Doctor-pharmacist cooperation is the foundation of a well-functioning health care system

- This is a unique place on the conference map, because it is one of the few that wants to build an ecosystem that enables greater cooperation between doctors and pharmacists. We want to integrate the medical community, build a bridge between these professions, strengthen relationships and together meet the expectations of Patients. They are the most important beneficiaries of this cooperation. - This event should be called the Patient Care Forum, as we ourselves are often the patients," says Krzysztof Szponder, managing director of Dr.Max Polska.

Among the invited guests were representatives of the Ministry of Health, university circles, CMKP, pharmacists, pharmacy managers and health market experts. This is a Forum for exchanging experiences in an interdisciplinary environment bringing together practicing physicians, pharmacists, university and political circles. The main event was an expert debate attended by:

Małgorzata Zadorożna - director of the Department of Medical Personnel Development at the Ministry of Health
Paweł Kulka - deputy Chief Pharmaceutical Inspector
Krzysztof Szponder - managing director of Dr.Max Polska
Aneta Sakowicz - head of Dr. Max Pharmacy.Max
Urszula Szybowicz - vice-president of the Polish Association of Coordinated Health Care
Prof. Jarosław Pinkas - director of the CMKP School of Public Health
Phys. med. Michał Sutkowski - president of the Warsaw Field Branch of the College of Family Doctors in Polandc

Phys. Med. Paweł Żuk, president of the Medical and Diagnostic Center in Siedlce

The discussion was moderated by Prof. Mariusz Gujski, MD.

Discussions on the untapped potential of pharmacists in the health care system centered around the need to create guidelines for doctor-pharmacist cooperation, the need for joint classes already at the university level, which would lead to better cooperation in later treatment teams.

The Law on the Pharmaceutical Profession has given pharmacists new opportunities to provide services, but we are still waiting for implementing acts for many of them. In order to fully utilize the potential of pharmacies, it is necessary, first of all, to adapt the IT systems for doctor-pharmacist cooperation and to introduce pharmacy services into the package of guaranteed benefits.

Many important words were said during the debate, confirming that cooperation between doctors and pharmacists is the basis of a well-functioning health care system. All parties agreed that Poland should follow the path that other countries have already taken, allowing pharmacists a greater opportunity to screen patients or introduce. The pandemic showed that dynamic action (allowing pharmacists to vaccinate in pharmacies) is a benefit to the entire, now overburdened system, and most importantly to the patient.

- Patients who bypass doctors often come to pharmacies, and they are the ones most at risk of missing a diagnosis. Pharmacists should have access to preventive IT systems, i.e. SIMP, which helps qualify patients for diagnostic screening for, for example, cardiovascular diseases or cervical cancer, " says Pawel Zuk, president of the Medical and Diagnostic Center in Siedlce.

- There is a great need in the Polish health care system for a common information system for doctor-pharmacist communication! Consider how many situations endangering the health of patients could be avoided if the attending physician received information from the pharmacist that the patient had not purchased the drug he or she needed," said Prof. Jaroslaw Pinkas, director of the CMKP School of Public Health.

- The potential of pharmacists is still untapped! The Law on the Pharmaceutical Profession opens up opportunities for us to provide many services that can relieve the burden on primary health care and support doctors in caring for patients. Vaccinations have shown that patients are very eager to use pharmacy services, appreciating the easy and quick access to them. Implementing more services into the package of guaranteed benefits, i.e. drug review or simple diagnostics, can significantly ease the burden on our country's health care system," adds pharmacist mgr. Aneta Sakowicz, pharmacy manager of the Dr.Max franchise network

TOGETHER FOR THE PATIENT poll.

At the end of the conference, "TOGETHER FOR THE PATIENT" statuettes were presented . The jury awarded in several categories to individuals and institutions that best promote doctor-pharmacist cooperation and all educational activities for the development of pharmaceutical care.

The winners in each category were:

INSTITUTION - for support of interdisciplinary activities for the development of pharmaceutical care -. CMKP Medical Center for Postgraduate Education
MEDICINE - for commitment to the education of the public - dr. Łukasz Durajski, DoktorekRadzi.pl

FARMACEUTA - for contributions to the development of pharmaceutical care -. mgr. pharm. Agnieszka Moszczynski

MEDICINE - the welfare of the patient the highest right -. Ernest Kuchar, MD

FARMACEUTA - for commitment to the development of pharmaceutical services -. pharmacist mgr. Paulina Bartos-Kogut

The awarding body included:

Krzysztof Szponder - managing director of Dr.Max Poland

Jaroslaw J. Fedorowski - president of the Polish Federation of Hospitals
Edyta Goryszewska-Szumska - HR director of Dr.Max Polska
Mariusz Gujski, MD, PhD, MPH - dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at Warsaw Medical University - WUM.
Andrzej Mądrala - member of the Council of the Employers of Poland, Chairman of the "Healthy Health" Platform
Michał Morek - director of the Pharmaceutical Care Department of Dr.Max Polska
Marcin Piskorski - president of ZPA PharmaNET

Without good cooperation between physicians and pharmacists, without developing pharmaceutical services and without giving pharmacists new opportunities to realize patient care, we will not be able to modernize the entire health care system in the country.

The Patient Care Forum was organized by the Dr.Max pharmacy franchise network.

Source: Press Release