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Gentry's Journey
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Gentry's Journey
Trust, Education, and Community: Two Pharmacists Breaking Barriers
Two pioneering pharmacists are radically transforming healthcare delivery by prioritizing patients over prescriptions. Dr. Jennifer and Dr. Pauline, co-founders of Meds Plus Consulting, share their journey from traditional pharmacy roles to creating an innovative healthcare model that puts relationship-building at its core.
Their story begins with a chance meeting at Walgreens in 2001, where Dr. Jennifer hired Dr. Pauline as her first intern. Years later, they've built a business that addresses a critical gap they witnessed countless times behind the pharmacy counter: patients leaving doctor's appointments with what they call "smile and nod mentality" – agreeing with everything their physician said while understanding very little about their conditions or medications.
Cultural competence shapes everything about their practice. "So many people are seeking care from people that look like them because of the cultural sensitivity, the ability to have a conversation, the ability to trust," explains Dr. Jennifer. This connection enables them to educate patients not just about medications but about becoming their own health advocates. Their diabetes education program teaches participants to track their health data and prepare reports for their physicians – transforming passive patients into active partners in their care.
As minority female business owners, they've faced significant challenges from securing capital to being recognized as legitimate healthcare providers by their own community. Despite these obstacles, they've expanded their services beyond medication dispensing to include remote patient monitoring, health coaching, workplace wellness programs, and pharmacy technician training – all while maintaining personal relationships with every client.
What makes Meds Plus truly revolutionary is their understanding that healthcare extends far beyond medical interventions. "Seventy to eighty percent of a person's health and wellness is based on social factors, not medical factors," Dr. Pauline explains. By addressing access to healthy food, safe exercise spaces, and mental health support, they're tackling the root causes of health disparities.
Ready to experience healthcare differently? Contact Meds Plus Consulting at 205-650-4636, follow their weekly "Meds Plus Medical Minute Live" on social media, or visit them in downtown Birmingham's New South Federal Building. Your wellness journey deserves this level of personalized attention.
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Gentry's Journey. We have a pair of female pharmacists on today, and you may hear me call them PharmDs. So Gentry's Journey is welcoming our farm D's, and they're going to tell us about their business and their brand, how they're growing, and then I have some questions for them as well. So we're just going to get started with this. Ladies, I want to thank you for coming with this. Ladies, I want to thank you for coming. I just want you to introduce yourselves and tell us a little bit about yourselves and then your inspiration regarding becoming pharmacists. Okay, so, jennifer, you want to go first.
Speaker 2:Sure, sure Once again. Nurse Coleman, thank you so much for inviting us to Gentry's Journey. It is indeed a pleasure to spend our evening with you and to have this conversation. I'm Dr Jennifer, one of the co-founders of Mass Plus Consulting. So the question you asked was what was my inspiration for becoming a pharmacist? Was what was my inspiration for becoming a pharmacist? My inspiration was to help people. I knew I wanted to be in the medical field, but once I saw that pharmacists didn't really, at that time, have to touch patients, but you can be hands-on with them in a different way, that started my journey to becoming a pharmacist.
Speaker 2:When I graduated from high school, went to college, took a detour, but God, let me know, jennifer, this is not what I had planned for you. I require more of you, to whom much is given, much is required. So I went back on that track, took a pay cut, worked on my prerequisites, applied to pharmacy school and, as they say, the rest is history Fast forward, graduated 2000. That is when 2001 is when I met Dr Pauline. Dr Pauline had been accepted into pharmacy school and realized you know what I probably need a job in pharmacy. She came to the Walgreens that I was working at at the time, and she was the first intern that I hired, so that's how the two of us met.
Speaker 1:Wow, yes.
Speaker 3:So I'll go ahead and introduce myself and kind of weave the pieces together. So my name is Pauline Long. What started me in the pharmacy journey was, much like Jennifer, I wanted to be in health care and when I was in undergrad I went to the University of Montevallo Go Falcons. I was actually on the pre-med track. So before I got there, before my class got there Montevallo which is typically a liberal arts school, so all of the singers and the writers and the actresses and actors go there but they were really wanting to build a medical type track where people could go to medical school, dental school, pharmacy school, medical type track where people could go to medical school, dental school, pharmacy school. And so I expressed an interest. We worked with the department heads and developed a pre-med track. So I was on the pre-med track in pharmacy or in undergrad and then I realized you know what? I started looking at the requirements for med school, taking the MCAT, things like that and I was like, eh, I don't think so.
Speaker 3:So I graduated from undergrad, I started working at a telecommunications company, which I always say God will, may send you on a little detour just to get something you may need. So on this little detour, before pharmacy school, I picked up my husband Okay yeah, while I was working at the telecommunications company. Picked up my husband Okay yeah, while I was working at the telecommunications company I met my husband. We've been married 20 years now and so.
