Independent Insights, a Health Mart Podcast

Episode 1: Introducing You to New Ways of Learning with Health Mart

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Passionate about advancing independent pharmacy? Look no further than Independent Insights, a new podcast for anyone seeking to elevate their independent pharmacy practice. Join host Suzanne Feeney as she and special guests introduce what is in store for listeners and how Health Mart franchise members can obtain continuing education.

Host
Suzanne Feeney, PharmD
VP, Pharmacy Retail Operations
McKesson, Health Mart

Guests
Jen Moulton, BSPharm
President, CEimpact

Nancy Lyons, BSPharm, MBA, CDCES
Vice President, Chief Pharmacy Officer
McKesson, Health Mart

References
Learn more about the Grandview Research Study on consumer spending and consumption of supplements.


Health Mart franchise members can access learnings via Health Mart University


The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the guest and do not necessarily represent the views or positions of Health Mart, McKesson or its affiliates or subsidiaries ("McKesson”). The information provided herein is for informational purposes only and does not constitute the rendering of clinical, legal or other professional advice by McKesson. 

[00:00:00] The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the guest and do not necessarily represent the views or positions of Health Mart, McKesson or its affiliates or subsidiaries ("Mckesson”). The information provided herein is for informational purposes only and does not constitute the rendering of clinical, legal or other professional advice by McKesson.

Welcome to Independent Insights, a podcast focused on independent pharmacy. My name is Suzanne Feeney, and I'm a pharmacist on the Health Mart team, and I'll be your host. I have with me Jen Mullen, who's president and founder of CE Impact, and Health Mart's . Chief pharmacy officer, Nancy Lyons.

I really couldn't be more excited to bring this podcast to all of you. And that Health Mart is launching a podcast series focused on independent pharmacy. So welcome Jen and Nancy. I'd love for you maybe just both to tell us a little bit about your current role and why you're passionate about advancing pharmacy practice.

Nancy, we'll start with you. Well, great. , Suzanne, , you said my current title, right? Vice [00:01:00] President, Chief Pharmacy Officer. But my role is really so much more than that. It's about being part of a leadership team that includes multiple pharmacists, technicians, and other industry leaders who are focused on strengthening pharmacies and elevating the role that the entire pharmacy team plays in their local communities.

My passion began. With my own career and was that was filled with so many opportunities to innovate practice in direct patient care and education and along the way. I've collected knowledge and experiences, but most importantly, connections to true practice leaders like the two of you that now I get to leverage in a place that is dedicated to supporting the efforts of the profession and the passion grows just like no other.

Getting to talk to more individuals and seeing pharmacy really be practiced at the top of the license. That's awesome. I love, I wrote down that you said connection to practice leaders. I think that's so important. And one of the things that we can [00:02:00] really help facilitate for our independent owners through this podcast, because oftentimes when you're in the pharmacy, you're in, , that silo, , you're an N of one.

And how do we make those connections to other peers and leaders within the industry? So I love that. Jen love to hear a little bit about your background and I know you're extremely passionate about community practice. So maybe share a little bit about that. Sure. Yeah. Thank you so much for having me.

I'm so excited to support you all in this endeavor. We've been talking about this for a long time, so to see it to see it come to fruition is so exciting. My background is in education. I'm a pharmacist. I'm a pharmacist and have really been in education since the beginning of my career for over 30 years, which dates me but it is it is my passion, and I really feel like education can, can take pharmacists in so many ways.

I'm particularly passionate about community pharmacy because I feel. That the community pharmacist and the technician are such the backbone of the health care team, and we [00:03:00] need them more than ever. You know, as it gets harder and harder to see a primary care provider and , get into urgent care and the community pharmacy is the place to go.

And we have So much knowledge as both a medication interventionist, as well as a triage or, and , we just serve so many of those roles. So we are , we do a lot of education at CE impact to support the whole pharmacist and technician. We call that pharmacist and technician by design because we want to be able to support the lifelong learning.

Of those professionals but to really see it play out in practice. I mean, that's our name CE impact. We want to have that education, have an impact. And that's why I'm particularly interested about this podcast because I think it does just that. So I'm, I'm excited to be here to help you kick it off.

Yeah, I love that impactful education I think is so important. And I, , I know that everything that you create is really practical and action oriented. And I think our audience is really going to appreciate that with this podcast series. You know, in my day job, I travel all over the Midwest.

