PQS Quality Corner Show

Growing Your New PHARMaly

• PQS • Season 5 • Episode 10

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The PQS Quality Corner Show talks with Kennedy Erickson, staff pharmacist at Chehalis Pharmacy in Washington about opening a new pharmacy, promoting patient care services in the local community, and growing a "PHARMaly."

Erickson explains how a new pharmacy location can be promoted from the original store location to create a buzz in the new community. She adds that new and unique services can help your pharmacy stand out, but that repeating the message about these services are necessary for patient involvement and understanding.

00:00:01:11 - 00:00:33:24

Kennedy Erickson

And so when they come in and we're just all like, hey, welcome in, Like, We're super happy to see them. We're really excited that they are even considering the prospect of like joining our Pharmaly. I think that kind of like throws them off in a good way. They're like, oh wow. Like, this is this is awesome. And you know, we give them all these resources like, hey, like we have, you know, this app, and we have, you know, these like vaccines that we offer and we and, you know, we go on and on and on and we're like, yeah, like I'm going to transfer here.

 

00:00:33:24 - 00:01:01:01

Kennedy Erickson

I'm going to transfer my whole family here. And I think that's that's great. And then when they do actually get their stuff to us, it's a great opportunity for us to kind of look at, you know, what medical conditions they have, where we can help, where we can offer over-the-counter, medications or supplements or all of the things, you know.

 

00:01:01:03 - 00:01:11:05

Voiceover

Welcome to the Pharmacy and Quality Solutions. Quality Corner Show. Buckle up and put your thinking cap on. The Quality Corner Show starts now.

 

00:01:11:07 - 00:01:33:15

Nick Dorich

Hello, Quality Corner Show listeners, welcome to the PQS podcast where we focus on medication use, quality improvement and how we can utilize pharmacists to improve patient health outcomes. I'm your host, Nick Dorich. Our guest for today's episode, whether you're listening on the podcast feed or if you're watching on YouTube. Our guest for today is Kennedy Erickson, and she is a pharmacist at Chehalis Pharmacy in Chehalis, Washington.

 

00:01:33:17 - 00:01:40:10

Nick Dorich

She's a 2023 pharmacy school graduate. Kennedy, welcome to the show and how are you doing today?

 

00:01:40:12 - 00:01:57:04

Kennedy Erickson

Hi, Nick. thank you so much for having me. I'm doing really well today. It's very sunny outside, which is, you know, common in Washington, but, in the summertime, but not usual. So it's exciting. It's a great day, and I'm excited to be here. How are you?

 

00:01:57:06 - 00:02:20:05

Nick Dorich

I'm fantastic. Thank you. And and I folks watching can see that I've got sunshine here for myself in the other Washington, Washington, D.C. here. So both coming from Washington, but very different places here all together. Kennedy, let's we're going to talk about and our topic for today is talking about really setting up and starting a new pharmacy, new pharmacy services and becoming engrained in your local community.

 

00:02:20:07 - 00:02:35:22

Nick Dorich

as a as a brief teaser, you work at a pharmacy that is recently new to its community, and you've really had to establish the patient care service. Well, you and the rest of the pharmacy staff that is established yourselves in that community and be known to the patients in your community. But we're going to talk about that.

 

00:02:35:22 - 00:02:44:14

Nick Dorich

But before we do, let's get to know a little bit about you. So you know, where do you come from? What's your background in pharmacy? And then you know what what what can you tell us about your pharmacy?

 

00:02:44:16 - 00:03:13:09

Kennedy Erickson

Yeah of course. So I started working in pharmacy in 2018 as a pharmacy assistant. I started at an independent long term care pharmacy and I just absolutely loved it. I really looked up to the pharmacists. They really encouraged me to keep going in pharmacy. And, told me when I moved back home because I that I started when I was an undergrad at that pharmacy, when I moved back home to try community pharmacy, because I am very much a people person.

 

00:03:13:11 - 00:03:39:16

Kennedy Erickson

So I applied for a technician and training program, at a chain Community Pharmacy, and I got it. And I really, really liked it. And the pharmacist there, who is still one of my really great mentors today, encouraged me to apply for pharmacy school. So I put my name in the hat and, I ended up over in Spokane at Washington state University, where I completed my pharmacy degree in 2023.

