Eureka, CA (December 21st, 2017) – St. Joseph Health, Humboldt County (SJH-HC) and St. Joseph Health
Medical Group (SJHMG) have partnered to introduce a clinically trained
acute care pharmacist into the primary care setting. The collaboration
is part of a deep-dive strategy to address the growing need for primary
care providers in Humboldt. Lyndsey chamberlain, Pharm D, began her new
role as an Ambulatory Care Pharmacist in mid-November with medical group
physicians just recently transitioned from Eureka Family Practice.
In her new capacity, Chamberlain will leverage her clinical pharmacy background
to provide critical support for physicians by assisting with prescription
refill authorizations, ordering labs, receiving referrals from providers
for in-depth medication review, and one-on-one patient consultations for
diabetes and pain management. The primary focus for Chamberlain is to
develop a best practice of medication management within the medical group
so as to standardize care throughout the patient panel, creating a healthier
community.
“Primary Care Providers have different strengths and areas of expertise
when it comes to prescribing medications to treat various disease states
such as diabetes, pain management hyperlipidemia, and hypertension,”
said Terry Lerma, Pharm D, Area Director, Pharmacy Services, SJH-HC. “Lyndsey’s
role as a clinical pharmacist integrated in the Primary care setting is
to identify clinical best practices and leverage the individual strengths
& expertise of each one of the providers so as to effectively standardize
the prescribing of medication throughout the Primary care clinic.”
By doing so, all patients treated at this site will achieve better clinical
outcomes with time. The Clinical Pharmacist is in an excellent position
to offer “curbside” medication consultations to assist medical
providers and patients. They are also in a good position to focus their
efforts on patients with complicated medication regimens and help them
to simplify their regimens to achieve desired clinical outcomes. This
is a novel developing role for a hospital trained pharmacist to bring
new and unrealized value to the outpatient care setting.
Chamberlain, who spent twelve years at SJH-HC as a Clinical Pharmacist
and Area Manager of Pharmacy Services for St. Joseph Eureka and Redwood
Memorial Hospital, oriented and trained for the new role this fall at
three distinguished healthcare organizations in Oregon – Portland
Clinic, Providence Medical Group, and Virginia Garcia Clinic. She is currently
on trek to become an Advanced Practice Pharmacist, allowing her to have
her own panel of patients, which was one of the main reasons why Chamberlain
chose this new role.
“I missed the daily contact with patients,” said Chamberlain.
“My very first patient was having a hard time managing her medications
for Alzheimer’s, taking 15 different medications. We identified
two that were actually making her symptoms worse, discontinued them and
greatly reduced the overall panel of medications she had to take. Both
the patient and spouse left my office very emotional because they were
so relieved that I was able to use my training and experience to help
take care of them.”
The potential for a single clinical pharmacist to make significant impacts
in patient health and assist in medication management is not lost on rural
care providers in communities like Humboldt County. Recent data from St.
Joseph Eureka suggests that only 30% of patients seen in the Emergency
Department are able to accurately detail the medications and strengths
they are prescribed.
While this role is new for Humboldt County, it is considered a proven best
practice for over 15 years in other areas of the country, such as the
Pacific Northwest. Seattle and Portland Oregon even feature primary care
clinics operated exclusively by Clinical Pharmacists working with a Medical
Director. Metropolitan areas throughout the west coast (CA, WA, OR) are
now realizing a surplus of highly trained clinical pharmacists while simultaneously
experiencing a shortage of Primary care providers. All three states have
drafted legislation to expand the role of Clinical pharmacists and encourage
the integration of highly trained clinical pharmacists into the Primary
care setting.
SJH-HC is hopeful to further expand the role of Ambulatory Care Pharmacists
to other progressive Primary Care Organizations located in Humboldt County
such as Open Door. Additionally, SJH-HC has embarked on a relationship
with pharmacy schools at Oregon State University and Washington State
University to provide a robust pipeline of pharmacy students to intern
in Humboldt County.