I kind of joke and say, I have those flyover States, which I [00:04:00] have really grown to absolutely love. Really great people, really great pharmacies and just a lot of good stuff happening. One of the common threads in the conversations that I have every day with pharmacy teams, whether it's. The owner, it's the pic, it's the technicians working there.

It's just idea sharing. , they want to bounce ideas off me, a pharmacist that has now officially 20 years experience in the industry, which also is really hard to say. But you know, during these visits, I serve a lot of time as a jumping off board, a sounding board , helping them really realize that there's so much that they can do in their pharmacy beyond just dispensing.

Which is still really important. And then how do you layer that all together? So, , during these visits, we talk about things like community health workers or point of care testing or growing a year round immunization practice. How do you train your technicians up? A lot of conversations on that right now.

And then every time I leave, I think, wow, I really learned so much or we had such a great conversation. How do we bring this to everybody. And so that's what I'm really excited about with this podcast is all these [00:05:00] great conversations that I have in pharmacies or that maybe each of you have with leaders or others out there who are innovating.

How do we bring that to the independent pharmacies? So I, I'm really excited for that , that we'll be able to do this. And In this podcast today, what we want to do is share a little bit about the structure of what the podcast will look like. So we'll talk about that in, in just a moment. So you understand as listeners, what you can expect from this.

But overall, what we are going to do is have topics and discussions that will really help your independent pharmacy practice thrive. So whether you're an owner, whether you're a pharmacist, whether you're a pharmacy technician or clerk, if independent is your space, then, then this is really a podcast for you.

And before we jump into that, I, I was thinking we could have the audience get to know the two of you a little bit more because , you may not be on that often, but I think you're just so important to the strategy and the thought process that went into this podcast I've been fortunate enough to know both of you for years and I know both of you have spent your whole careers focused on pharmacy practice transformation, and so I really want our audience to get to know you a bit.

For me personally in pharmacy [00:06:00] school, I still remember the day that we learned about references and citations, you know, what a primary, secondary, tertiary references. And, , I find myself having that conversation with my kids and in a whole nother light because in the world today, there's just so much out there.

And so I think that the premise of this podcast is advancing the profession and helping pharmacies thrive and survive. And so You know, just sharing a little bit about your practice history, I thought might be a great concept. Nancy, start with you, and we go way back to my residency training, which, , was 20 years ago this spring, so that's pretty exciting.

And I was reflecting a little bit about this podcast in, in preparation, and one of the things I, I jokingly thought is, what did I learn from Nancy? The importance of font, and the importance of not calling a patient a diabetic. I laugh about those two things because I've known you for so long, but really what they taught me, , and, , we joke about the font, but is that communication is critical.

And the way that I'm communicating to a patient, to a prescriber [00:07:00] to my boss, Nancy, which you have been many points in my life is really important. What's, what's in it for that person, what matters to that person. And that's a thread that you instilled on me early on that, that I really take. In my day job now and how do I help pharmacies and I have a lot of pharmacies that are hesitant to immunize still and one of the conversations that we'll have is really around how could they work with prescribers and what we always say is, , how can you solve a problem for the prescriber?

What's in it for them? And that comes back to that common thread of, you know, communicating in a way that's going to resonate with others. Yeah. And the other thing that I've carried with me and in a fun way is it is really important to treat the patient holistically as a patient, as a person, they're not a disease, they're that patient.

And I think that's what I see in community practice. That is so important. So I've learned so much from you. , you've really helped to shape my career and been a mentor and a friend along the way. And I love for the audience and the listeners to hear, , if you don't mind going back all that you've done really with patient care, always at the forefront of your career.[00:08:00] 

You picked up on two of my triggers with font and the word ick, diabetic. So thanks for introducing them to a couple of my things that make me twitch early on. But Suzanne, I've known you, as you said, since the first day of your professional career that was 20 years ago. So we'll go ahead and put myself nearer and beyond where Jen started with over 30 years in the pharmacy.

And I was going to be that person behind the counter forever, , telling everybody what to do with their baby and their grandmother, sometimes in the same trip. And I knew that was where I was supposed to be educating patients, being face to face with them, dealing, staring down 5 o'clock rush and managing through, working through those technicians and.