Speaker 3:But while I was there I still wasn't feel fulfilled. As Jennifer said, god was like no, this is not what you're supposed to be doing, and he will get you in an uncomfortable space so that you'll move. So I got to the point where I was like, ah, this isn't for me. So I started looking for other ways that I could get into the medical field without going to medical school, came upon pharmacy and realized that it would give me a similar interaction with physicians, because when I was researching pharmacy, they were talking about pharmacists being a part of the healthcare team. It wasn't just about dispensing drugs, it was about pharmaceutical care, all of those type of buzzwords that I was like you know what? So I can be a clinician without necessarily going to medical school and getting an MD or a DO. So I applied to Sanford, got accepted. After I got accepted, I went to Walgreens, got the job with Jennifer, and that was 2001. And so that's how my pharmacy journey began.
Speaker 1:That is wonderful. So he was walking out your path without you guys knowing about it. That's what you're saying, Exactly. That's exactly right. That is great Now when it comes to. That is great Now when it comes to cultural differences, or how do you believe your cultural background has helped you with your your field?
Speaker 2:Wow, not only did we see that when we were working behind the counter and people would come up to us, we just had plain everyday kitchen table conversations with them, where they had a deeper understanding. It's even been proliferated now that we're in the community, with people that haven't even engaged with coming into a pharmacy, going to a doctor's office to get a prescription filled. Now we're influencing the culture in a way to engage with the healthcare system instead of waiting until something happens. So, us having the cultural sensitivities or cultural competence to be able to understand the background, it helps us to tailor the conversation in such a way we can plant a seed, whether they buy into it at that moment. Hopefully down the road they will.
Speaker 2:The other part of it is we have, as you know, we go by our first name, dr Jennifer, dr Pauline and so many people come up to us oh, what's your field, what's your practice? Are you accepting patients? And we have to tell them we're a doctor of pharmacy. However, we explain how we can care for them, help them, and also with referrals. So, on the flip side of that, there are so many people seeking care from people that look like them because of the cultural sensitivity, the ability to have a conversation, the ability to trust in a way that they don't always get with others. But the most important reason is to be heard. A lot of people are not feeling that they are being heard when they go to their, I'd say, healthcare professional. That doesn't look like them.
Speaker 1:And I agree with you, being a nurse is. I've been a nurse for about 40 years and I see it. People have patients have told me I'll tell you, but I haven't told the doctor. And I'm like when I was young in nursing I'd be like, well, why didn't you tell your doctor? I don't know, you know, but I'm young, know, you know, but I'm I'm young, you know, I still got milk behind my ears. I'm. I'm reading from the script that you should just talk to your doctor had no idea they were afraid had no idea that they were truly afraid didn't want
Speaker 1:to be looked down upon, didn't want to feel as though they were bothering, and all patients do that. They don't want to bother the doctor. But you know, as I grew up in nursing, my voice got stronger and I would always say that's what he's here for. You know, he, she, that's what your doctor is here for to listen to you. I don't think he listens, and that's fine. So what I started doing, if ever, whenever I saw a physician go into one of my rooms, I made sure I was there as much as possible, because I was gonna have to interpret what was being said, and that's, that's okay.
Speaker 1:That is true as long as they get the knowledge right and you know what I'm saying, nurse. And that's okay, that is true as long as they get the knowledge.
Speaker 3:And you know what I would say. Nurse Carolyn, that was one of the things that I noticed, particularly during my time as a community pharmacist working for the big chains. We would have people come in with their prescriptions and they would pull us to the side as the pharmacist and ask us these questions that really didn't pertain to the medication so much as it pertained to their health condition, and I'm like well, ok, you saw the doctor today. What did he or she say about X, y, z, diabetes, hypertension, copd, pick one. And they were like well, I didn't ask him, I didn't get a chance.
Speaker 3:And I'm like well, that's something you may want to call back to the office and talk with the nurse or talk with, because they have a clearer picture In the retail pharmacy. We don't have a clear picture. We don't have your chart, we don't have labs. All we have is either the piece of paper you bring us, which is your prescription, or we have the electronic copy that came through and a lot of the questions they ask would be pertaining to well, how will this affect my kidneys or whatever. And when I still had milk behind my ears as a pharmacist, I would kind of get offended Like why are they asking me? I don't know, I just have the name of the medicine and how they're supposed to take it. That's it. But then I soon realized that a lot of people have what I call the smile and nod mentality.
