Patient Education and Improving Outcomes

My month at Mac’s Pharmacy has been an education on the future of pharmacy. As the practice of medicine in the United States incorporates more preventive care, pharmacies are in a unique position to expand their services.  Pharmacists are moving forward from simple dispensaries to the front line of helping patients monitor and manage their disease states.  In my month at Mac’s I have observed and participated in the development of a variety of initiatives designed to help patients learn how to better manage their health.

Pharmacists traditionally counsel patients when they start a new medication, and they are always available to answer medication questions for patients.  But the disease state management paradigm is pushing for a more active role in patient education.  Mac’s is embracing this change by offering free classes for diabetics.  These classes have introduced topics such as healthy eating using the “Plate Method” (which is closely related to the new “plate” design the USDA has introduced); developing an exercise plan, and education about insulin. Teaching one of these classes showed me that even long-term diabetics still have questions about how to best manage their disease.  Providing education opportunities such as this enables pharmacists to build a strong relationship with their customers and helps patients gain a better understanding of how to stay healthy.  Mac’s provided me with an excellent opportunity to help grow this aspect of their pharmacy.

Another expanding aspect of pharmacy that I observed at Mac’s is vaccination.  While June isn’t traditionally a high-volume vaccination period, I did get to observe one Zostavax administration. Although I have given influenza shots, I haven’t mixed and administered a varicella vaccination so I played observer with the patient’s permission as Mike prepared and administered the vaccine.  Vaccination is a growing area of pharmacy service, and Mac’s offers both the shingles (Zostavax) and pneumonia vaccines in addition to the seasonal flu shot.  Having access to vaccinations at a community pharmacy is not just a convenience, but also an opportunity for pharmacists to interact with their patients and offer them additional medication counseling and education services.  

Simple services such as blood pressure checks and blood glucose testing are other services offered at Mac’s Pharmacy.  My time at Mac’s has improved my comfort level with performing these checks and talking with patients about their blood sugar levels and whether their medication is working.

One of the most enjoyable services I was able to do at Mac’s is Medication Therapy Management, or MTM.  This is a process of meeting with a patient, reviewing their medications, and making recommendations to improve their therapy.  Recommendations may involve contacting the physician to adjust medications, or simply helping the patient work on a plan that will make it easier for them to take their medications properly.  MTM is a wonderful way to improve patient outcomes and build strong relationships.

Independent pharmacies such as Mac’s are positioned to provide patient centered, outcome-oriented care.  I truly think that such care is the future of pharmacy, and am happy I had so many opportunities during my time at Mac’s.     


-Melissa Bell

MAC WILHOIT, D.PH, INSTALLED AS CHAIR OF TSIP AT THE 124TH CONVENTION OF THE TENNESSEE PHARMACISTS ASSOCIATION

Contact Information: Karen Belcher

(615) 256-3023

karen@tnpharm.org

LOCAL PHARMACIST INSTALLED AT TPA’s 124th ANNUAL MEETING

NASHVILLE, TN - George (Mac) Wilhoit, D.Ph., of Knoxville, Tennessee, was installed as the 2011-2012 Chair of the Tennessee Society of Independent Pharmacists (TSIP) at the 124th Annual Convention of the Tennessee Pharmacists Association (TPA) held recently in Kingsport, Tennessee.

Dr. Wilhoit is owner of Mac’s Pharmacy, Inc., in Knoxville and Mac’s Edgemoor Pharmacy in Claxton. He received his B.S. in Zoology from the University of Tennessee Knoxville and his B.S. in Pharmacy from the University of Tennessee College of Pharmacy. Dr. Wilhoit is a member of the Tennessee Pharmacists Association and the National Community Pharmacists Association.

Dr. Wilhoit and his wife, Barbara, have a daughter, Elisa, and three sons, Rick, Mike, and Tim.

The Tennessee Pharmacists Association, a professional organization of more than 2,500 pharmacists and student pharmacists in all practice areas across the state, promotes the delivery of quality pharmaceutical care and works to enhance the knowledge, ethics, and skills of pharmacists, as well as to protect and improve public health.

Living With Diabetes: A UT College of Pharmacy Students Perspective

At the age of 12 I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. My carefree life suddenly changed to a life full of finger sticks, carb counting, and insulin shots. The previous two weeks I had all the classic symptoms--I was drinking everything I could get my hands on and having to use the restroom every 15 minutes. I lost about 30 pounds, my eyesight got worse, and I had problems focusing my attention. The day I was diagnosed, I was so weak that I couldn’t stand or even sit up. Yet, diabetes never crossed any of our minds. My doctor took one look at me and ordered a blood glucose level. It didn’t take long for him to come back in and tell me that I had diabetes. At 12 I didn’t understand what this meant. I thought it just meant that I couldn’t eat sugar or candy. Was I in for a rude awakening! I spent the next three days in the hospital getting a crash course on diabetes from doctors, nurses, nutritionists, and social workers. In the midst of all the overwhelming information, they were telling me (someone who was terrified of shots) that I would have to learn how to check my blood sugar and give insulin injections to myself several times a day! I didn’t think I could do it, but I had no choice. This was now my life. I would just have to deal with it.