Hopefully getting to go to the bathroom somewhere along the way. Well, I don't do those functions every day. They seem like yesterday, even though they were long times ago. And then [00:09:00] I lived a career. I was truly blessed with a lot of innovative mentors. So just like you say, you learned from me a lot of those things I learned from others, and it's all about paying it forward with a profession.

I was lucky enough to get to do face to face diabetes education at about six years in to my career when nobody was doing it. That moved into helping to start a nationwide practice, not only teaching patients and getting paid for clinical services as part of a nationwide network, but then teaching pharmacists how to do that to expand.

I still don't know how I got picked to do some of those. I think it was because my hand was up before I really had a chance to think about what it meant to do it. But then having lots of support structures along the way. Talking about building that parachute on the way down or the wings on the way down.

I had plenty of [00:10:00] people helping me. So in construct along the way, as long as we were always doing what was right for the patient in practice. First, I had the support along the way. Then came MTM, then came immunizations. I laugh when I was in the chain. I was. The person who got to tell the last 200 pharmacists who hadn't taken immunization training yet that if they didn't do that, they were going to lose employment in that chain.

I got all but 7 to believe me going to great lengths, sometimes showing up at their house to do their live immunization training. But just a wealth of opportunity and believing that, again, as long as you did the right thing for the patient, as long as you considered them as a person first, as you said, that the right things are going to happen.

And I, I bring all of those experiences. I still remember my very first patient with diabetes who stood across the counter from me [00:11:00] devastated because he'd been diagnosed. I later incorporated that into a certificate program. And forever shaped my practice, but , so many wonderful stories that , I'm hoping can get incorporated into the activities that pharmacies and pharmacists, including my own pharmacist daughter are able to, to do now.

Yeah. Yeah. I think you, you summed it up really well as , jump in, raise your hand. , let's embrace this new way to practice knowing that you have support. And I think that's what Health Mart and this podcast can bring to pharmacies is having that support and then having your guiding principle always be doing what's right by the patient.

So, it's kind of come full circle. That's how you got where you are in your career and really what we're here today, sharing and supporting others to be able to do. So I think that's awesome. Thank you. Jen, I have to say, , I've never met somebody more innovative than you and just really have that true entrepreneurial spirit, which I think , all of the pharmacy owners can really relate to.

 It's hard to run a [00:12:00] business and business focused in pharmacy and, you're constantly working on your business. And I think you just do such a great job of always embracing change and being able to grow your business from where it started to where it is today. And. , one of the things that I know about you is that, , even though you're focused on pharmacy education and not touching the patient every day, that patient care is top of mind.

And you're constantly thinking of what these practicing pharmacists need to help make their lives easier and to have better patient care. So I thought maybe you could just share a little bit about your philosophy along your career. That's gotten you to where you are and really being able to hold that guiding principle of patient care.

When you're just sitting in your office each day, working on education. Yeah. Well, thank you for that. That is so flattering because that is what I try to exude every day. So so I appreciate you saying that. And we have worked together in the past, which has also been such an honor. And you have taught me so much about pharmacy practice.

So that has been really fun. I think it's elevated, , both [00:13:00] of our careers and also the people that we serve. I love having an impact on health and that's why I went into pharmacy. I wanted to help patients and that was, that was my love, but early on, I realized that I could really impact more patients by educating practitioners.

So that was sort of how I got into education and just really it sparked sparked something in me where I could use my creativity, which , I like to be a little bit creative and innovative be on the cutting edge of things, sometimes a little bit too far in the cutting edge. It takes a while for people to catch up.

So, Nancy, you mentioned immunization, which I think is just a great example of that. We created our first immunization training in 1999. And, really, it wasn't until COVID when the whole of the profession was like, Okay, we have to do this. So, I mean, obviously that innovation curve exists and there's always your early adopters and the people who get excited, you know, initially, and then the people who get excited five or ten years [00:14:00] later.

But then 20 years later, , everybody kind of comes on board. So it's both fun and frustrating to be part of that curve when it comes to education. But we always are trying to sort of pull people along and try to be on that cutting edge so that we can bring something to people that is impactful for their practice and, and for their patients ultimately.

So I think just lifelong learning is so important. to pharmacy practice. And, , too often, I think we view CE, continuing education, which education isn't all CE. There's lots of education that isn't. And this podcast is one of those things. You can learn a lot of things without it being like traditional, , CE.

