As the Pharmacist Connect website notes, they know the importance of a variety of health checkups and measures — mammograms, colonoscopies and vaccines.
But spending more than the moments one does with a pharmacist who dispenses a prescription is not thought of as important. Do we really give a thought to what he or she tells us; about when to take medicine, how much or often to take and the potential side affects?
Pharmacist Connect offers a new service that owner Holly Jackson hopes will save people a lot of problems and help answer important questions about prescriptions and medications.
Jackson comes into this venture with solid qualifications. She graduated from pharmacy school at the University of Washington and did additional work at Eastern Washington where study involved classes in chemistry and organic chemistry, earning a doctorate in organic chemistry.
She worked in the business first as a pharmacist at the retail level and later for Group Health where Jackson operated much like she does in her business.
“In a way it’s similar to medical school but we dive so much deeper into the medication and the diagnosis, but not nearly as much as the med school direction,” Jackson explained. “I didn’t pick it up lightly.” Jackson also has board certification in ambulatory care.
It’s no wonder that with almost every other television ad touting some medication these days, and with an aging population often under a physician’s care and taking prescription medication, that adverse reactions can occur.
Jackson, who is based in Spokane, said she noticed there were huge groups of people not getting the right information when it came to their prescriptions.
“They are taking the wrong medications and are taking them incorrectly,” Jackson said. “I set up this business to connect people who are struggling, or people who did not realize they were struggling.”
Recently, Jackson worked with a client whose multiple medications were causing a variety of problems including dry mouth and insomnia. Doing some drug detective work helped solve their problem and eliminate a prescription, thus not only fixing a symptom, but saving money, too.
“I’ve found that most physicians are wanting to help people but they have major time constraints,” Jackson said.
Jackson said she sets up a time to meet and goes through what it is a person is taking.
“We don’t have to worry about time constraints,” Jackson said. “If it takes two hours, whatever, they don’t feel pressure time-wise.” The service requires a flat fee of $110.
Jackson prepares a report and if need be, which is more often than not, she will connect with their physician and make sure they approve.
“There just isn’t a spot in our healthcare today for people to get this information,” Jackson said. “They are just falling through the cracks and it’s easy to add another pill rather than sit down and find out what’s going on.”
Holly Jackson, PharmD, BCACP
To contact Pharmacist Connect call (509) 280-5614, email [email protected] or visit http://www.Pharmacist-Connect.com.
Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].
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