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Understanding Your
Partner in Care
What do other health care professionals think about collaborating with
pharmacists? Here’s some insight from a doctor and a nurse practitioner.
o Focus squarely on the patient. “I look at collaboration like this: Here’s
what I can provide for you, now what can you provide for me for a better
or different service for my patients?” says Shelly Redman, NP, Clinical
Administrator and Lead NP at the Ingersoll Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic.
Any business benefits are secondary.
o Take ownership. Consulting with pharmacists may be valuable, but
collaboration is about something more, says Dr. Brenda Copps of the
Hamilton Family Health Team. “It’s about being willing to take ownership
of a problem, and make yourself available beyond the initial encounter,”
she says. Dr. Copps says she’s happy to relinquish some control; when a
pharmacist shares responsibility for challenging patients, for example, that
takes some weight off her, and frees her time to serve other patients.
o Be respectful. “I like to see excitement from another professional about
what they’re doing, but get turned off by someone who’s pushy,” says
Redman. Having new ideas is great, but don’t imply that you have all the
answers, she says: “It can get people’s backs up.”
o Pick up the phone. Electronic communications has “lowered the bar”, Dr.
Copps says. If a pharmacist wants to collaborate in some way, a call speaks
volumes. “With less personal contact, there’s less of an opportunity to get
a sense of the relationship,” she says.
o Remember your value. Are pharmacists seen as junior partners in care?
Not to Dr. Copps. “Within my setting, it has been a huge pleasure to see
the scope of what the pharmacist has brought to our team,” she says. It’s
easy to talk yourself out of potential opportunities because you worry
you’ll be rejected. “Start with the assumption that other professionals are
open to you,” Redman says.
PHARMACY CONNECTION ~ SPRING 2013 ~ PAGE 15