My mother does not like working with "strangers". How do you handle reluctant patients?
We start with helping adult children understand the reluctance of their parents. It is difficult when people we love are not getting the help they need.
We cannot walk away from unsafe situations because of their reluctance to get help. We provide a caring process, to help reluctant patients transition to working with us. For some that means more frequent shorter visits. For some that means always needing to meet at their home. We are here for them and we always remember this service is about them. By offering to answer their questions, listen to their concerns and help them be more in control we offer a service very accepted by even some of the most reluctant people. We also provide this service to caregivers, who may not have the cooperation of their family members. Reviewing the medications and simplifying regimens can be beneficial to the caregiver and the patient. |
Will Medicare or Medicaid pay for your services? Insurance?
There is a small chance Medicare will pay for a portion or potentially all of one visit, under a program called MTM.
For most people this is an out of pocket expense. Understanding the restrictions of income and costs of medications is part of this service. In addition to looking for medication issues for safety, we also provide cost opportunity review. The potential for cost savings with medications varies a lot between individual people, but we understand multiple ways to save money. From not just generic to brand availability but also of the potential for equivalent therapeutic switches and patient assistance programs we offer a comprehensive review of cost saving opportunities and will even help with paperwork if any is required. Some patient assistance programs have income restrictions. Some programs work outside of insurance coverage and offer medications for less cost than the cost share of a copay. Some require a medicare beneficiary to have a certain amount of out of pocket expenses or certain % of income spent on medications. Each manufacturer and program is different. Review of all opportunities yields options for individuals to pick from. See an Example of Cost Savings Outcome for one case where the patient did not qualify for patient assistance programs. |
How is what you do different from what my doctor does?
Pharmaceutical care provided by a pharmacist trained in preventative medicine is a different review than that made by a physician examining you and making a diagnosis, then prescribing the medication. Pharmacists are trained to assist and check prescriptions at all levels of care.
A pharmaceutical care review looks at the diagnosis given by the physician, your current response to therapy, ability to comply with that therapy, and potential issues caused by the therapy or lack of therapy and presents you with options.
We provide the option of an in home visit to assess or assist with issues effecting medication compliance, effectiveness and safety. As pharmacists we are not physicians. We hold doctoral degrees in pharmacy, which means we train to understand medications, effects of medications in people and effects of medications on people's lives.
A pharmaceutical care review looks at the diagnosis given by the physician, your current response to therapy, ability to comply with that therapy, and potential issues caused by the therapy or lack of therapy and presents you with options.
We provide the option of an in home visit to assess or assist with issues effecting medication compliance, effectiveness and safety. As pharmacists we are not physicians. We hold doctoral degrees in pharmacy, which means we train to understand medications, effects of medications in people and effects of medications on people's lives.
What can you tell me I can't find myself on the internet or at the library?
Generally information you find on public websites are giving general information on a medication or a condition. Even information you can find in resources for pharmacists and physicians is general and needs to be assessed for the individual patient.
This service offers you specific information based on your information. Without your lab results and medical information it is very difficult to give appropriate information. We often help sort through the things they have interest in because of what they find on the internet or heard on television. For example a common question: "I read that vitamins that are water soluble can't build up in my body like fat soluble ones and hurt me, they flush out each day. Is that true?" People sometimes take a lot more of these based on this idea. There is enough information that is true that it would he hard to know if and how it applies to you. Unfortunately even vitamins can hurt you and this is something I often discuss with patients. In medication reviews I often find unsafe and not recommendable amounts of vitamins and supplements. You can investigate this statement on the internet and see what you find. I promise you'll find enough "true" information that you can see how a lot of people believe this. Now look up Niacin toxicity and notice that liver failure and irreversible cirrhosis (hardening of the liver) are possible consequences of taking niacin - which is Vitamin B3, a water soluble vitamin. There are multiple forms of this vitamin. Different dosing depending on the form for effectiveness. The release of the niacin determines potential side effects. We will help you get through the information to the heart of what matters. What options would be most beneficial for your health between prescriptions, supplements, vitamins and if the absence of any of these would be better then the presence of them.  |
How do I know if I or my family member will benefit from a medication review?
There are multiple benefits to having a medication review from a trained pharmacist. See our screening tool to see if you or your loved one is likely to benefit from a medication review.
I am biased my experience finding life improving and extending medication solutions for people under treated for conditions as well as over treated makes me feel everyone can benefit from a thorough medication review. In addition to the standardized screening tools. I think if someone answers yes to any of these questions they can benefit from a review. Do you have questions about your medications? Do you feel burdened by your medications? Do you question if all your prescribers pay attention to what you are taking? Are you taking brand name medications? Are you on multiple brand name medications, an increased number of medications means more potential cost savings? Our goal is to help you feel confident in what medications you choose or are told to take. In addition to standardized services we believe in individualized medicine. Please ask if you feel there is a type of service that you need but do not see information about on this website.  |