Speaker 3:So they'll see them in the doctor's office and no matter what the doctor says, they just smile and nod OK, ok, ok. And it's because, you know, maybe they're intimidated, maybe they have low health literacy and don't understand the language. No one was able to go to the appointment with them, so they don't have an advocate. All these issues that I saw as a retail pharmacist is kind of what propelled the model that we have for Meds Plus Consulting, because we wanted to not only be the dispensing pharmacist but we also wanted to be the consulting pharmacist to make sure that you have the education, that you have the empowerment to be able to go to your doctor and have a good dialogue regarding your health conditions. So that's where Men's Plus came from.
Speaker 1:And that is great, because our journey into patients mirrors each other, because you're like, well, and they will sit in there, yes doctor, yes, doctor. And then when he leaves out, what did he say? The first time I heard that I was like, oh OK, you know OK. And so that's when I that's when I started on that. They need me more than just for this, that and other, just for patient care, because it's still patient care, it's patient education, and if you miss it, you miss it. So you want to be able to capture them, let them know, speak on their level, and most physicians usually speak on their level, but, as you say, the smile and nod, they want to not be a bother, but that's why you're here, you're in the hospital, because you're seeking care so um, so it is.
Speaker 1:We're mirroring each other on these type of things now. Um, now miss jennifer. Community engagement what? What are you guys doing in the community to get people to know you? And trust is huge. The honesty is huge when it comes to people can read you. You know when you're shooting a breeze or just going over their head. And what do you guys do when it comes to community engagement? What do you guys do when it comes to community?
Speaker 2:engagement? Excellent question. So, as you know, we kind of really started boots on the ground, heavy community work during the pandemic and we were doing the vaccines, making sure they got into the communities. Often they got overlooked. We were going into churches, community centers, employer groups as well. So people started seeing and noticing us didn't really know us, but we continued along that path. So that was the foundation of Meds Plus in the community. After the pandemic we continued to partner with health fairs, churches, other nonprofit organizations and make ourselves visible, making sure that we were having conversations, listening to questions, answering questions as best we could, also helping with some of those referrals that were needed.
Speaker 2:So fast forward to now. In the community we're doing diabetes education. As a result of a grant we received from the city of Birmingham, building opportunities for lasting development or the bold program actually had a class today. So this is actually our second year. So when I think about that, community work is kind of transition and with a diabetes education class we're now teaching them, of course, how to self-care and manage your diabetes or type two diabetes, but also teaching them how to be advocates for themselves. So this is our third session and I always, in the beginning of the class start with. I call it a praise report or testimony service. So my average age is 60 to 65 in the classes. So people talking about you know I got that CGM and that alarm was going off at night and I just never knew that. So, connecting the dots, making sure that they understand what's going on with their type to how to eat properly, different times of day to eat, making sure that they're getting that understanding that they need.
Speaker 2:I also had another participant went to a specialist and because we had had a session prior to her going to the specialist, she was able to question the specialist. And they have type two. We know the benefits of a GLP-1. But why did that practitioner try to steer her away from that when she could use the benefits of it, particularly at she's in a younger category than 60. And had I not prepped her for that, she probably just would have smiled and nodded and kept going.
Speaker 2:So we definitely know that there's a need and I've always told them once you start to learn how to manage and bring a report to the doctor. So this is how the doctor's visit should go when the doctor comes in the room. Hey, doc Smith, how you doing so I want to give you a report on how I've been doing since I last saw you. I've noticed that my blood sugars have been managed well. I did have a couple of highs but I noticed what happened. So I corrected my behavior. My blood pressure I've been under some stress. It was going kind of high but then once I learned how to relax and kind of set up some boundaries, I see my blood pressure to get under control.
Speaker 2:So let's talk about the labs from today, teaching people how to speak to their doctor about themselves. They're the expert of themselves and we give them tools on how to track, how to monitor. So then you become more comfortable over time to give that self-report, give that praise report to the doctor. Don't go in there sneaking. You know there used to be that time where you start drinking water and taking your medicine right before you go to the doctor. So you get a good report. Then you go back home and go back to all the bad habits. We're not hurting anyone but ourselves.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So that community engagement and involvement. It allows us to have the time to educate patients outside of the doctor's office and then arm them to better take care of themselves and stay out of the emergency room. Stay out of the dialysis center, Stay out of the emergency room. That's our ultimate goal.
Speaker 1:That is great. I have always not always, but over the last maybe 20 years. Always not always, but over the last maybe 20 years patients come in and I need your medicines. Oh, it's the blue pill, it's the pink one with a score on it. No, it's got a plus sign. And you know you're like let's start over. I really need you to start writing your medications down Now. This was way before computers and all that stuff.
Speaker 1:Write your medications down, write the name of it, how much you take, how many milligrams it is, how often you take it per day. You want to put all that? Yes, yes, that way you will have the list. But my doctor has all that. I say yes, but just like you're coming to me, his is in his office, this is at the hospital. So this is going to delay your care. But you also need to, and this is what I tell people today.