But we really try to talk to people about not having it be that check the box mentality. And it's really being a, growth minded lifelong learner. When I talk to students, I say, , you're in pharmacy school. And when, , you feel like, okay, I graduate and I've like crossed the finish line, that's just the starting line.

So, you know, six years of pharmacy [00:15:00] school compared to 40 years, , on average in a career, is really small. And it's really just the foundation that sets you up for that lifelong learning. So my real passion is getting people excited about education and not having a check the box mentality. And that's why I'm so excited about this podcast because it's super practical.

It's what people need to know. , you're sharing insights from all of the pharmacies that you go and visit with other people, which is such the beauty of podcasts and books. And , the world that we live in right now is. So full of information. And sometimes that makes it hard to kind of distill out what is important to you.

But I think this is going to be one of those things that is so important to community pharmacists and technicians and everybody in the community pharmacy space. I mean, it takes everybody , to be a successful business. So as a business owner to other business owners , it's not for the faint of heart.

Yeah, I think I, , careful what you wish for. I didn't know. , I had all these, all these great goals and what I wanted to do. And then you own a [00:16:00] business like, oh my gosh, there's so many other things that go along with it. It's not just being innovative. It's keeping the lights on and keeping, , getting people, paying people and, , all the stuff that you don't want to have to focus on, but that you have to focus on.

So I think it's just, , really being kind of that go giver mentality and , just, just lifting all of the other businesses up. I think when we all succeed , when one of us succeeds, we all succeed. And so I'm really excited to be a part of this. Cause I think it really pulls together everything that I am passionate about.

And hopefully I know you're going to have an impact with it. That's kind of where I have come from and, and where we are right now is , just really providing that education, not just CE, but education and what people need. So this is. This is a part of it. So we're happy to be your partner.

I love that. And, and I really do feel like this podcast will help people create a habit, which is important to learning. Cause I know I'm guilty. Like I learn all year long and then I'm like, Oh my goodness. I got to get my CE hours in. I got to check that box. But if you look back at the hours of learning I've [00:17:00] done, you know, it's always a ton.

So I love that this podcast. Yeah, this podcast is an easy way for you listeners to to chime in. And on Mondays we'll have new episodes, which are for CE. And we're going to talk about that here in a little bit. And then we'll also have these sorts of discussions, which aren't for CE, but will also help you obviously learn and be able to grow your business practice.

You're listening to Independent Insights, a McKesson Health Mart podcast with host Suzanne Feeney, VP Pharmacy Retail Operations for McKesson/Health Mart. And Guests Jen Moulton, President, C E impact. And Nancy Lyons, Vice President/Chief Pharmacy Officer for McKesson/Health Mart. Let's continue.

So I, I think that's really exciting, Jen. And, , I, I just, I wrote down, you said you wanted to have the impact. You could impact more people more patients by educating practitioners. And that I feel like that couldn't be. more what is needed right now, because his pharmacy community pharmacists are looking at stepping outside of the dispensing role into other spaces like functional medicine, test to treat community health workers.

I [00:18:00] mean, how do you bring that into your practice? And, , I jokingly say this with pharmacy owners all the time. , we didn't learn that stuff in school, but there's so many people out there who are successful with this, and they didn't learn it in school either. It's 40 plus year career that we all have.

And How do you keep that lifelong learning journey? So I think this podcast will be just an amazing way to tie all that together for independent practitioners. Yeah. I think the, can I, one other thing, the other thing that you mentioned is, you know, kind of working on the business. And I think for, independent community it's even harder than any other business I've ever seen to be able to pick your head up and think about it kind of a little bit more broadly because you're so in the weeds every day.

Not only do you own the business, you're also likely acting as the practicing pharmacist. So I think, , doing things like this just in your commute , just constantly, , getting new and fresh ideas, I think just helps you to pick your head up without intentionally, , making time for that.

Because yeah. We don't have time, and so it's really hard, so. Yeah. [00:19:00] No, when you were saying that I was totally thinking of all of the independent owners that I talk with, because , you're focused on pharmacy education. Oh yeah. I do have to pay people and run the business and do all that. And that's exactly what the pharmacy owners are thinking is, well, I, I want to take care of patients and provide this medication and, , make sure they're getting their medications on time.

