their caregivers go first to a pharmacy to seek relief of symptoms caused by various illnesses. If we were to conservatively estimate that 50 patients visit each of the 67,000 pharmacies in the United States every day seeking relief of symptoms associated with acute illness, this would translate into approximately 3,350,000 opportunities for pharmacists to optimize care daily. If the pharmacist had information about the clinical stability of the patient, etiology of disease, and medical history, they could make informed recommendations about how to best manage patients in the pharmacy or whether the patient should be referred to a prescriber for further assessment. In this role, pharmacists could help relieve the burden on our strained primary healthcare network.
Furthermore, these estimates are only for acute, symptomatic illnesses. Data for how many patients pass through pharmacies daily with undiagnosed, asymptomatic chronic diseases such as diabetes, dyslipidemias, HIV, or hepatitis C do not exist; however, it can be anticipated that the number would be large. The complications associated with chronic disease and the complexity of management of each of these conditions increase the longer the patient remains undiagnosed. What if pharmacists were able to screen patients at risk for these chronic, largely asymptomatic diseases and refer individuals with disease to the appropriate medical provider earlier in the course of the disease? What impact could this have on patient outcomes and associated healthcare costs?
Pharmacists: The 24/7 Healthcare Providers
Pharmacists are the healthcare professionals most accessible to patients. There are 59,000-67,000 community pharmacies in the United States. It has been estimated by the US Department of Health and Human Services that by the year 2020, there will be roughly 76 pharmacists per 100,000 of the population; and, on average, all Americans will live within 2 miles of a pharmacy. Furthermore, pharmacists are the only healthcare providers who a patient can see virtually 24 hours a day, 7 days a week without an appointment and without a consultation charge.
These facts explain why most patients or their caregivers go first to a pharmacy to seek relief of symptoms caused by various illnesses. If we were to conservatively estimate that 50 patients visit each of the 67,000 pharmacies in the United States every day seeking relief of symptoms associated with acute illness, this would translate into approximately 3,350,000 opportunities for pharmacists to optimize care daily. If the pharmacist had information about the clinical stability of the patient, etiology of disease, and medical history, they could make informed recommendations about how to best manage patients in the pharmacy or whether the patient should be referred to a prescriber for further assessment. In this role, pharmacists could help relieve the burden on our strained primary healthcare network.
Furthermore, these estimates are only for acute, symptomatic illnesses. Data for how many patients pass through pharmacies daily with undiagnosed, asymptomatic chronic diseases such as diabetes, dyslipidemias, HIV, or hepatitis C do not exist; however, it can be anticipated that the number would be large. The complications associated with chronic disease and the complexity of management of each of these conditions increase the longer the patient remains undiagnosed. What if pharmacists were able to screen patients at risk for these chronic, largely asymptomatic diseases and refer individuals with disease to the appropriate medical provider earlier in the course of the disease? What impact could this have on patient outcomes and associated healthcare costs?