Speaker 1:A friend of mine has a journal, a health care journal that she has published and dates, times, tests, results, all of that is in there, definitely medications. And when I met her, I met her at a book fair and I was like I love what you have done. I love what you have done. I have encouraged people to write this down so that they will have it. It doesn't just benefit them, but it benefits their family, their family, because the family knows nothing a lot of time. Because what do people tell family? I don't need you in my bed. I don't need you in my bed.
Speaker 1:One lady had me to put her eye drop. We kept the eye drops at the bedside and we kept them at the bedside table in the top drawer. She said take them all the way out. I don't want her in here snooping. I'm like, oh, my sister come in, she be snooping, I don't want her to see nothing. I'm like I'm good with that because it's about the patient.
Speaker 1:Write it down, like you said, the results. You know your highs, your lows, and because you are your advocate, you are your best advocate. I tell people all the time you know your body better than anyone. So when your physicians ask you how you feel, tell them exactly how you feel, no matter how all fit may seem. Let them know so that they can better treat you. That's right. And I said just write it down. They, they will appreciate you bringing that, as I still call it, a composition tablet in okay, I don't know the new word for it, but I mean so I, they will. They know you're on top of everything. Now, dr Pauling. Yes, ma'am, okay, what challenges have you faced being a minority pharmacist?
Speaker 3:That's okay, I'll kind of divide it up into two kind of buckets. So on one hand, just being a minority pharmacist in corporate America, which I did for 21 years, was very challenging because later in my career I became known as the fixer. So all of the stores that all the other pharmacies that were struggling whether it was because of inventory, because of personnel, they were buying out other pharmacies and the current staff couldn't handle the volume they would send me in to fix those pharmacies. But when I got ready to apply for like a district position or to get a promotion, I was kind of looked over. And so I'm thinking, you know, I've worked at stores from like Tuscaloosa area all the way to Huntsville and if I can go in and fix these stores, they would send me to stores to, like you know, watch the or kind of mentor the pharmacy managers. If I can do all that, why can't I get promoted? So that was on one hand. But then as we became business owners, the struggles are from everything from being recognized as a true and operable business by our own people, like we'll have so many people who will come up at you know health fairs and different organizations and say you know what we are so proud of y'all. Y'all are the pharmacy owners. This is great. I didn't know there were two black female pharmacy owners in Birmingham.
Speaker 3:And then we're like, yes, and we can take care of your prescriptions. Where do you get your prescriptions filled? Oh, I go to one of the name, one of the big box chains. Well, yeah, we can take care of that for you. We offer delivery and start talking about our services. No, I think I'm just going to stay where I'm at and, like, we've worked at these pharmacies, so we know that there are lines out the wazoo. We know that you can be on hold for 20, 30 minutes before you actually talk to a person. We know that one of these chains now has it where when you call in, you have to leave a message and someone will call you back. Like no one even answers when you first call.
Speaker 3:So we formed our company because we knew what was going on in community pharmacy and we wanted to be able to offer superior service, also the clinical expertise, and so just being a business owner and being validated by your own community has definitely been a challenge.
Speaker 3:And then, of course, we run into all the things with the big running a company capital. A company Capital. We were talking about a pharmacist that I know personally who is building a new amazing pharmacy in a local community in the greater Birmingham area, and we were talking about, you know, this pharmacy has been open a little bit longer than ours, but not by much, and the fact that he has access to the capital to build this new structure is kind of disheartening as a minority business owner, because when you've had a business as long as we have, which is now going on seven years in October and a lot of the lenders are heavily looking at our personal credit as opposed to the work that our business has done, it's very disheartening as a business owner. So those are two of the challenges that I can think of just off the top of my head.
Speaker 1:Okay, now, dr Jennifer, language barrier. How do you overcome these language barriers? Because which ones? That's what I'm going to say. Now we have the slang and then we have the. You know, we have the generational language barrier. You know from our older generations. I know how I handle it. But how do you, ladies, handle it?
Speaker 2:okay Well, as you see, we are a partnership and that's my saving grace, because we balance each other out very well and sometimes, when it's you need to go into sister, girl or auntie or grandma- you know we, we, we flex.
Speaker 2:We're able to flex that If it's a heart to heart, say, for instance, with a younger person, because then we can empathize with the struggles and things that they may be going with. Same thing for a working mom or a stressed out dad or a person caught in the middle that's trying to take care of their parents while they're managing their career and raising their children, which we call the sandwich generation, you know, allowing them that space to vent, allowing them the opportunity to just talk, so being able to find out what that person's language is, how you can best reach them, and being able to speak to them in that way, it definitely matters. Because we go back to the point about feeling heard. Or, you know, you have some people you got to keep it very professional and if you come off of that, they don't really understand it.