 

00:03:39:18 - 00:04:02:23

Kennedy Erickson

while I was in school, I had the opportunity to work at, some chain community pharmacies as an intern. but then when Covid hit, I got really overwhelmed with school and, and, you know, kind of balancing the increased workload and everything. So I, put my name in the hat for a, smaller, independent community pharmacy.

 

00:04:02:23 - 00:04:24:07

Kennedy Erickson

And I was just absolutely blown away at the difference that you see when, you move over to an independent, it's just a lot more patient focused. You're able to be a lot more innovative with the services that you offer. And I just knew that that was my calling in pharmacy. And I'm really blessed that I ended up at one as a pharmacist today.

 

00:04:24:09 - 00:04:29:18

Kennedy Erickson

just celebrated that year milestone in June. So yeah, I'm really thankful.

 

00:04:29:20 - 00:04:44:02

Nick Dorich

Fantastic. Yeah, it's it's such a great feeling. I feel like for many of us, we have that moment in our career where it's the moment where it's, I know what I want to do. and, you know, you know, the people that helped get you there or that first mentor that helped get you that to that experience.

 

00:04:44:04 - 00:05:03:13

Nick Dorich

So, Kennedy, we're going to be talking today. I already mentioned this at the start. We're going to be talking about how when pharmacy grows, how pharmacy expands, and really becoming a community health center in a way we don't often think about that. Right. and community pharmacy can have somewhat of a reputation where, hey, it's the place where people, the public, they go to pick up their medications.

 

00:05:03:13 - 00:05:21:22

Nick Dorich

But you and I and our listeners all know that a community pharmacy is so much more than that. And we're often the most trusted, most accessible and, health care provider. But we're also the place where patients can increasingly go and receive various health care services, especially in a state like Washington where you're located. but we're going to go through that for today.

 

00:05:21:22 - 00:05:45:06

Nick Dorich

So, let's jump into our questions. Let's get started. And, really, the first question that I want to ask is, you know, for your pharmacy because this is a the location that you're working at. It's an independent pharmacy. It's also a retail that relatively new community pharmacy in its town. So, you know, from that standpoint, how does a community pharmacy, how does it become, you know, ingrained with your local community?

 

00:05:45:12 - 00:05:56:11

Nick Dorich

How do you go about connecting with these new patients? And, you know, how are you building really that that kind of experience for the patients in your community?

 

00:05:56:13 - 00:06:24:00

Kennedy Erickson

Yeah. what I love most about community pharmacy is actually, you know, right there and its name, it's the community. And that is kind of how we paved the way to kind of making those connections, with new patients, but also, more established patients. We have, another pharmacy that is in a nearby town, that we kind of used to market the opening of our new location.

 

00:06:24:04 - 00:06:46:08

Kennedy Erickson

So we had some patients who transferred in from that pharmacy. but then also they go out and tell their teachers and their parents or grandparents, their brothers, their brothers in law, everyone in their families or friends, you know, that they have this new pharmacy that, you know, is a lot closer to their house, and it's just very exciting for them to have that convenience.

 

00:06:46:08 - 00:07:04:00

Kennedy Erickson

So word of mouth plays a really big role in, getting, new patients in every single day. And we just try to continue, you know, providing great service so that people keep coming to the pharmacy and keep inviting their friends and family to join them.

 

00:07:04:02 - 00:07:28:20

Nick Dorich

Yeah, it's actually, I think a huge part of being a pharmacist is being, we'll call it being sort of a cheerleader, you know, for the patient, but for their family, for their friends and letting them know we learn all this information in pharmacy school or through even certifications or other aspects of our professional development. But if we don't go and tell the patients that they can get this service at a community pharmacy, how are they supposed to know?

 

00:07:28:24 - 00:07:46:24

Nick Dorich

So, you know, that is an area where pharmacists that we may not think of ourselves in that way or that, hey, this may come off as a little salesy, but it is definitely an aspect where, hey, if we're not telling the pharmacist that we can do service XYZ, they're not going to know. Kennedy speaking of that, let's talk about, you know, what does make me a new pharmacy

 

00:07:46:24 - 00:08:05:13

Nick Dorich

unique? And you talked about this yourself in your introduction and with your background that you really fell in love with community pharmacy because of what you're able to do and working with, you know, working with the patients. Washington state, we've talked about Washington state, prior podcast, where Washington state is one of the most extensive or expansive when it comes to services that you can provide in a pharmacy.

