The unique role of pharmacists

Video transcript

Mary:

Navigating Long-Acting Injectable Conversations to Achieve Longer Dosing Intervals in Adult Patients With Schizophrenia. A Virtual National Broadcast for Pharmacists in Mental Health. This video was developed from virtual sessions previously recorded in June 2022. Any audience participation and/or interactivity will not be enabled or be available as part of this presentation. Our guest speaker is Dr. Alberto Augsten, pharmacy clinical manager and board-certified clinical toxicologist at Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, Florida.

Dr. Alberto Augsten:

As Mary said, let's go ahead and begin this very interesting discussion on navigating long-acting injectable conversations to achieve longer dosing intervals in adult patients with schizophrenia. So once again, thank you and welcome to the program. It must be stated, this is a promotional educational activity brought to you by Janssen. It's not certified for continued medical education. I'm a paid speaker for Janssen and we're presenting on behalf of Janssen and must present information in compliance with the FDA.

I know we have a room full of pharmacists, as myself being a pharmacist, and we're really here today and focusing on the role of the pharmacist. And at the end of the day, pharmacists play a unique role in all care continuum related to transitioning patients, and the benefits adults with schizophrenia may play to this is multifactorial. Let's go over some of the specific information relative to the role of the pharmacist.

They have a role in educating counseling patients on treatment options for schizophrenia, including long-acting injectables and other coexisting conditions. They're also involved—we are involved—in providing medication therapy management to help detect, prevent, and resolve medication-related problems. Now, this is something that has grown significantly in the last decade, and it continues to expand. Pharmacists are also involved in identifying and improving medication access fulfillment issues. That's something we've been doing for many, many years. Addressing and improving medication adherence—and we're going to hear a little bit about adherence, and the role of the LAI. Improving transitions of care to increase communication between pharmacists and other members of the treatment team. And that term is really powerful, transitions of care. It's a term we're using in other areas and the treatment of various disorders, and how it plays a role in the treatment of psychiatric disorders continues to expand. And the role of pharmacists is very impactful.

Recommending treatment options and adjusting medication regimens for patients in some settings. And if you scroll down to the bottom, there’s an asterisk. As of 2021, we should be very proud that over 40 states allow pharmacists to administer long-acting injectable antipsychotics. And that’s very impactful. The ability that we’ve had to expand our scope, and now being part of the team that's actually administering these products, has been a great impact on our patients and community.

And then serving as an alternate site of care to decrease stigma. That resonates really well for many of our patients. When you speak to some of these patients, understanding that there is stigma associated with receiving maybe the LAI in a certain location, and having an alternate site of care like a pharmacy or pharmacist that are involved in their care, really helps diminish that stigma. So at the end of the day, pharmacists' unique and increased access to patients enables them to oversee and administer LAIs, like we mentioned, in the inpatient and outpatient settings. And I know this resonates with the folks tuning in today.