Speaker 2:I've encountered that. And then you have some people that I call it sister girl, you know talk and they're like, oh yeah, girl, you know, and you know they're more likely to relate and then feel comfortable to share with you versus if I was just stuffed up and professional with them. So that's kind of how I gauge it. Pauline may have a different take on that, but of the two she's the one more PC have a different take on that, but of the two she's the one more PC.
Speaker 3:Well, and I think you have to understand people's communication styles. Like that's one of the things that you don't necessarily learn in, you know, professional school, but it's something that life teaches you. So, as you're communicating with people and then being self-aware enough to notice, okay, am I am? I am I getting, I getting my point across? Is this person receiving what I'm saying? We have to learn people's communication style and learn how they like to be communicated to, and once you figure that out, the rest is easy because you've won their trust, because you're communicating on a level that they respect and understand. And then, once you do that, the rest of it is easy. So, yeah, we definitely try to figure out people's communication style, and that just came from years behind the counter at the pharmacy.
Speaker 1:It is Even with patients. They come in with a certain vernacular. What you coming here for? I just came in to see how you were doing. I'm Carol and I'll be your nurse today. What you going to nurse on? Already, I know I got to cut through this ice here, but that is people for you and then some people are very welcome. Well, how are you doing today?
Speaker 3:So glad to see you. And then some people are very welcome.
Speaker 1:Well, how are you doing today? So glad to see you. You know, as a case manager, you introduce yourself, you gather a little bit of information and the person at the bedside could because I put my foot in my mouth more times than I can count over these 40 years. You can't assume anything. You cannot assume that female at that male's bedside is the wife. But what happened? I was like and uh, ma'am, and how are you related? Well, I am. I mean no harm, I mean no disrespect, but you don't know how many times I've had to come between what I thought was a husband and wife and it turned out not to be. She started laughing. She said I bet you see it all.
Speaker 1:I said I could truly write a book you know, and so, like I said, putting my foot in my mouth, we can't just assume that and people will present these people as their family members when they're really not, or they will make you believe that's their family member and then the next day they'll make you believe that's the wife, okay. And then the next day another female comes in and I say, tell your wife, I miss her. Well, when I saw them look at each other, I just need you to stop the door and close, I'm done, I am, I am done with it. You know so you have to, and you know they may not say I need to, I need to urinate. Uh, they're definitely not going to say they need to void. You know they're going to tell you they need to pee, pee and that's.
Speaker 1:That is absolutely fine. We know what that means, so we go for it, and I'm sure you guys run into that as well.
Speaker 2:They just I would say one of the one excuse me, I would say one of the ones that stick out the most to me in having to navigate. That is when Viagra came on the market. I'll never forget in the pharmacy, males calling to renew their prescription. We would fill it, then the wife would call and no refills. And then there's questions. And then, even when I was working at the time, we had to retrain the staff. Okay, it was okay before to tell the wife or the husband about the blood pressure medicine, antibiotic et cetera, but now you can't share any information. So that was one of the sticky ones. Comparing to the story you just told is when the erectile dysfunction medications came to the market.
Speaker 1:Oh, yes, that was commonplace the wife coming in picking it up, and it's changed again it has changed, but with me working with heart patients, congestive heart failure patients, certain ones they could not take, and so they were so comfortable with me. They were like. You know, one of my friends gave me one of his.
Speaker 1:I was like, gave you one of his, yes, one of his. You know the little blue pill. I said, sir, I'm so glad you told me about that, because you can't take it. He was like I can't. I said, no, no, you need a different one. You can't take that, you know, because it will cause you to have a heart attack. And he was like wow.
Speaker 1:And so that's where education and that's where trust comes in. He trusted me enough to talk to me about it and he took me at my word because it was true. So that language and the congratulatory and the trust, because when people trust you as a healthcare provider, they will be more open to you. Okay Now, dr Pauline future aspirations. What's some of your future? Goals or where do you see Meds Plus going in the future.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 3:So I love this question because I am a dreamer and a visionary definitely see meds plus being a, at a minimum, a national company, because we we always say we do pharmacy differently, so we're not your, our, our relationships are not transactional, so you're not a prescription number or medication, you're a patient and a person inside that, inside that body. So we do pharmacy differently. So I definitely see our model of pharmacy being something that people around the country can gravitate to and can go back. I think about back in the day when we used to have the independent pharmacies in the communities. A lot of times, you know, you had your doctor's office and you had the pharmacy, and a lot of times, if the doctor was busy or, you know, may have been out of town or something, a lot of people went to their local pharmacist as the health care professional in the community because they knew that they could ask questions, they could get advice, and that's where I want to see pharmacy get back to where, and that's again why our company is called Meds Plus Consulting as opposed to just Meds Plus Pharmacy, because we want to have a relationship with our patients or relationship with their providers, so that we're all working together for the same goal. So I do see it as being a nationwide pharmacy. I don't know whether that's going to be a chain, whether it's going to be franchised, I don't know. And then we also are very ingrained into the wellness space. So I'd love for us to, you know, develop businesses or offshoots of meds plus where we're able to do things like IV hydration and to work with other healthcare providers like mental health providers, and have dieticians and nutritionists, have nurses, all under one roof as a pharmacy and wellness center.
