Your Pharmadoc -Rxpk

A Pharm-D graduate started her career at Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi in 2016, where she gained further professional experience in pharmacy practice. She is passionate about generating new ideas for general well-being. She believes in transforming lives through the fusion of technology with traditional healthcare solutions. She also aims to be a Human Centered Design Practitioner for design thinking to innovate services/products/ systems. I'm always seeking opportunities that will allow me to develop and promote strategies & tools/technologies that benefit human health and society overall. 

1. Empowering pharmacist to empower patient-care (SDG#3)

WHY?  At least 400 million people have no basic healthcare, and 40 percent lack social protection.More than 1.6 billion people live in fragile settings where protracted crises, combined with weak national capacity to deliver basic health services, present a significant challenge to global health.

Access to a professional healthcare provider is almost impossible. Therefore, there's no/improper utilization of Pharmacist in our country. I want to bridge that gap and utilize these professional to make healthcare system strong.

(Ref: https://www.pk.undp.org/content/pakistan/en/home/sustainable-development-goals/goal-3-good-health-and-well-being.html)

2. Through tele-pharmacy solutions, an online platform for connecting patients with pharmacists for medication therapy management. The platform enables pharmacists for clinical decision support and communication with patients to provide the medications and pharmacological consultations. 

Access to healthcare professional is access to quality essential health-care services.It will help us achieve access to healthcare for everyone, where patients remaining “safe at home” still have ongoing medical and pharmaceutical needs that can be addressed through trained professionals i.e. pharmacists. It will be low cost since it doesn't require physical presence and can help us decrease the consultations burden tremendously where people can easily ask about their medical queries. 

In Pakistan ( a low middle income country) as per UNDP, at least 400 million people have no basic healthcare, and 40 percent lack social protection.More than 1.6 billion people live in fragile settings where protracted crises, combined with weak national capacity to deliver basic health services, present a significant challenge to global health.

The factors contributing includes poverty i.e Population in multidimensional poverty, headcount is 38.3%) and un-employement i.e. Employment to population ratio (% ages 15 and older) is 51.7, due to which access to healthcare professionals (pharmacists) and medicines is near impossible.(Ref: http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/PAK)

Through tele-pharmacy solutions, an online platform for connecting patients with pharmacists for medication therapy management. 

It is a service that bridges the gap between pharmacists who want an opportunity to practice at the top of their license and patients who need medication management services. In doing so, the platform enables a more engaged, holistic relationship between pharmacist and patient.

The platform opens up an entirely new “gig economy” for pharmacists and makes it easy for health plans to leverage the skills of thousands of pharmacist experts who are home at any given time esp. in COVID times.

Being a low-middle income country, there are thousands of pharmacists unemployed and therefore underutilized in our healthcare system. It will create work opportunities for pharmacists interested in using their clinical expertise and makes it easy for them to engage in patient care services.

This platform enables licensed pharmacists in good standing to pay a registration fee and join the community. Health plans and other providers engage it for clinical services, and pharmacists are paid directly for their expertise.

The intuitive design of the app allows the pharmacist to focus solely on meeting the needs of each patient they speak with. 

It’s a first-of-its-kind clinical documentation tool for pharmacists focused on services ranging from  Comprehensive Medication Reviews to more specific Targeted Medication Interventions.

Pakistan is one of the low middle income country where there is an exceptional burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases.Where thousands of qualified pharmacists (being a healthcare professional) are jobless and an overwhelming number of the medical stores are run by unqualified managers. We are missing in healthcare system. Therefore, it is high time to cater this need and work together for better healthcare.

Recently, due to pandemic a lot of online services and platforms are initiated. I came across many online tele-pharmacy solutions growing i.e. 

I always wanted the same opportunity for my peers and my profession.With COVID-19 bringing a new normal, I see it as an opportunity to make an impact in this and when work from home is now easier than ever, why not initiate a service to provide safe healthcare services through trained healthcare professionals and make access to healthcare fast, cheap and easy.

Being a pharmacist in Pakistan is not an easy task. My professional journey is full of obstacles and difficulties from finding the right work opportunity to traveling. From demanding a deserving pay to compromising work hours.In addition to few job opportunities, I faced a lot of troubles being a GIRL in a low-middle income conservative society.  

My pain to serve the community, profession and my peers equally, regardless of being a girl motivates me to keep carving my own path. 

I want to create opportunities, rather than only chasing them one after another!

I have 4+ years of experience in the field of Pharmacy i.e hospital & community sector both. I've worked with almost all the big names of the professional sector and being trained by one of the most prestigious organization i.e. Aga Khan University (JCIA accredited) in my country. I'm a multi-talented individual. I have got expertise in clinical skills as well versed in 21stC skill set too. 

Currently I'm working as an "INNOVATION FELLOW" at Aga Khan University and getting hands-on experience within innovation sector of Pakistan. I'm being trained in public health, business management,design thinking, IT etc. to serve healthcare better. I'm the only Pharmacist to land this opportunity within my province (probably within my country). This have broaden my scope of work and intellect to THINK BIG.

I consider myself as the best-fit to deliver this project. I'm the voice of thousands of pharmacist to make an impact for better future of healthcare overall.

During my last job, my boss called me one day suddenly, he wanted me to lead an entire launch event due to sudden emergency of the team lead show left two days before event. The boss was unhappy with my previous lead, so we were tasked with redoing the entire plan. I organized a late-night brainstorm that evening. After hours of work, I asked my team to put together the details.I made the new deck. This was challenging because it was my first time putting a deck together and also our one chance to make our boss happy again. I overcame this challenge by looking at previously successful presentations, analyzing the feedback they gave on our initial ppt. and incorporating all of the team’s ideas into the new deck. The boss was ultimately thrilled with the fresh plan, and all of the new ideas we included!

In my role as the Pharmacy In-charge at a community setup, I was tasked with increasing the overall sales numbers from one quarter to the next. I used my experience as a outpatient pharmacist to determine what methods work best for selling products and developed a strategy on the best ways to increase sales. When I applied this strategy and gave presentation to my boss, I encouraged my team members to share their insights and how they could apply the methods to specific deals that were currently in their pipelines. The following quarter, we achieved higher sales numbers increased by 15%.

First of it's kind of platform in my country. There is no such service utilizing pharmacist and connecting them to patients.For me

Activities: The public/patients receives access to pharmacist related to medication therapy. 

Plan meetings, collaborations/partnerships, hiring of basic staff, launch the App/online platform, building a pharmacist community

Outputs: Pharmacist connecting with patients.The patients/public will gain awareness of role of pharmacist in medication management services.

Short term outcomes:  This will open up an entirely new “gig economy” for pharmacists and makes it easy for health plans to leverage the skills of thousands of pharmacist experts who are home at any given time esp. during this pandemic

Long term outcomes: The patients will accept the role of pharmacist in healthcare system. Effective patient care, better healthcare

Ref:

Baldoni S, Amenta F, Ricci G. Telepharmacy Services: Present Status and Future Perspectives: A Review. Medicina (Kaunas). 2019;55(7):327. Published 2019 Jul 1. doi:10.3390/medicina55070327

Le T, Toscani M, Colaizzi J. Telepharmacy: A New Paradigm for Our Profession. J Pharm Pract. 2020;33(2):176-182. doi:10.1177/0897190018791060

Subscription model (B2B, B2C)

The platform enables licensed pharmacists in good standing to pay a registration fee and join the community. Health plans and other providers engage the platform for clinical services, and pharmacists are paid directly for their expertise.

The app allows the pharmacist to focus solely on meeting the needs of each patient they speak with. 

To help elevate healthcare and transform the future for better.