I had to change my whole life around to manage my diabetes. I could no longer sleep in, I had to wake up to take my morning insulin and eat breakfast everyday at 7:30 a.m. I could no longer eat what I wanted, when I wanted. I had to eat the same amount of food at the same time every day. With time it got easier, and now it’s just a part of my life which has become routine and sort of a second nature. I now wear an insulin pump, and sometimes even forget I’m diabetic. That doesn’t mean that it isn’t still difficult some times. There have been times where I asked, “Why me? Why do I have to go through this?” But I know God does not give me anything I can’t handle. Now I try to make the best of it and use my personal experiences to help others. When diabetics come into the pharmacy, I know what they are going through. I know what struggles they have and how hard it is to manage their disease. I know how you can do everything you are supposed to do and still your blood sugar goes high. I have the same fears of kidney failure, blindness, and neuropathy all diabetics have. It’s not as easy as some healthcare providers make it seem. It’s a complicated disease, and no one really knows how truly difficult it is to be a diabetic unless you live with the disease yourself. That’s why I feel it is important for the diabetic patients that come into the pharmacy to know that I personally understand the challenges that come with managing their diabetes.

Beth Black

New Diabetes Class: May's Topic - Healthy Eating Using the Plate Method

Do you have diabetes? Do you have a friend or family member with diabetes? If so please let them know about “The Sweet Spot”, Diabetes Education for Everyday Living, presented by your local pharmacy, Mac’s Pharmacy. At Mac’s Pharmacy, we promise to partner with you to take control of your diabetes, though our free monthly diabetes class, “The Sweet Spot”. Our highly attended class meets every 4th Wednesday at the following locations and times:

Renaissance Terrace
215 Bearden Pl
Knoxville, TN 37917-7124
(865) 544-1710
Class Time – 10am every 4th Wednesday (This month, May 25th)

and

Mac’s Edgemoor Pharmacy
643 Edgemoor Road
Powell, TN 37849
Class Time – 4pm every 4th Wednesday (This month, May 25th)

This month's topic is healthy eating. We will spend most of our class focusing on "The Plate Method." By the end of the discussion, you will see how something as simple as a dinner plate can help you eat healthier and gain control of your diabetes. Overview of what we will be discussing:

- The basics of diabetes

- The Plate Method

- The three main food groups that you should use to correctly fill your plate

- How a pharmacist can help you manage your diabetes using more than just medications

Also we will give you the recipe and directions for this months "Sweet Suggestion".... Salmon Filets with Pineapple Salsa.....Yum!

At the class we will provide light snacks, the May Sweet Spot Patient Handout, as well as access to a free diabetic meter. After the presentation there will be time for questions and a chance to sit down with a pharmacist or other healthcare provider to discuss one-on-one any other questions you might have about diabetes, your medication or The Plate Method.

At Mac’s Pharmacy we are committed to providing our classes to the community free of charge and any body is welcome to attend regardless of where they might get their medication. Please assist us in spreading the word about our classes and feel free to “like” the information on facebook or re-tweeting on twitter ;)

www.macspharmacy.com

Update On Our Efforts To Help With Greene County Tornado Relief

Thank you to Robin Wilhoit and WBIR Channel 10 for mentioning our relief efforts on their facebook page and to Wes Rucker of 247 Sports and ESPN Knox for mentioning our efforts on his radio show Monday. If you want to keep up with relief efforts follow @wesrucker247 on twitter. He has done an excellent job of creating awareness of all regions that have been affected and he will mix in news about the UT Volunteers as well (he is a UT sportswriter).

If you live near one of our locations, or Allen Wilhoit's Northwestern Mutual office on Neal Drive, please stop by and donate any items you wish to the Greene County relief efforts and we will make sure they get there. (addresses are listed on our last post) Many people are wanting to help and do not know where to turn so we are being a resource. Every little bit helps!

We have been asked, Why Greene County? The reason why we are focusing our efforts in helping out Greene County is because we have friends and family from there that are helping coordinate our efforts and getting the donations to the right place. The recent storms have caused a lot of destruction across the entire South. We wish we could help out everybody that has been affected, but due to our connections in Greene County we feel our efforts will be most effective by using the resources we have in that area. If you wish to drop by items and want them sent somewhere else please let us know and we will do our best to get them to the appropriate people.

One thing is for sure, when there is devastation in the South people do what they can to help get their neighbors back on their feet! Thank you everybody for the help!

Tornado Relief Efforts

Mac's Pharmacy and Northwestern Mutual (Neal Drive) team up to raise money, awareness, and support for Greene County tornado relief efforts. This photo by Phil Gentry and posted in the Greeneville Sun says it all. This photo was taken on Sunnydale Road, one of the hardest hit areas of Wednesday nights tornadoes. (here is the link http://bit.ly/lDEqGH ) We decided to try and do our part to coordinate both the collection and appropriate distribution of needed goods from our area to assist the relief effort in Greene County. Any items you would like to donate to the cause can be dropped off at the locations listed and we will get all of the donated goods to Greene County.