Speaker 3:Because we know that health care is a lot more. The overall health of the person is only about 20 to 30 percent medical care. The rest of it is social factors. So do you have access to healthy food? Do you have access to areas that are safe to exercise? You know so 70 to 80 percent of a person's health and wellness is based on social factors, not medical factors. So we want meds plus to play a role in that.
Speaker 3:Even now, we have community health workers on our team that address those social factors. So we have someone in our diabetes class who is saying you know, my blood sugar is always high because all I have is ramen noodles and saltine crackers, and you know I drink bagels, then we need to understand you know what is going on. Is it a budget issue? Then we need to understand, you know what is going on. Is it a budget issue, you know? Do you need something like Meals on Wheels, or do you need a social service to help you get access to healthy foods? So we're kind of trading in that direction, but I definitely see it as to be, of course, trailblazing in pharmacy and changing the paradigm as far as what pharmacies and pharmacists can do, but also being able to address some of those social needs, because it plays such a big part in people's health and wellness.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, that's great. Now, dr Jennifer, what advice do you have for aspiring pharmacists?
Speaker 2:That's a good one. So, first and foremost, I would tell them to dream, dream outside of what they see, what you're taught as to what pharmacists can do and what pharmacists can be. So that's why I love when we have students and they're able to see us go through what we go through on a day-to-day basis, how many patients we touch, how many projects we touch, and also for them to just think about, in a perfect world, what they would like to see. So that's a part of the dream. What is it that you would like to see? So that's a part of the dream. What is it that you would like to see? So now, as you're deciding what you want to do next, take advantage of every opportunity that's given to you. So, whether you're working in a hospital or even if you're in community pharmacy ambulatory care, nuclear medicine what are all those different levels, what are the needs and how can you fulfill the needs? That's out there? Pay attention to the trends, stay in tune not only with pharmacy industry, but other industries as well, and how those can fit together. You may be that common denominator to help bring that together. So definitely dream big. Try out different opportunities to know what you like, what you don't like. Always stay as an active learner and don't get caught in that silo.
Speaker 2:So I think about my 20 year plus career in retail pharmacy and whatever company that I worked for. I drunk the Kool-Aid, I served the Kool-Aid, some days it was Kool-Aid, some days it was lemonade. I mean, I did all the flavors and it wasn't until I was downsized out of my corporate position that I was able to sit back and see I didn't have time to work on anything else because I didn't make it a priority. I made that company a priority, where I think this generation kind of gets it, because they focus on themselves, their mental health, the loyalty blind loyalty is different. So with those traits, what can you do to bring something about differently and learn the business side of things? So if you're going to be successful with stepping out or doing something different, you definitely need to do the business side of things. So dream big, stay exposed, keep an open mind and learn the business side of things.
Speaker 1:I agree. Now, dr Pauling, when it comes to people's misconceptions of what pharmacies, pharmacists is and what they do, how do you renew or educate them as to what your goal, your goal, is for?
Speaker 3:them? Oh, that's an excellent question. We've actually been doing that every day for the last seven years. Men's Plants was founded, october 9th 2018. And since that day, we have been trying to shift the mindset of what, or the paradigm of what, people think pharmacists do. So most 99% of people think and I'm making that number up, but I think it's pretty high think that a pharmacist's job is to take the pills from a big bottle and put them into a little bottle, put a label on it and then put it in a bag and sell it to you. That's what people think that we do behind those counters every day, and so when we started Meds Plus, we started our business not being associated with a product, so we did not dispense medicine at all. We wanted to work with patients and their health care providers, with caregivers, to dispense education, not medication, and we quickly learned, though, that Medicare, cms, blue Cross, blue Shield, aetna they didn't care about that. They wanted the pharmacist tied to a product. So we opened our pharmacy or we got our pharmacy license in 2022 and we started dispensing medicine, and through that those channels, we've been able to then go back and say, ok, we, you, we, you we're dispensing your medication. But we also want to make sure you understand what you're taking, why, that you're on the most effective therapy.
