Walter Reed celebrates pharmacy team’s dedication, expertise, and impact

Story by Bernard Little

Walter Reed National Military Medical Center

While American Pharmacists Month celebrates those working in the pharmacy field during October, Walter Reed and its beneficiaries appreciate every day the medical center’s pharmacy team for the services they provide across the National Capital Region (NCR).

U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Danielle Kerr, acting chief of the Department of Pharmacy, and Dr. Elena Vagichev, assistant chief of Clinical Pharmacy Operations at Walter Reed, explained the services the Walter Reed Pharmacy Department provides throughout the NCR.

“We operate four patient-facing pharmacies — Arrowhead Pharmacy, America Pharmacy, NEX Refill Pick-up Pharmacy, and the Drive-Thru Refill Pick-up Pharmacy. In addition, we operate three inpatient pharmacies — Main Inpatient Pharmacy, Intensive Care Unit Pharmacy, and the Hematology Oncology Pharmacy — which serve patients admitted to the hospital or receiving medication infusions. Because of our large-scale operations, we also have many support functions within our department, including IT to assist with our robotics and other pharmacy automation, and a robust supply staff who handle the logistics of ordering all the hospital’s pharmaceuticals,” Kerr explained.

There are nearly 200 team members in the Department of Pharmacy, Kerr added. “Our staff include pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and other administrative support. Our team consists of Soldiers, Sailors, Public Health Service officers, and civilians, all working together to serve our patients,” she continued.

The diversity of those who serve in the pharmacy profession and what they do is why American Pharmacists Month includes National Pharmacy Student Day (Oct. 5), Women Pharmacist Day (Oct. 12), and National Pharmacy Technician Day (Oct. 17).

“Many patients think pharmacy just puts pills in bottles, but we do so much more behind the scenes,” Kerr shared. “Our pharmacy staff use their clinical knowledge to review every prescription for safety and legal compliance. Each one of a patient’s medication is diligently reviewed to ensure it accurately matches what the doctor ordered, making sure the dose is correct, confirming the medication is appropriate for the medical issue, and checking for possible drug interactions. Behind the scenes, we are also preparing medications for hospital inpatient wards, clinics, and operating rooms.”

Walter Reed outpatient pharmacies process approximately 2,000 prescriptions a day, and the inpatient pharmacies prepare nearly 3,000 medications a day, according to Kerr and Vagichev.

Kerr added, “As a research facility, there are often many ongoing clinical research projects and drug trials at Walter Reed. Anytime those research studies utilize a medication, our Investigational Pharmacy is involved. The Investigational Pharmacy prepares all kinds of study medications, including pills, creams, and injectable products, and even prepares matching placebo medications for studies as well.”

Pharmacists and those on the pharmacy team also play a vital role in clinical consultation and patient care as well, Kerr continued. “We have several clinical pharmacists who work within Walter Reed clinics meeting directly with patients to manage ongoing medical problems and medications, including diabetes, weight loss, and high blood pressure.

These clinical pharmacists also meet one-on-one with patients to provide a comprehensive review of their medications, including prescription, over- the- counter, and supplements – a service known as Medication Therapy Management (MTM). We also have multiple clinical pharmacists who work in the hospital itself, rounding with our inpatient teams to provide pharmaceutical expertise for patients admitted to the hospital.”

Regarding the pharmacy’s role in patient safety, Kerr and Vagichev explained that every prescription that passes through the pharmacy receives a full safety check. “We are so focused on medication safety, that we have a full-time medication safety pharmacist who expertly works to identify system errors and patterns of concern, find solutions to prevent errors from occurring, and educate all health care staff at the facility on safe medication practices,” Kerr shared.

The Walter Reed Pharmacy Department also maintains an Antimicrobial Stewardship Program (ASP). Kerr explains that because of the rise in antibiotic-resistant bacteria worldwide, Walter Reed has two pharmacists dedicated to ASP efforts. “These pharmacists track and improve antibiotic prescribing practices to ensure infections are treated appropriately and to minimize the rise of antibiotic resistance.”

This year’s American Pharmacists Month theme, Caring for Our Communities, reflects the pharmacy team’s shared commitment to caring for and supporting the communities around them, such as Walter Reed’s Pharmacy Department outreach through the NCR. The origins of American Pharmacists Month trace back to October 1925, when radio stations nationwide aired special programming for a week to spotlight the pharmacy profession. In 2004, after nearly eight decades of celebrating National Pharmacy Week, the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) officially designated October as American Pharmacists Month.

According to the APhA, there are more than 700,000 pharmacy professionals and student pharmacists in the U.S. About 90 percent of all Americans live within five miles of a pharmacy, which is, in some cases, the only accessible form of health care available in the community. In addition, 74 percent of vaccinations during the flu season took place at pharmacies, the APhA added.

The APhA also stated, “Pharmacists enjoy a unique level of trust among Americans, a sentiment corroborated by more than three decades of Gallup polling. Year after year, these surveys consistently rank pharmacists among the most trusted professions in the United States.”