Three Ways to Thank A Pharmacist on National Pharmacist Day

Ochsner Recognizes Pharmacy Team for Providing Vital Services Across Health System

NEW ORLEANS – Ochsner Health has administered more than 600,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Of that number, more than 37,000 doses have been administered at Ochsner Pharmacy and Wellness (OPW) retail locations. Behind every dose, an Ochsner pharmacy team member plays an instrumental role preparing the vaccine for administration. In honor of National Pharmacist Day on Wednesday, January 12, Ochsner encourages the community to thank local pharmacy team members in three ways:

1. Write It Down: A handwritten note thank you note never goes out of style. Drop one off to your pharmacist at your next pick up.
2. Get Digital: Post a virtual shoutout on social media or post an online review to recognize your favorite pharmacy team member.
3. Pay it Forward: Support professional development opportunities for Ochsner pharmacy team members by making a gift to the Ochsner Pharmacy Education Fund. To learn more, click here.

Pharmacists work across the Ochsner system on a variety of specialty teams that provide vital services across Ochsner’s system. Teams include:

• Hospital Pharmacy: This team provides administrative, clinical and distributive services to hospital, clinic and infusion patients. Last year, this team completed over 12,000 medication reconciliations, 10,000 allergy assessments, and nearly 8,000 drug information requests. Additionally, the team completed over 675,000 clinical interventions and nearly 8,000 patient education sessions, improving safety and efficacy of medication therapies for patients. Common interventions include pharmacokinetic dosing, dosing adjustments, initiating and discontinuing medications that are no longer needed.

• Retail Pharmacy: Retail pharmacy and specialty pharmacy team members fills prescriptions across 17 retail locations. OPW operates 12 retail pharmacies and has 115 pharmacists and pharmacy technicians across the system. The teams have filled over 800,000 prescriptions this year, delivered over 131,000 discharge prescriptions to 58,000 patients at bedside and administered over 30,000 immunizations (outside of COVID). The retail teams provide services which include mail delivery of prescriptions, copay assistance, allergen preparations and prior authorization resolution to assist patients and providers with their outpatient prescription needs.

• Specialty Pharmacy: OPW Specialty Pharmacy consists of 80 pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. This team provides administrative, clinical, and distributive services to our chronically ill outpatients on specialty medications requiring intense patient management and education. Last year, the specialty team served over 16,000 unique patients with an averaged 89% PDC adherence rate (which is above the national average of 80%) and a persistence of 100% for transplant, growth deficiency, HIV, hyperlipidemia, cystic fibrosis, pulmonary hypertension, multiple sclerosis, inflammatory, and oncology patients. We have an average of 86% Hepatitis C patients complete therapy which is above the Excelera network average of 84%. We have 98% provider and patient satisfaction. We provided over 30,000 patient education sessions and made over 10,000 patient and provider interventions.

• Information Systems Department (IS): Pharmacists in IS focus on ensuring the medication process, from ordering to administration, is safe and accurate for providers, pharmacists, nurses, and other clinicians in all of the hospitals and clinics leveraging Epic – Ochsner’s integrated electronic health record system.

• Corporate Team: This team supports pharmacy supply chain, financials, medicine safety, refills, informatics, 340B drug pricing program, medication access, patient assistance, and research.

• Outpatient and Home Infusion Team: This team supports patient needs outside of the hospital.

• Innovation Ochsner (iO) Team: The clinical pharmacists on this team support patient care by providing medication therapy and chronic disease management services though Ochsner digital medicine programs like Hypertension and Diabetes Digital Medicine.

Ochsner is also committed to investing in education programs to train the next generation of Pharmacists along with other healthcare disciplines – a key component of Ochsner’s 10-year vision to transform Louisiana into a healthier state by 2030. Each year, 22 pharmacy residents participate in Ochsner’s 10 different residency programs with two programs in partnership with LSU Pharmacy. Each residency program is accredited by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) Commission on Credentialing and the ASHP Board of Directors.

Additionally, Ochsner provides clinical training to 147 pharmacy students annually, with an average of 133 hailing from Xavier University. Xavier and Ochsner have a long-standing relationship dating back to the early 1980s when the two organizations established an affiliation agreement partnership to provide educational experiences to pharmacy students.

To learn more about Ochsner’s pharmacy services or to find a retail location, visit www.ochsner.org/services/pharmacy. To learn more about career opportunities in pharmacy with Ochsner Health, visit www.ochsner.org/careers. To learn more about Ochsner Health, please visit ochsner.org.

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About Ochsner Health

Ochsner Health is a system that delivers health to the people of Louisiana, Mississippi and the Gulf South with a mission to Serve, Heal, Lead, Educate and Innovate. Ochsner Health is a not-for-profit committed to giving back to the communities it serves through preventative screenings, health and wellness resources and partnerships with innovative organizations that share our vision. Ochsner Health healed more than 900,000 people from across the globe in 2020, providing the latest medical breakthroughs and therapies, including digital medicine for chronic conditions and telehealth specialty services. Ochsner Health is a national leader, named both the top hospital and the top children’s hospital in Louisiana by U.S. News & World Report. As Louisiana’s leading healthcare educator, Ochsner Health and its partners educate thousands of healthcare professionals annually. Ochsner Health is innovating healthcare by investing in new technologies and research to make world-class care more accessible, affordable, convenient and effective. Ochsner's team of more than 32,000 employees and 4,500 providers are working to reinvent the future of health and wellness in the region. To learn more about Ochsner Health, please visit www.ochsner.org. To transform your health, please visit www.ochsner.org/healthyyou.