Speaker 3:Jennifer talked about the lady whose doctor wouldn't prescribe her the most effective therapy. Jennifer talked about the lady who's Dr Wooden prescribed her the GLP-1. If they're one of our pharmacy patients, we're calling advocating for that patient. We have a patient in our diabetes class with type 2 diabetes. Her A1c is 7.6. We know the goal is to get it under seven. She's also overweight and has a family history of chronic kidney disease. A GLP-1 would be a perfect medication for her. And then we talk to the doctor in our language, in the healthcare language, and they may be more likely to prescribe a medication or make sure the patient is on the effective therapy.
Speaker 3:So we've been educating people on the role that pharmacists can play, whether it's patient to the patient, to the caregiver, to the healthcare provider. So the doctors, the nurse practitioners, we've been educating on that and now I talked about it a little earlier. But we're now educating employers on what it means to partner with the pharmacist to improve the health outcomes of your employees. And we're launching a new employer wellness solution service where we're going to partner with employers and say hey, if you have those employees who are consuming a lot of healthcare dollars, they're missing a lot of work or when they're there, they're not feeling well, so they're not as productive. You need a wellness partner so that we can work with those employees to make sure they get healthy, remain healthy, and then that will help your bottom line.
Speaker 3:So we've been educating. I feel like we're just everywhere we go, but you know, I feel like it'll pay off in the long run. You know, as you know, we're always out, we're at events just telling people what we do and try to disassociate us from dispensing a product, and I feel like now we're kind of gaining traction. People are like oh yeah, so you do do more than take the big bottle and put it in a little bottle.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So, nurse Coleman, if I could say this real quick, and I think about how you talked about case management, the way I see healthcare utilizing pharmacists, and where I feel like it should be, is once the patient has gone to the doctor's office, they get their prescription. Then, after they've been on their medication maybe a week, two weeks now you have a follow-up appointment with your pharmacist. Your pharmacist goes over your care plan because we know how to counsel, we know how to ask those open-ended questions to get that information. Now we're making referrals. You know, maybe you might need to see a mental health therapist just to kind of work through some things. Try it, maybe a couple of times, if you like it. We can do something else, but really somebody's managing their care in conjunction with the doctor's office.
Speaker 2:So when I think about in the hospital, you have the case manager, right? Yes, long-term care. You have a pharmacist that comes into that facility once a month. They're getting excellent care there. They're even on medications that people are walking around with in the same age range. That's not even recommended for them, but the doctor writes for it because it's easier for the patient and the family wants the patient to be happy. So when we talk about benzodiazepines and things of that nature. So, if we think about it, that's the way pharmacists are best utilized as the information or the medication experts next to nurses. We know the chronic condition because we know how the medication is being affected in the body, so we know how to teach on chronic diseases. So that's the next logical step in healthcare to decrease costs. Now the patient has a check-in point in between the doctor's visits.
Speaker 1:And that's wonderful, because my role in the hospital varies from my role with the health management company. Naturally, I'm not seeing them in the hospital anymore, but I am communicating with them via phone. And one gentleman told me today if it wasn't for your voice, me being able to talk to you, you talking to me, I don't think I would have been feeling as good as I did. And you know I was like oh, you have made my day. Now I'll call two more people, you know. But I say that because I tell a lot of people according to what their disease process is. This is a marathon.
Speaker 1:This is not a sprint, and you know if I call it his testimony. He wants to connect with a cardiac rehab facility and talk to the people who will need to have open heart surgery or who have had open heart surgery to let them know you will get through this. I said there's nothing better than a personal testimony.
Speaker 2:That's right.
Speaker 1:They stick with, you know. But we know everybody does not want to listen and that's fine. But if we can just help one person, you know we we have done our jobs and with that one person they're going to tell someone else Now. Dr Jennifer, meds Plus. I know about Meds Plus but you still have educated me on some of your. We have worked together, you know, doing the health fairs, especially during COVID and things of that nature. Now explain to the audience again exactly what Meds get the S people plus does what it does for the community, for their patients.
Speaker 2:Okay, so I'll break it down what Meds Plus can do for patients.
Speaker 2:For individuals yes, we can fill your prescriptions. We have a full service pharmacy and we have delivery. So what's unique about our pharmacy services is we sync your medication so you have one delivery per month. You're not getting those calls that say, come pick up something, even though you still have bottles left. You're not getting the text messages they come and pick this up. We sync everything together. So all you get is a call once a month to schedule your meds and then you come pick up or we deliver.
