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Telehealth represents a burgeoning,…opportunity for pharmacy operators, one that has the potential to not only drive traffic into a store, but also to drive new customers into that store…Pharmacy represents a…touchpoint for telehealth operators...making pharmacies that provide access to telehealth services a convenient and less-expensive option for those consumers who are assuming a greater portion of their individual healthcare costs…also an opportunity to improve outcomes through telehealth/retail pharmacy partnerships…many…doctor associations,…support telehealth models,..making retail pharmacy operators fielding in-store telehealth services attractive care partners for health systems.

Because current health care practice focuses on diagnosing and prescribing, the need to taper, reduce, or discontinue inappropriate medication therapy receives relatively little attention. Few clinical guidelines cover drug deprescribing, and this lack of evidence-based direction contributes to prescribers’ hesitancy or reluctance to touch treatment regimens that may have originated from a different practice setting. But failure to deprescribe medications that are contributing to adverse side effects can have serious consequences,...

Eric A Wright, PharmD, MPH, investigator I for Geisinger Health Research and associate professor at Wilkes University, discusses communication obstacles that hinder community pharmacists from playing a more active role in transitions of care.

Kimberly Henderson, MD, JD, medical director for the Health Systems Alliance at CVS Health and regional medical director for MinuteClinic, discusses what pharmacists need to know about managing COPD. (video)

Kristene Diggins, MBA, manager of professional practice at MinuteClinic, and Contemporary Clinic Editorial Board member, talks about some dynamic trends in diabetes management.

Jessica Kerr, PharmD, CDE, and assistant department chair at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville discusses potential barriers to inhaled insulin, like Afrezza.

Kristene Diggins, MBA, manager of professional practice at MinuteClinic, gives counseling points that pharmacists should provide to diabetic patients.  (video)

Empathy is neither sympathy nor compassion,...It is also not feeling sorry for a patient…In medical interviewing, being empathic means listening to the total communication—words, feelings, and gestures—and letting the patient know that you are really hearing what he or she is saying,..Empathy can create better relationships with patients and lead to better therapeutic outcomes.

Here are 5 ways pharmacists can show empathy toward patients:

1. Show respect to receive respect.
2. Encourage patients to express themselves.
3. Put yourself in the patient’s shoes.
4. Recognize and address patients’ fears.
5. Use interchangeable and additive responses.

Lisa Kroon, PharmD, CDE, professor and department chairperson of clinical pharmacy at University of California, San Francisco, School of Pharmacy, talks about some ways smoking cessation can improve patient health and manage chronic conditions.

Bruce Berger, PhD, president of Berger Consulting LLC, discusses the behavioral patterns that contribute to a patient’s propensity to be more or less adherent to their medications. (video)