 

00:08:05:19 - 00:08:21:10

Nick Dorich

Is there anything you know that is unique and actually for you in Washington state, things may be a standard, standard operating procedure, and maybe they've been that way for a long time, but are there any services that you're providing that are particularly noteworthy outside of the typical medication dispensing?

 

00:08:21:12 - 00:08:47:19

Kennedy Erickson

Yeah. so with every medication that we dispense when I'm verifying it, I also like to go through their profile and kind of look at their adherence and offer, you know, medication reconciliation, if that is appropriate for them. I also screen them for vaccines and, look to see if they are due for anything. And that is, point of sale.

 

00:08:47:19 - 00:09:15:16

Kennedy Erickson

Note that I make for those patients, and I like to go talk to them personally about why that would be beneficial. And, I've actually used a lot of the resources that have been provided by like CDC, APHA, on, you know, vaccine hesitancy too, that's, you know, a service that I don't think we think about a lot, but really like getting down and educating patients on what, you know, they can get at our pharmacy.

 

00:09:15:21 - 00:09:38:18

Kennedy Erickson

It's not just vaccines, but we do like other injectables. Long acting antipsychotic injectables. if patients have, you know, hesitancy with like their B12 injections or testosterone, we also offer that, so it's just kind of seeing where there's, a gap or maybe a hesitancy from the patients, and that's really like getting to know them at that point of sale.

 

00:09:38:18 - 00:09:51:01

Kennedy Erickson

And, that's what I love about Community Pharmacy is just really getting to talk to our patients and get to know them and educate them when I can. And learn about them more as people.

 

00:09:51:03 - 00:10:22:04

Nick Dorich

That's a great call. And so I want to we'll talk a little bit on immunizations just because I this part, I'd be interested from your perspective. recently was at a summit and heard from, doctor, Melissa McGivney. And one thing that she was talking about was from the University of Pittsburgh and some of their research and some of their CPESN network, some of their work, they have often found that the first time they offer a new service to a patient, the patient is often rejecting it the first time because they don't expect it, or, hey, they're coming into the pharmacy to, you know, come and grab something and, oh, I need to schedule this.

 

00:10:22:06 - 00:10:40:09

Nick Dorich

Do you find a similar experience? Is this something where there's some aspect of, you know, resiliency where, hey, we have to keep up the messaging or providing them, like, do you train and you're one of the staff pharmacists at, at the pharmacy, but do you find that same experience between yourself, between the other pharmacist and even the technicians that are at the pharmacy?

 

00:10:40:11 - 00:11:01:01

Kennedy Erickson

I, I do find that, you do have to kind of repeat the message a couple times. I just think that, you know, people get caught off guard. You know, if you go up to them at the one that the drive through and you're like, hey, you're due for this immunization, we can do this for you right now, which is what I like to say to people, because I just want to get them in and I want to get them done.

 

00:11:01:03 - 00:11:21:03

Kennedy Erickson

but that can kind of throw them off sometimes and they'll be like, oh, no, I don't, I don't want to do that. I feel kind of hesitant about that. And they'll kind of go into the reasons why or they won't. And that's where you have an opportunity as a pharmacist to ask those probing questions. Well, why is it that you, you know, don't want x, y, z?

 

00:11:21:03 - 00:11:36:07

Kennedy Erickson

And that's, I think, where we have a really, important and critical role to play in getting people to take these services, whether it be vaccines or other things.

 

00:11:36:09 - 00:11:57:07

Nick Dorich

Yeah, certainly. That's an important aspect here. And I that's another item that we learned in pharmacy school. Right. It's going through a soap note. It's talking about motivational interviewing so that hey yeah. Yes the patient has the experience. But as you're having that conversation with them patient to health care provider we may we may not be providers under CMS policy but we are health care providers.

 

00:11:57:07 - 00:12:21:22

Nick Dorich

Right. Having that conversation helping the patient learn and understand and making an informed decision, it's not going to work necessarily 100% the first time every time. But with, with these, in conversations, we can show that, yes, we are. And if the patient is trusting us in these relationships, that can often lead the patient to, creating changes to their own health care approach, now, Kennedy, I, I do want to talk about, you know, for this pharmacy.

