American Pharmacists Month: Pharmacies Should Embrace Technology to Drive Profession Forward

With the evolving digital landscape that the health care sector is currently experiencing, the underutilization of pharmacy technology will only result in a waste of money and resources. Instead, according to experts like Nicole Pezzino, PharmD, BCACP, BC-ADM, CDCES, owning, learning, and, most importantly, using the emerging technology will only benefit pharmacy businesses and help their margins grow.

“Cost, education, time: Those things are real concerns; they really are,” Pezzino, clinical pharmacy consultant with RedSail Technologies, told Drug Topics. “I've seen it time and time again, though, pharmacies that take the time to learn and implement technologies, they're the ones who are thriving.”

In part 2 of our interview during American Pharmacists Month, Pezzino further explored the world of emerging pharmacy technology. Through her work as a clinical pharmacy consultant at RedSail Technologies, as well as her extensive background in pharmacy, Pezzino provided insights into the importance of pharmacy technology and how it has become a need within the greater industry and across a variety of health care channels.

“It's usually the ones that are resistant to change that find themselves maybe more in that stuck position,” she continued. “Take the leap because it really does take a willingness to step in the future for that success.”

READ MORE: American Pharmacists Month: Pharmacy Technology Supports Efficient Services, Profitability

Drug Topics: Throughout your work in pharmacy consulting, what are some of the biggest challenges that pharmacies have faced regarding technology and its evolving nature?

Nicole Pezzino: One of the biggest challenges hands down, and I'm going to even draw from my previous roles in academia, [as a] Flip the Pharmacy coach, and [in my] current [role], is underutilization of the technology. Many pharmacies have such powerful systems and they're only scratching the surface for what it could be used for and how it's being used.

When I was coaching for Flip the Pharmacy sites in Pennsylvania, I always recommended my pharmacy teams owning the technology. It's not enough. You have to invest that time in learning it and making it part of your daily workflow. Otherwise, that tool, that technology that you're paying for, is just going to collect dust. I always give the analogy of when you first started to drive and how it was intimidating and how it was daunting. You had 2 hands on the wheel and all, and that's the same with technology. When you first start embracing it, it's daunting; it's a change.

It goes back, and I ask this to a lot of my pharmacies as they're looking at which technology solutions are for them, who do you want to be as a pharmacy when you grow up? We ask that question all the time when we're growing up. You still have to think about that. Then, make sure, when you're clear on what you want to be when you grow up as a pharmacy, what technology can you leverage to actually make sure you're getting there? Bringing those 2 together can really be where a lot of that magic does happen.

Drug Topics: What is one piece of advice you’d give to a pharmacy business or pharmacist looking to use technology to their advantage throughout their day-to-day services? Or on the other side of that, what advice would you give to someone that’s hesitant to use technology in their practice because of costs, education, or other factors?

Nicole Pezzino: My biggest advice, and I think this would probably be very generic life advice, is don't let fear hold you back. When I say that, I mean I get it. Cost, education, time: Those things are real concerns; they really are. I've seen it time and time again, though, pharmacies that take the time to learn and implement technologies, they're the ones who are thriving. I go back to the question and ask pharmacies, ‘who do you want to be when you grow up?’ Once you know that, you can really scrub your processes. Pick the right technology that supports who you want to be when you grow up, because it's not going to be the same for all pharmacies. At RedSail, one of their mottos is ‘Pharmacy thrives here.’

I think pharmacies really need to embrace the tools that help them grow. Here's the thing, pharmacies who embrace that change and really lean into technology, they're the ones leading the profession forward. One thing that I've really enjoyed about my time in the Community Pharmacy Enhanced Services Network (CPESN) and in our state [of] Pennsylvania Pharmacists Care Network is pharmacies are also willing to help each other. If you need help, if you need support, reach out to your technology partner, reach out to your peers and ask for support. Learn [the] things that they went through to be able to get to where they are. It's usually the ones that are resistant to change that find themselves maybe more in that stuck position. Take the leap because it really does take a willingness to step in the future for that success.

My final thought would be that we have an incredible opportunity right now [in pharmacy]. We know that. Thriving doesn't happen by clinging to the way that we have been doing things. When I was in pharmacy school, which doesn't feel like that long ago, it was more volume equaled more dollars, and we know that's not the case anymore. We have to be brave enough to challenge that status quo. Rethink how you're practicing in community pharmacy and embrace the tools to free you up to be able to take care of that patient in front of you. Again, for me, that changing the world hashtag that I always talk about, it's those small everyday actions that we do in community pharmacy—the conversations you have, those services, those follow-ups—that truly change the world for patients.

Community pharmacy is all about building those trusted personal relationships, making patients feel taken care of. When we let technology support those things better—being more efficient, more consistent—we're really able to unlock some of that full potential, and I'm going to focus in on community pharmacy for what community pharmacy can be. But really, you can extrapolate that to pharmacy across all practices.

READ MORE: American Pharmacists Month Resource Center

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