Extending the continuum of care.
WhidbeyHealth continues to focus on their commitment to making it easier for you to stay healthy and manage your health.
With the opening of their new WhidbeyHealth Community Pharmacy this week, we spoke with Tony Triplett, Head Pharmacist and Teresa Avery, Pharmacy Manager about the road to delivering this innovative pharmacy experience and the vision for the future.
Why create a Pharmacy and why now?
TONY: The journey began 2 years ago. The new executive leadership team at WhidbeyHealth recognized the need and determined that a pharmacy was a logical addition to a comprehensive healthcare continuum.
What excites you about the Community Pharmacy?
TERESA: I’m excited to have the opportunity to make a difference in our community. Residents and visitors in Coupeville and the surrounding area have been without a local pharmacy for quite a while and we’re excited to make that service available.
We believe it’s important to have a strong personal relationship with your local pharmacist, just like the one you have with your other healthcare providers. We want to get to know every patient, provide onsite consultations, help them understand how meds work, and address any concerns.
How will the Community Pharmacy be different than other pharmacies on the island?
TONY: Our goal is to create a personal relationship with each patient, overseeing all their medications, and collaborating with their healthcare team to meet their individual needs.
We’ll have four pharmacists on staff focused on listening to what patients want, stocking the items they need and delivering an exceptional patient experience.
Our free Pocket RX Digital Pharmacy app lets you manage order refills and check status, receive pick up reminders and contact us from any device and our drive-up windows makes pick-up easy and fast.
We’ll help you synchronize your prescriptions so you can pick them all up on the same day each month and our free consultations will provide guidance on things like medication usage, risks, and interactions.
TERESA: More than just a place to pick up your medications the Community Pharmacy plays a vital role in the healthcare continuum. As Pharmacists, our role is to provide solutions. We want to help remove the complexities of taking medications, simplify drug regimens and resolve barriers to care so that patients can meet their healthcare goals.
How will you accomplish that?
One way we accomplish that is with Medication Therapy Management [MTM], which starts with a comprehensive review of all your medications. We look at the big picture, acting as a pharmaceutical coach, evaluating your meds, addressing adherence issues, and helping you avoid duplicate medications. We address caregiver questions and concerns and help them help them overcome obstacles to care. We’ll also work with you to help you navigate the complexities of insurance coverage.
How do you see the Community Pharmacy services evolving in the future?
TONY: We’re going to continue evolving to meet the needs of our diverse community.
We’ll be meeting with WhidbeyHealth providers regularly to hear directly from them what they need for their patients. We have plans to deliver meds to beds for patients who have been hospitalized so they don’t have to wait or come to the pharmacy for the meds they need to take home with them.
We’ll be exploring additional services like workshops, blogs, and virtual educational podcasts to help keep the community safe and healthy.
What else do you really want everyone to know?
TERESA: We’re excited to bring another option for our community’s pharmacy needs right here in Coupeville. Because of our size, staffing and our model, we’re able to spend a bit more time with our patients and adjust our services and products to meet the needs of our customers.
At WhidbeyHealth, we’re continuously evolving to meet the needs of our diverse community with innovative technologies, expanded services, and an ongoing commitment to delivering exceptional care, without exception.
For more information visit: whidbeyhealth.org/rx
Whidbey Health pharmacy, Laura Houck photo.