 

00:12:21:24 - 00:12:47:02

Nick Dorich

Chehalis Pharmacy. This is a new pharmacy location and a kind of a different location. but it is, as you said, it is a second location. or kind of a sister location, but it is nonetheless a new pharmacy. So, you know, what has been your experience or the pharmacy’s experience, you know, specifically as operating as a new community pharmacy, you know, when patients are coming in for the first time to a new community pharmacy, you know, why are they coming?

 

00:12:47:02 - 00:12:53:11

Nick Dorich

What are they expecting? and what has that experience have been like for you and the rest of the pharmacy staff?

 

00:12:53:13 - 00:13:23:09

Kennedy Erickson

It has been a clean slate for everybody. they come in and usually they are frustrated because, you know, something happened at their previous pharmacy that they weren't happy about. Maybe, you know, a promise didn't get upheld or, you know, their prescription was taking too long or something. And, or they just, you know, don't get a timely response to some of the questions that they have.

 

00:13:23:11 - 00:13:55:23

Kennedy Erickson

And so when they come in and we're just all like, hey, welcome in. Like we're super happy to see them. We're really excited that they are even considering the prospect of like joining our Pharmaly, I think that kind of like throws them off in a good way. They're like, oh, wow. Like, this is this is awesome. And you know, we give them all these resources like, hey, like we have, you know, this app and we have, you know, these like vaccines that we offer and we and you know, we go on and on and on and they're like, yeah, like I'm going to transfer here.

 

00:13:55:23 - 00:14:28:15

Kennedy Erickson

I'm going to transfer my whole family here. And I think that's that's great. And then when they do actually get their stuff to us, it's a great opportunity for us to kind of look at, you know, what medical conditions they have, where we can help, where we can offer over-the-counter, medications or supplements or all of the things, you know, and I just think if I were to describe it in three words, it would be it's a clean slate and it's great.

 

00:14:28:17 - 00:14:51:15

Nick Dorich

That's really a beautiful sentiment. And Kennedy I will ask some additional questions as, as it relates to this, and with your pharmacy, with the pharmacy location, are you in an area that is, you know, more rural? Is this an area where, you know, do patients have ready access to other health care providers and, you know, or is it something that's leaning more towards a medically underserved, you know, community, like where is your pharmacy?

 

00:14:51:15 - 00:14:54:08

Nick Dorich

Where is your community sort of on that spectrum?

 

00:14:54:10 - 00:14:57:19

Kennedy Erickson

It is definitely a more rural setting.

 

00:14:57:21 - 00:15:19:00

Nick Dorich

Gotcha. So when they're coming and seeing, you know, the pharmacy staff, this may be the only medical provider that they are seeing for, you know, perhaps weeks or months. And that it may be the only place where they may be able to get those immunizations, especially without, you know, an appointment or some of the things like that. do you think and you've had different experience in pharmacy, as, you know, as, as this part goes?

 

00:15:19:02 - 00:15:36:15

Nick Dorich

part of the reason from, you know, Washington state and from other states that they've been so expansive with different pharmacy services or being able to provide different services has been more rural settings, more rural areas. you know, from your experience, do you find that this lends itself to kind of any differences in what, you know, a patient expects from a pharmacy?

 

00:15:36:20 - 00:15:48:15

Nick Dorich

Or is it really kind of, hey, every patient that comes in is, you know, as you as you stated, are they a clean slate where they don't really know what to expect from their pharmacy and they're really appreciative of any service that they're providing?

 

00:15:48:17 - 00:16:14:02

Kennedy Erickson

Yeah, I think we do try to treat every, you know, patient that comes in as that clean slate. But what we're finding when we do that, because I think that, you know, we kind of set expectations that, you know, they can expect a little bit more from their pharmacy. They can expect better service. They can expect, you know, that we'll be more thorough with our responses and, kind of look into things more for them.

 

00:16:14:02 - 00:16:39:10

Kennedy Erickson

Like I had, you know, a very like interesting article that I read about mustard seed for a patient like I went home and I got down and into it and, I called him back and I just went into Mustard Seed and it was just, very unique experience. But I think that that build rapport with the patient and, that's not something that, that they expect.

