Community pharmacy diabetes care

Cranor CW, Bunting BA, Christensen DB. 2003. The Asheville Project Long-term clinical and economic outcomes of a community pharmacy diabetes care program. J Am Pharm Assoc 43 173. 

Another aspect of the market for any value-added pharmacy services that must be considered is the competition. When identifying competitors, it is important to acknowledge exactly what services the pharmacy will pursue. When identifying competitors for value-added services, pharmacists often limit their search to other pharmacies and pharmacists. While this may be appropriate for traditional pharmacy goods and services (e.g., dispensing drug products), pharmacists considering new value-added services must cast a much broader net. Many value-added services offered by pharmacists are still at the introductory point of their product life cycles. Few, if any, other pharmacies may offer these services in a particular market. On the other hand, other competitors maybe very well established. For example, while diabetes education services currently are not offered in many community pharmacies, physicians and certified diabetes educators (who can be physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other health care professionals) have provided this service for a number of years (Zrebiec, 2001). 

Swain JH, Macklin R. 2001. Individualized diabetes care in a rural community pharmacy. J Am Pharm Assoc 41 458. 

When people talk about pharmacy practice in diabetes care, the first thought that comes to most peoples minds is the community pharmacist dispensing a prescription for a blood glucose lowering medication. However, pharmacists are involved at a much deeper level in the care of patients with diabetes. In this article, examples of different ways pharmaeists arc involved in the care of patients with diabetes are provided. Resources to learn more about diabetes, as well as tools that will assist you in providing care, arc also indicated. 

On the professional development front, the NCPA-created NIPCO continued to lead the way in developing programs that help establish pharmacist care services in community pharmacies. To date, more than 12,000 community pharmacists have completed NIPCO-accredited disease management programs in pharmacist care skills, cardiovascular care, respiratory care, diabetes care, immunization skills, osteoporosis, and mental health. 

Professional pharmacy and medical organizations [e.g., the American Pharmacists Association (APhA), the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), the National Community Pharmcists Association (NCPA), and the American Medical Association (AMA)] and health care organizations [e.g., the American Diabetes Association (ADA) or the American Heart Association (AHA)] also provide valuable information about many health conditions and value-added services. This information is important not only in the development of a service but also in justifying the need for a service with consumers and administrators. These organizations also provide treatment guidelines and additional resources that can be used when developing an operations plan for a service (see Chapter 25). 

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