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MUSC, Kerr expand pharmaceutical care by Dick Peterson Public Relations Here's another mile marker on the road to a changing health care system: It’s Kerr Drug's Enhanced Pharmaceutical Care Center on Highway 17 in Mount Pleasant. In collaboration with the MUSC College of Pharmacy, Kerr Drug Stores have expanded the role of the neighborhood pharmacist from dispensing and labeling pills to include disease management and health screening. Dr. Kirchain outside Kerr's Enhanced Pharmaceutical Care Center. The center occupies a section at the rear of the store. Kerr even renovated its store to accommodate the new clinical coordinator position held by MUSC's William Kirchain, Pharm.D. “Kerr has moved hospital pharmacy practice into the community,” Kirchain said. “What I'm doing here is what hospital pharmacists at MUSC have been doing for years.” He said there are fewer than 100 enhanced care pharmacies in the United States, and fewer than 25 with this much capital investment. Kerr has set aside space at the rear of its Mount Pleasant store for the health consultation, screening and education to be conducted there. Away from the aisles of merchandise and cash registers are a reception counter, consultation rooms, a screening area and a larger room for groups or community meetings. “We believe this is a vast opportunity to apply pharmacist's skills to improve the cost effectiveness, quality and accessibility of health care,” said the group manager of clinical services for Kerr Drug Inc., Rebecca W. Chater, R.Ph., MPH. “We want to effectively utilize the knowledge and skill of our pharmacists.” Blood pressure checks are among the pharmacy services. Chater explained that the services offered by pharmacists can be performed at a much lower overall cost in the pharmacy setting than most anywhere else. The qualified pharmacist also can take more time to answer questions and be sure a patient understands. Also, with longer hours, the pharmacist is much more accessible. “And there's seldom a parking problem,” she said. The advantage for Kerr Drug Inc., Chater said, lies in customer relations. “We believe that satisfied customers are loyal customers. By striving to meet individual patient care needs we believe we can differentiate ourselves from other pharmacies,” which she says are on “just about every corner.” MUSC’s James Sterrett, Pharm.D., an assistant professor in the College of Pharmacy, agrees with Chater about the potential impact on patient care and satisfaction. Sterrett chaired the Kerr Drug Steering Committee that shaped MUSC's relationship with Kerr's Enhanced Pharmaceutical Center in Mount Pleasant. “Because pharmacists have access to patient prescription profiles, see patients about four times more often than any other health care professional, and have intensive pharmacotherapy training, they have the opportunity to impact critical health care issues, especially medication adherence and side-effects.” Sterrett believes in applying the health care team approach to improve comprehensive patient care in the community setting.  “As with the hospital setting, the physician is generally the head of the team while the pharmacist plays an important collaborative role.  Records of prescriptions filled and prescriptions refilled, combined with added consultation, screening, education and monitoring services performed by the pharmacists can provide physicians valuable information and added resources for their patients' benefit.”  Kerr's affiliation with MUSC and its location in Mount Pleasant is a good fit, Chater said. With a two-year, successful track record in Chapel Hill, N.C., with the University of North Carolina and another in Benson, N.C., with Campbell University, Kerr officials are optimistic about the Mount Pleasant enterprise. “We always make every effort to tailor our services to the needs of the community,” she said, indicating health care needs can differ from one community to another.  “Right now we're offering two key services,” Kirchain said. “One we call ‘My Remedy,’ which is disease management and health education training in how to treat diabetes and asthma. The other, ‘Pro-Check,’ is a health screening program to test blood sugar levels for diabetes, blood pressure for hypertension and cholesterol numbers for risk of heart failure and stroke.” Kirchain expects to have ultrasound equipment available in the next few months to screen for osteoporosis. He predicts that eventually qualified pharmacists will be monitoring drug dosing and individualize drug therapies for patients in cooperation with their doctors' recommendations.