A list of the most needed items is included below:

• Household items (Laundry detergent, bleach, towels, bed sheets, blankets)
• Toiletries (Toothpaste, mouthwash, body soap, deodorant, lotion, feminine hygiene products, hand sanitizer, razors, toilet paper)
• Paper kitchen products (Disposable dishes, utensils, cups, paper towels
• Baby Products (Diapers, formula, baby powder)
• Cleaning supplies (Mops, brooms, Lysol, trash bags)
• Flashlights
• First-aid kits
• Non-perishable food items (Canned/packaged food, bottled water, sports drinks)
• School supplies (paper, notebooks, pens, pencils, lunch boxes, book bags, folders, etc.)

For those that want to give a monetary donation we have been told that The Greene County Emergency Management office has established a special fund for monetary donations at all Greenbank locations. There are many counties across the south that have been affected and many places looking for help. If anybody knows where to send goods or money to for other efforts please leave in the comments section. Thank you to all of those that are helping out.

Mac's Pharmacy (Knoxville)

2419 Washington Pike

Knoxville, TN 37917

Mac's Pharmacy (Claxton/Powell)

643 Edgemoor Rd.

Powell, TN 37849

Allen Wilhoit's Northwestern Mutual (Halls)

3517 Neal Drive

Knoxville, TN 37918

Guest Blog: Aamir, International Exchange Student from India, Studying at Roane State and Currently on Internship at Mac's Pharmacy

At Mac's Pharmacy we have several partnerships set up with area schools where we host students for a month and they come to Mac's Pharmacy to gain experience in the unique setting that is independent community pharmacy. Some students are in pharmacy school and others are taking pharmacy techinician courses, this month we were fortunate enough to host an international exchange student from India. Aamir is in the pharmacy technician training program at Roane State and is working towards getting into pharmacy school. It has been a great experience for all of us at Mac's Edgemoor Pharmacy to have had Aamir around for the last three weeks. He is a very hard worker and a fun person to have worked with. Aamir was nice enough to type up a blog entry on his experience from his unique perspective. Here is his blog. Enjoy! - Mike

Hi, I’m Mohd Aamir Firoz, an exchange student from India studying at Roane State Community College under Pharmacy Technician program. I’m writing this blog to help other people deal with the aspects, by bringing the two sides of coins together with the sometimes overwhelming prospect of starting to gain something different and new in life while still running on old one. Well, this blog is about my experience here in United States, enlightening the difficulties I faced, the differences both in culture and education system. It’s been around 8 months I m here is states. And there is a lot I have gained and seen since then. The culture here is a lot different to which I used to. I was selected by the state department of US on scholarship basis through a program called Community College for International Development (CCID), and for me it is a wonderful opportunity to learn something new, different and challenging. So far I have a wonderful experience out here. Prior to come here, I already completed 2 years of my Pharmacy (usually called D Pharm – Diploma in pharmacy) and 500 hours of training at hospital pharmacy (both In-patient and out-patient). Being a Pharmacy Major, I’ve seen lot of difference in my field of study. In India the system of medicine is totally different from what I’ve seen here so far. In here authorities emphasize on Customer satisfaction, Inventory control, controlling regulating and circulating drugs etc. In my home country authorities do emphasize on all these aspects, but the way I’ve seen them here is outstanding. Advanced robotics and computerized systems in pharmacies makes it easier and more efficient, reducing a lot of manual work, which is good, but here comes the problem. Incorporation of these advanced system makes it efficient, and chances of making mistakes are about 99.9 % which is a good part, but what I think is by doing this the chance of unemployment is increased.
The education system in here is so smooth and I like it, which is in a way lot different from which I’ve been studying from past 16 years. I did not do much research on that part but what I’ve seen is that here the students are emphasized on a lot of different thing all together since they are little, like - studies, sports, music and arts etc. etc. and the way of living is in “co” with what they study. This does not put a lot burden on them. But the education system in India is not like that, not all but most of the students just emphasis on either studies, or sports or music or art thus in their field of interest they feel like having a lot burden especially in studies.
My life in US is really good so far. I enjoyed being and studying here. In this program, I worked as a student intern at Methodist Medical Center (Oak Ridge, TN). Then I moved to gain some experience at Kroger’s Pharmacy (Oak ridge, TN) for some time and right now I am working as an intern at Mac’s Pharmacy (Claxton, TN). I enjoyed working with the people here; well they are so nice, helpful and satisfying; some funny also. Its been a pleasure for me to work with such a wonderful group of people.I learned a lot and during my internship so far. This program is an awesome opportunity for me. Before coming here I was just involved with my studies and my way of living. I did not thought of studying abroad, but now I do. But one thing what I don’t like is if you come from a country with lower currency, then for you it is difficult to study, because it is quiet expensive unless you are able to take care of it. It’s important to find that difficult balance between having confidence in your work and studies and not expecting instant success. If you don’t get what you like then like what you get, this is a key to success or rather excellence.
By:-
Aamir