Author: spokanepharmacyassociation

Message from the Board
By: SPA Executive Vice President Steven Webbenhurst

Time is flying and the longest day of the year (sunrise to sunset) is just around the corner on June 21st!

Did you know that on that day, we have 15 hours, 59 minutes and 33 seconds between sunrise and sunset in Spokane? We miss having 16 hours of sunlight by a mere 27 seconds! That is more than 7.5 more hours of sunlight than our shortest day in December.

Think of those people that live further north in the world. The difference is even more dramatic. A few years ago I was fortunate to travel to Alaska for work twice during that summer. Daylight lasted forever it seemed. I was in Anchorage for a total of about 5 weeks and loved that it was still dusk at midnight, but the long days really messed up my mind’s perception of when I should go to bed. We would be out eating dinner and enjoying the city and suddenly realize it was 11pm!

Of course the opposite is true in the winter when they have less than 5.5 hours of sunlight in Anchorage. Residents there told me that people force themselves to be active in the winter so that they don’t go crazy. There are lots of evening activities planned so that people don’t hibernate for the winter.

Our summer days are shorter here in Spokane than they are in Anchorage, but we still enjoy the late sunsets. It seems easy here to be active during those evenings. Summer can be a busy time with trips planned and active kids to watch over, but summer for most of us is an enjoyable time. For those in the education world, it is a break from the stresses of school.

The Spokane Pharmacy Association also takes a bit of a break during the summer. We typically don’t have continuing education programs or promote drug-company sponsored dinners during July and August. Social/networking events don’t start again until fall.

The board hopes that all of our members enjoy their summer, but hope you also look forward to those events starting again in the fall. We will be in touch again before summer is over, alerting you to what great things we have planned for the fall.

Have a great summer!

Message from the Board
By: SPA Executive Vice President Steven Webbenhurst

Last month I referenced the phrase, “April showers bring May flowers.” Spring is a great time because many things come back to life or bloom. As students graduate, it really is their time to bloom. All of the hard work that went in to this event (including being exposed to much fertilizer I’m sure the students would say) has finally paid off.

Pharmacy techs are in high demand in the area and can easily find jobs. But the same isn’t true for soon-to-be pharmacists. The increased number of pharmacy schools and greater enrollment numbers at each institution have taken us from a shortage of pharmacists a few years ago, to a surplus in many locations this year.

Those entering the job market are finding employers aren’t looking for additional pharmacists. It seems to me that for those looking for traditional positions in retail or hospital, are finding more success if they were interns for those employers. I think that there are two reasons for that. Most importantly, while working as an intern, employers see it as a great way to observe if that intern is a right fit for their organization. It’s similar to IPPE and APPE rotations. Employers and preceptors evaluate students and determine if they would be good hires. And secondly, I think employers are more likely to create positions or make part-time positions into full(er) time positions if they are familiar with candidates.

But as the pharmacy world changes, I think we as pharmacists (and technicians and students) need to help drive the future of pharmacy. Who better to steer our profession than those of us in practice? When I graduated pharmacy school, clinical pharmacist jobs were new. Think how far we’ve taken that concept. And when you consider jobs involving MTM (medication therapy management), immunizations, third party, specialized disease state management, anti-coagulation clinics and so many other areas, we’ve made huge progress in making our profession broader.

As the supply of pharmacists exceeds demand, it is a perfect time to expand our profession further. What ideas do you have? Are there untapped opportunities that need the attention of pharmacists? I think there are. It’s up to us to be creative and use our knowledge to become an even more important piece in healthcare.

Message from the Board
By: SPA Executive Vice President Steven Webbenhurst

We’ve all heard the phrase, “April showers bring May flowers.” And we all know the answer to, “What do Mayflowers bring?” Of course the answer is Pilgrims!

I think we are all happy that the showers we are having are rain showers and not snow showers. Spring is a time of rejuvenation outdoors. Trees bud, flowers bloom and our attitudes become sunnier as well. We are also familiar with the phrase “spring cleaning” which is sometimes long overdue. Maybe this spring we should all vow to rejuvenate our work routine and clean out our bad habits.

I know I fall into the habit of regurgitating patient consultation information on common drugs as if I were a robot. I have to watch myself to make sure I’m providing the information pertinent to that individual patient with each consultation. I have to ask myself, “What information would I want presented by a pharmacist if it was my family picking up a prescription?”

We can easily update or alter how we talk to patients. Perhaps you’ve read something new about a drug, share that with your staff and your patients if appropriate. Are we remembering to ask patients about new allergies, OTC drugs they might be taking and about issues they may be experiencing with their drug regimen?

I also find that I become complacent with how things are arranged in my pharmacy. I’ve been there for five years now, and just recently relocated some things in my pharmacy to improve workflow and rid our setting of unnecessary clutter. I guess that was my form of spring cleaning!

I think with the freshness of spring, we need to look at our work and see what we do with a fresh perspective. We all have the power to spruce up our work environment, weather it is cleaning dusty areas, rearranging things or as simple as looking at what we are wearing (ink stained white lab jackets, scrubs that are too big or small, tears or rips in our uniforms, dirty nametags, etc).

Let’s make spring a time for our professional renewal this year!

March Madness
By: SPA Executive Vice President Steven Webbenhurst

It’s that time of year again as the days get longer, we “spring ahead” with our clocks, and March Madness overtakes the weather as the hot conversation topic. March Madness brings together some of the top college basketball teams in the country, showcasing superior athletic talent. Competition runs rampant and most people have a favorite team they cheer for. Some teams always seem to reach the “Sweet 16” and there are always a few underdogs that make it, and are the new kids on the block.

When I moved to Spokane in 1993, I was part of the new kids on the pharmacy block. Walgreens was new to Spokane and some of the regulars weren’t so happy to have us here. I remember calling to transfer prescriptions from competitors only to be told there were no refills remaining, yet the patient’s bottle showed something different. We were competition, and especially for independent pharmacies, we changed the pharmacy landscape in Spokane.

But just as that landscape has continued to change, so has the attitude of pharmacists and pharmacies. Every day I transfer prescriptions in from other pharmacies and transfer some out to others as well. My focus is that I want what is best for the patient. Sure I hate to lose business by transferring prescriptions out to other pharmacies, but in many cases it just makes sense. Perhaps the other pharmacy is more convenient for a patient, or is their “regular” pharmacy. Being located in a medical complex, I fill a lot of prescriptions for patients that are being dismissed from the hospital or from one of the providers in my building (so it’s convenient at the time for the patient).

But I think the mindset in pharmacies has changed in the last few years. As we perform MTM services, vaccinate patients, facilitate prior authorizations, coordinate patient care and other functions for them, I think we all have what is best for the patient at the forefront of our mind. I see this regularly in my IPPE and APPE student pharmacists as well. This is a focus for them in pharmacy school, and WSU does an outstanding job.

Although there will always be competition between pharmacies for business (so that we all stay in business), I think the real competition today is to provide the best service and care for our patients. That is the focus in pharmacy today: service and care for our patients.