Making Patients a Priority Through Expanded Pharmacist-Provider Collaboration

There’s no “I” in team — and there’s also no “I” in healthcare. In the modern healthcare landscape, successful collaboration is key to improving patient outcomes. 

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As the occurrence of complex, chronic medical conditions continues to rise in the United States, patients are going to need a true team of healthcare professionals to work together to deliver holistic, effective care. 

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Let’s explore how you can make patients a priority (and show them that they are) for better health outcomes and bolster patient loyalty. 

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Connect with Local Chronic Condition Specialists 

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When you begin your journey to more frequent collaboration with other healthcare providers, it’s smart to think about which patients stand to see the most benefit and start there. Your young, relatively low-risk patients in their 20s who only see a PCP once a year may not need extra support, but older, chronically ill patients definitely will. 

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Consider connecting with local providers who work with high-risk populations to see how you can better collaborate with them for enhanced health outcomes. Not only can this open the door to getting more patients, but it also positively impacts how you serve your current patients. Check-in with providers at:

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• Dialysis centers
• Local senior living facilities 
• Specialist care centers 

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By coming up with plans and rules of procedure on how to best collaborate with these providers in complex medical cases, you can have an even larger influence and impact on your patients’ well-being. 

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Host Lifestyle and Condition-Related Health Workshops

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Another way to highlight your increased collaboration with other providers is by co-hosting health workshops. These can be open to both your patients and the other providers' patients in order to further your reach.

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Highlight how you and your co-host work together to help with these certain conditions or at certain stages of life for optimal wellness. Maybe it’s a workshop for pregnant patients on their vitamin and nutritional needs or a session for parents on what vaccines and health checkups their children can get either at the pharmacy or with their provider. Be sure to really examine your patient base and their needs to ensure any workshops you might host will drive maximum impact for your practice. 

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Work with Physicians to Promote Your Services Beyond Dispensing 

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Lastly, as you collaborate with other providers, you should also see if they are open to helping refer patients to you. Consider creating promotional material about your collaboration specifically designed to be used in other providers’ offices to attract new patients. 

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Interested in increasing your collaboration with other providers, but feel like you don’t have enough hours in the day to do so? Learn how Nimble can help you get more time back to spend on practice-building initiatives like these — and speak with our team, today.