Diabetes care management: the independent pharmacy’s best-kept secret
By Good Neighbor Pharmacy
Over 38 million people in America live with diabetes, with eight million unaware of their diabetes diagnosisi. Considering that patients visit the pharmacy up to 35 times annually and 12 times more than their primary care physicianii, pharmacy-based diabetes care management provides transformative opportunities for patients and pharmacists alike.
By accessing this care at community pharmacy, patients can enjoy quick, convenient access to individualized care to help achieve an improved quality of life. With diabetes affecting various aspects of patients’ lives, pharmacist led diabetes care management can help reduce complications by lowering mortality rates, preventing hyper and hypoglycemia, enhancing mobility, and ultimately decreasing healthcare costs. Ultimately, giving patients a sense of empowerment over their health.
Why pharmacists should offer diabetes care management
Pharmacists are uniquely positioned to provide enhanced care for patients with diabetes in the community. Pharmacists are medication experts and understand the intricacies of diabetes-related management, complications, and its impact on patient lives.
“As the landscape of pharmacy changes, pharmacists play a crucial role in diabetes management. Their expertise and accessibility make them key allies in helping patients manage their diabetes effectively. Pharmacists provide medication management, monitor blood glucose levels, promote medication adherence, provide lifestyle counseling and many other community specific services. Pharmacists are encouraged to assess their communities needs and tailor their business model accordingly to drive additional revenue through these various opportunities,” said Good Neighbor Pharmacy ’s business coach, Melissa Hills, RPh.
Successful diabetes management is patient specific requiring customized care plans. However, there are challenges with patients receiving diabetes care in the community. The complexity of medication regimens often results in patient unawareness, non-adherence, disease progression and complications. Misinformation further complicates matters, highlighting the need for improved patient education and access to healthcare resources. This poses a significant barrier in many communities where diabetes care management education and support may be lacking. This is where a trusted pharmacist plays a pivotal role.
For pharmacists to consider expanding their practice to provide enhanced services for patients with diabetes, there are many entry points, depending on the pharmacy, community, and patient needs. These can include pay for performance opportunities, a cash generating therapeutic footwear program, optimizing over-the-counter offerings, or becoming providers of diabetes self-management education and support (DSMES).
Ultimately, it’s important to customize your practice to address patient needs while fitting the scale and expertise of your pharmacy’s resources and staff. You should feel empowered to start treating patients with diabetes through care ranging from OTC products to DSMES recognition or accreditation.
i https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/data/statistics-report/index.html
ii https://www.pharmacist.com/Publications/Pharmacy-Today/Article/pharmacists-fill-needed-health-care-gap-for-rural-americans#:~:text=Studies%20show%20that%209%20in,and%20nine%20visits%20to%20specialists.
