As a representative, there are three main practice settings where you can partner with pharmacists to influence doctors: clinical
pharmacy, long-term care facilities and retail pharmacy. Clinical pharmacists are those who work in hospitals or clinics.
The clinical pharmacist may actually make rounds in the hospital, looking at charts and making optimal drug recommendations
to physicians, or may work in collaboration with physicians to hold follow-up visits with patients who have chronic diseases
to manage their medications. Likewise, pharmacists in long-term care facilities, such as nursing homes, review residents'
charts monthly and make drug recommendations to physicians who care for these patients. The term retail pharmacist or community
pharmacist refers to those who work at Giant, CVS, Rite Aid, Neighborcare and other retail pharmacies.
Developing a call cycle
To begin your partnership, develop a pharmacy call cycle in which you take time to visit at least one retail or hospital pharmacy
per day. Doing this will provide you with the opportunity to lay a foundation for the relationship between you and the pharmacist.
Be sure to bring supplies such as pill counting trays, calendars, pens, pads, mugs, non-branded patient education and textbooks.
Pharmacists tend to be extremely busy and limited on time due to the current shortages in the profession; hence, I recommend
that representatives detail one clinical study and discuss the drug's formulary acceptance and cost. Retail pharmacists can
use this information to recommend your product to doctors when a competitor's drug is not covered by a patient's plan. Moreover,
the pharmacist, often referred to as the drug expert, can point out subtle differences between agents of the same class, which
may help the doctor choose the optimal agent for a particular patient.
Another role of the community pharmacist is to counsel patients and give them drug recommendations to discuss with their physicians.
That means the pharmacist may recommend your product if he or she is informed and believes it to be superior in treating an
illness. Patients tend to trust their pharmacist and ask the doctor for what the pharmacist recommends.
Clinical and hospital pharmacists
In the clinic and hospital environments, the clinical pharmacist can be a valuable asset in additional ways. Clinical pharmacists
perform drug reviews and make recommendations to the pharmacy and therapeutics committee. They can help get your product on
formulary and ensure that it remains there. Therefore, scheduling lunches to detail hospital pharmacists is often very beneficial.
Here you can detail as many studies as possible, while pointing out the most important facts and providing the pharmacy director
with a binder of studies that support differences between your products and the competition.
Besides detailing pharmacists, representatives need to uncover the needs of the pharmacy. Pharmacists enjoy and are required
to gain continuing education credits, so another way to strengthen your relationship with pharmacists is to organize and execute
CE programs. To continue to be of value to pharmacists, supply them with information and give-aways, which can strengthen
their patient-pharmacist relationship. In the hospital or clinic setting, grant support for research may be an additional
benefit.
Value-added service
A unique service a pharmacist can provide to your doctors is a value-added service program, such as having the pharmacist
come to the physician's practice to host a quarterly patient education seminar based on a particular disease state. The pharmacist
can offer his or her expertise on drug therapy and empower patients to manage their disease state. For example, if diabetes
mellitus is the disease state you will concentrate on during the first quarter, locate a pharmacist who is knowledgeable about
diabetes and create a plan for the patient education he or she can offer. Some possible ideas are to have the pharmacist teach
patients how to use their glucometers, discuss glucose target levels, talk about foot care, review side effects of drug therapy
and remind patients about proper eating habits. First, ask a targeted physician group if they would like to have a pharmacist
support program for their diabetic patients who are newly diagnosed or difficult to treat (noncompliant). Then you can arrange
a date for a "Diabetes Education Assistance Evening," which may encompass some of the activities listed above.
Collaboration with the pharmacist is a win-win situation, no matter how it's assessed. Patients will benefit most from representatives
partnering with pharmacists, because the pharmacist has influential power in helping the patient obtain optimal therapy. However,
doctors, representatives and pharmacists will also profit from the affiliation. PR