Speaker 2:We also have what's called remote patient monitoring. So with the remote patient monitoring chronic diseases a lot of people that have hypertension, type 2 diabetes or heart failure they'll have access to a blood pressure monitor, a glucose monitor or a weight scale, because we know that's important for managing heart failure patients. We'll see the data on the platform and they will get a call from us at least twice a month to do those check-ins that you're talking about and be able to help them on this journey. As you said, it's a marathon, not a sprint making sure they're taking their medication correctly, making sure we're taking care of any other issues that come up outside of the chronic disease, such as those social issues Dr Pauline talked about earlier. So we make those calls as well. So now we get to in the community. We're doing the diabetes education. We also are now offering workforce development With that piece. We're doing pharmacy technician training. So we know a lot of young people. They may not, or, if you want, to change careers. So we have high schoolers that want to go into, enter into the healthcare field. This is a great way to do it. Also, we have people that want to change careers in their lives and they want to get into health care. Or they may be at entry level and may want to become a pharmacy tech. So we have that program that's in place right now as well. We're looking to expand that to the local high schools as well. So that's on the workforce development side.
Speaker 2:Then, as Dr Polly mentioned, workplace wellness. So when we talk about wellness, we are talking about the whole person. So we're able to target people on Medicare when we're in the community. But what about those people at work? Those are the ones that get caught up in life, just everything pulling them here, there, whether it's children, spouses, work commitments, their parents that they're taking care of who takes care of them. So we're able to intercede at the workplace to be able to do those screenings. Number one, to know if they're at risk for a chronic condition. If they have a chronic condition, how well are you managing it? And from there, when we talk about a care plan, then we're able to set that up.
Speaker 2:Okay, we have diabetes education let's get you into that. Or we have health coaching let's get you into that. Oh, we might need to refer you to a mental health therapist let's get you with that. Or nutritionist. So helping to manage those lives of people that are working. Oftentimes they delay their care, they delay their primary care visits. So we're interceding in the workplace. So we have all of those things where we can take care of the individual, the community, the employer and, of course, we continue to show up when health fairs or churches need us. We're also going to be partnering with a church to do something a little different outside of the diabetes education we're doing now. So we had someone to reach out to us because they saw on our website of the things that we do in the community. They wanted a community partner. So we're very proud, you know the fact that we've been out there, um, people see what we do, um and then. So now they're calling us to help in their project. So I think I touched them all. Did I miss anything? I?
Speaker 1:can't think of anything because you have grown since we've met and you know it's a great thing. Now, Dr Pauline, tell us how we can get in touch with you, when are you located, and just anything else you want us to know about Meds Plus.
Speaker 3:OK, yeah, yeah, absolutely. So. Our pharmacy name is Meds Plus Consulting and, as you said, nurse Coleman, you got to put that S in there M-E-D-S-P-L-U-S. We are located in downtown Birmingham, so we're in the New South Federal Building. A lot of people remember that as the old bank back in the day, but, as I stated earlier, we do pharmacy differently, so we're not a drugstore. We actually are on the eighth floor of the New South Federal Building. We have an office space and that's where we do our healthcare services. So if you come downtown and search New South Federal Building, you should be able to find us there and we can put our address and everything if you want to. Our phone number at our office is 205-650-4636. That's 205-650-4636. Our email is info, i-n-f-o at medsplusconsultingcom. And then we're on all social media channels. So we always ask people to follow us on social media, because that way you can find out what we're up to, where we'll be. We post a lot of our community events on there, but you also get good health information.
Speaker 3:Every Monday we do a live called Meds Plus Medical Minute Live, and on that show it's very much like this one. We talk about various topics in healthcare. For the month of May. We're actually focusing on mental health because May is Mental Health Awareness Month. So the first Monday in May we had a nurse who recently had a baby and walked us through some of her postpartum mental health challenges, which was very powerful. She was very vulnerable during that interview and if you haven't seen it, go back and watch it.
Speaker 3:This past Monday we talked to a licensed professional therapist, a licensed professional counselor who sees clients all day. She owns a business that sees clients all day and helps them just get through those challenges, whether it's through cognitive behavioral therapy or different modalities of mental health. She talked about that on our on our live. So Men's Post Medical Minute Live is every Monday at one o'clock on our Facebook and YouTube pages, and then we're on all social media channels so Facebook, youtube, linkedin, instagram and TikTok. It's Meds Plus Consulting on all of those platforms and you can just follow us, find out what we're doing, where we'll be and all things health and wellness. So we talk about a variety of different health and wellness topics.
Speaker 1:That's great. Now, Dr Jennifer, do you have any closing remarks?
Speaker 2:I would just say it's time. It's time to experience something different. It's time to experience something comprehensive. It's time to treat yourself to the care that you so very much deserve, and allow us to show you what Meds Plus Consulting can do and help you along your wellness journey. That's great.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you both for coming on to Gentry's Journey. The audience will appreciate you. They will appreciate this knowledge. It is good to be able to get your business, your brand, out so people can see and hear what you do, because it's more of an intimate setting, in my humble opinion, you can listen to you guys as they have lunch or whatever. So thank you again for coming on to Gentry's Journey and sharing your knowledge and yourselves with us. We do appreciate it.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. Thank you for the invitation. This was great.