VA pharmacists help deliver better care for veterans.

Abstract

At Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care System in Biloxi, Mississippi, a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) initiative to promote the sharing of best practices has been a gateway for providing pharmacy services in the primary care setting. The project, one of 13 “gold status” programs being shared through VA’s Diffusion of Excellence initiative, allows a clinical pharmacy resident to provide primary care services one day per week to veterans with diabetes. It’s a small but important step, said Michelle Richard, clinical pharmacy specialist in behavioral health and director of the 716-bed medical center’s postgraduate year 1 (PGY1) pharmacy residency program. “Right now, the only clinical pharmacists we have in primary care are in anticoagulation,” Richard explained. She said that through the project, which began this past summer, a clinical pharmacy specialist from the anticoagulation service spends one day a week in a primary care clinic. That pharmacist supervises a PGY1 resident who helps veterans improve their diabetes control.