 

00:16:39:12 - 00:16:52:18

Kennedy Erickson

so it's just, you know, about kind of showing them how awesome we can be. And then also, you know, upholding promises and serving patients in that way.

 

00:16:52:20 - 00:17:19:05

Nick Dorich

Yeah. That's fantastic. Well, Kennedy, I'm going to get us closer to the end of our recording and our on our podcast for today. but one item I'd like to have you answer respond to, I mean, for, for the pharmacy, you know, where you are and you're new into your pharmacy career, and this is a new pharmacy, that you're where you are working, where you are staffing, where what do you see as future or what excites you about the future for pharmacy practice?

 

00:17:19:05 - 00:17:24:16

Nick Dorich

What excites you about what you're able to do, you know, working with your patients in your community going forward?

 

00:17:24:18 - 00:17:58:04

Kennedy Erickson

What I'm really excited about, for the future is I see community pharmacy services growing, like exponentially. I see us being a place patients can go for, you know, a lot of different services. And I'm excited to see pharmacy and community pharmacy embrace that. I really enjoy educating our patients. And I, I just see with clinical services growing, that's just going to continue to be a very, integral part of what we do every day.

 

00:17:58:06 - 00:18:18:16

Nick Dorich

It's a great sentiment., Kennedy, and if I can summarize, perhaps those those thoughts are put into some other words, a phrase that I've heard before. It's for pharmacy. Having the courage to change and, moving forward. It's a profession that we have to change our patients, their behaviors, their expectations for health care changing. But so is the healthcare world around us.

 

00:18:18:16 - 00:18:38:12

Nick Dorich

So pharmacy, its strength and its ability is going to be that willingness to embrace change, provide the new services and meet our patients where they want to be met. All right. Well, Kennedy, we're going to wrap up for today's show. Was really excited. And this is a topic where, as we were plotting out our episodes for the Quality Corner show, we we spend time talking about medications.

 

00:18:38:13 - 00:18:56:02

Nick Dorich

We spend time talking about disease states. We spend time talking about the quality improvement process. But we don't often talk about the pharmacists that pharmacy experience. And, you know, being in the community, which is a hallmark of the profession. So I greatly appreciate you coming on the show today to talk to us about, hey, what is that experience like?

 

00:18:56:04 - 00:19:12:10

Nick Dorich

What is that, you know, fire that ignites your passion for pharmacy and serving the patients in our community. So thank you for joining us today. As we we close out here, one if folks have questions or want to hear, you know, about your pharmacy, is there a way that they can contact you? Are you on LinkedIn?

 

00:19:12:12 - 00:19:22:23

Nick Dorich

and then two, is there any message that you would just like to share, perhaps inspirational words? for the fellow members of your pharmacy team in particular, but also the pharmacy profession?

 

00:19:23:00 - 00:19:51:22

Kennedy Erickson

Absolutely. so if people want to contact me, I'm on LinkedIn. you can also email me. I can give Nick my email and maybe he can put it in the, description. And some closing words would just be, you know, have the courage to change, have the courage to embrace those new parts of pharmacy that are coming your way.

 

00:19:51:24 - 00:20:14:05

Kennedy Erickson

you know, try to learn something new every single day and be excited to share that with your patients and also with your pharmacy team. you're a mentor. not just, you know, to your team and your staff, but, you're a mentor to your patients and your community. And just don't forget that you could really change somebody's life.

 

00:20:14:10 - 00:20:16:07

Kennedy Erickson

So.

 

00:20:16:09 - 00:20:29:23

Nick Dorich

Fantastic. Well, Kennedy, thanks again for the time here. And yes, we'll be sure and we can put your information in the show notes here for folks to if they want to reach out. and if they've got any questions for you about, hey, what is it like at a new community pharmacy and how do you grow that experience?

 

00:20:30:00 - 00:20:44:07

Nick Dorich

But for our listening audience, that means we have now wrapped up today's episode. So we thank you for joining us. We hope you listen to our next episode of the Quality Corner Show. And before we go, we have one final message from the PQS team.

 

00:20:44:09 - 00:21:05:23

Voiceover

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00:21:06:00 - 00:21:25:14

Voiceover

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00:21:25:16 - 00:21:28:03

Voiceover

And we wish all of you listeners out there well.