Page 9 - Retail Pharmacy March 2021

COVID VACCINE: THE NEXT BIG OPPORTUNITY FOR PHARMACIES HBy MedAdvisor CEO Robert Read. ealth Minister Greg Hunt has announced a $200 million program to fund the distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine through pharmacies. Pharmacies in major cities will be paid up to $42 per person to administer the vaccine, which itself will be provided free of charge. In rural and regional areas, the payment will be $48 per person. Importantly, it will be structured to incentivise pharmacy to help ensure patients come in for the important second dose. The federal government will pay 5800 community pharmacies across the country to administer the vaccines for free. The program will start in May and Prime Minister Scott Morrison expects every Australian to be offered a vaccine by October. Covid-19 is the cause of widespread fatality, illness and gridlock for industry and travel around the world. Some industries have been decimated, while others are struggling to stay afloat in unprecedented times. Returning to normalcy, without future outbreaks, lockdowns and travel restrictions, weighs heavily on the distribution of the touted solution to the pandemic: a vaccine. But this mass vaccination will have its challenges, globally and in Australia. With other important vaccines, getting people to come in for their next dose has been hard to achieve. The role of active targeted patient education programs can help improve this, based on MedAdvisor data from the US. While the rollout has begun in the UK and the US, the vaccine alone, which requires multiple doses, won’t ensure a post-Covid world. Developing a sufficient vaccine is just one pillar of the process: safety, public confidence, adherence and compliance are other essential factors at play. Uniquely, this presents pharmacies with an opportunity to assist in the process to ensure the vaccine’s success. The essential role of pharmacists The requirement to administer a vaccine to 25 million Australians within a short period of time is unique. It’s a challenge likely to put immense pressure on GPs and nurses. To ensure not only effectiveness, but also efficiency, there is an opportunity for pharmacies to assist in the process. Given how accessible a pharmacy is for frontline healthcare, Pharmacy Guild data shows that the average patient visits a pharmacy 14-plus times a year compared with just four times for a GP visit. Pharmacies can help identify at-risk patients and effectively communicate with them to ensure they know where and how to get the vaccine, and help ensure they get their next dose, with software tools already rolled out in their pharmacy. Already successfully administering millions of flu vaccines each year, pharmacies are well equipped to help meet demand. For example, in a study completed by SmartVax in conjunction with the University of Western Australia, vaccine safety monitoring in community pharmacies was considered. The key findings show that pharmacists are as safe as other typical immunisers, such as GPs and nurses, when providing immunisations. Furthermore, in 2020, according to the Department of Health, record numbers of flu vaccinations were administered. Data also showed that not only was demand higher, but advance bookings were common, too. While the flu-shot demand normally peaks in May, in 2020 demand peaked in April. Pharmacists were essential in enabling more people to get their flu jabs last year. They may, therefore, be essential for Covid immunisation, too. “In 2021, community pharmacy will continue to highlight the significance and e sentiality of its accessible nature.” Digital monitoring A Pharmaceutical Society of Australia report in 2019 showed that pharmacies needed digital transformation within five years, but this has only been accelerated by the pandemic. Pharmacies now rapidly need to digitally transform to streamline their health services and provide a service sufficient for the pandemic. The vaccine will require multiple doses, making successful population immunisation even more challenging. Therefore, digital monitoring will be essential for a streamlined and effective process. The key question is: how do we ensure adherence and compliance, so that the vaccine is effective across the population? Digital platforms, with the capability to monitor people and the number of vaccine doses they have completed, are an essential solution. Take MedAdvisor, for example, which monitors medication adherence, doses and patient history. It is integrated with SmartVax, an active surveillance system with the ability to SMS patients for check-ins. The SmartVax service has already received positive feedback when implemented in community pharmacies. These types of systems are automated and rapidly scalable, meaning that they can be implemented in pharmacies across Australia and on a global scale. In the US, MedAdvisor has successfully improved the completion rate for vaccines by working to help educate and inform the patient directly, so they understand they are not immunised until they have completed all the doses. An SMS reminder to a patient will help increase adherence to multiple doses, while monitoring will track who has been immunised and when. Pharmacies, therefore, that embrace digital transformation will be one step ahead of the curve. The development of an effective and safe Covid-19 vaccine globally is crucial. In Australia, for the vaccine to be administered at scale, a large number of resources and systems will need to be in place. Pharmacists arguably hold an important key to expediting this process. By allowing pharmacists to administer the vaccine, manpower will be increased. Moreover, pharmacies that adopt and embrace digital systems have the opportunity to effectively administer, monitor and confirm adherence to the vaccine in a safe and effective manner. With these steps in place, returning to a true post-Covid world won’t be a wish, but a reality. RETAIL PHARMACY • MAR 2021 NEWS IN FOCUS 7