They're being adherent, but I also have to run a whole business. And for those that are fortunate enough to have somebody who helps them run the business, the load is a lot lighter. But not everybody has that. And that's what I think this podcast can bring. Like you just said to those that don't is, , okay, well, , for me, I always got to clean my house.

So pop in my AirPods, listen to a podcast, and then I'm multitasking in a way that's appropriate to multitask. And so hoping to bring really focused, targeted topics to our independent owners through this podcast so that they can, , kind of. multitasking and really be able to work in their business with their patients, but then also taking time to grow their business.

So that I'm glad you called that point out. It's really important. And, and Nancy, I think that's a great transition to talk with you a [00:20:00] little bit about, , this, the podcast learning has been something I've loved for a long time. And I'm so thrilled that Health Mart is launching independent insights.

Can you share a little bit about about the why behind that? Why now, and what are you excited about with this podcast? Yeah, I think you both hit on it. Health Mart University started as a way to get your compliance training. And then about 7 years ago, we partnered with CEMPAC 7 or 8 years ago.

Jen, I can't remember now. To provide. Really bring in that practical pharmacist, community pharmacist based learning to help with all of the things that the two of you just discussed the things you never learned in pharmacy school, the challenges of running a business, the, the. Pressures of anything financial.

We wanted to be able to bring those courses, but our traditional and our traditional CE courses do require that you interact with them. And when you're getting those credits, it's sometimes [00:21:00] tough. Eight years ago, we thought we were going to do some things you can listen in the car and we weren't quite matched up with the technology and the devices to be able to deliver a podcast and then see impact decided to offer the game changers that have CE included with them.

And so. We couldn't pass up that opportunity to start with that easy way to get that consistent CE while you're cleaning Suzanne's house for her or driving into work. But then also to bring those other pieces of the lifelong learning from the bevy of experts that are available, not only within the VP pro team and the other pharmacists and business and industry professionals that are part of Health Mart.

But really hearing from other independent pharmacies that are doing it. And so through the efforts of bringing Suzanne together [00:22:00] as this the host, we're really hoping to leverage the connections that she makes in our everyday day job as well as her. Her compadres there across the nation that cover the whole United States to make sure that we can bring in those owners that can speak in that idea share manner so that it's not just at our trade show, but it's every day.

Absolutely. I just hope people don't run away from me now. Like, Oh, I'm going to become a podcast episode.

That's awesome. Really exciting. And, and we've been talking a lot about the podcast, so, , maybe Jen, if you could share a little bit of the structure of what this is going to look like. I know we've been alluding to it, but , this independent insights is a new podcast show, and maybe you could share a difference between what's happening with the CE podcast and then what will be these interviews.

Sure. Yeah. Well Health Mart has this Independent Insights channel, I guess, if you will, because it's going to have a couple of different shows in it. So Game Changers will be [00:23:00] part of that. And so at CE Impact, we've been doing Game Changers for four years now. We just hit our milestone actually this last week.

 So that is super exciting. I mean, who doesn't start a podcast during COVID. So we, we already had that in the works and the timing just worked out. But we we have loved doing it. It has been so much fun. I know you're going to find that as well. Game Changers is released every Monday morning, early in the morning.

I think we released it at like five central. It's there for you first thing in the morning. And that is actually 30 minutes of CE credit. So we call it game changers, clinical conversations, because we really do want to focus on clinical topics. You know, for me, and I don't have a practice per se, so I'm in a little bit of a different space, but it's hard for me to really dig into a, , one or two or five hour CE course when I don't, you know, I don't take care of patients every day, but I want to stay up to date on clinical things and, and clinical topics and what's happening.

And, , I [00:24:00] feel like with media now and commercials so much of these clinical topics are in front of the world. And so you have patients asking you about things that you might not even know about yet. So our goal with, with Game Changers is really to stay on top of what those game changing clinical topics are and bring them to you in a really quick manner.

One example is we did one a few years ago on Lyme disease and I thought, okay, I'm not going to probably sit down and learn about Lyme disease for an hour with , a written CE or listen to somebody talk about that. But in a 30 minute podcast, I learned so much and more than I ever thought I needed to know, but it actually came in handy because I had a relative who had , something that I was like, Oh yeah, I learned about this, , so it is it's kind of a really good way to be sort of an inch deep and a mile wide.

in clinical topics because it's just 30 minutes every week. , and if you think about it from a CE perspective, that's 26 hours a year of clinical topics. So if you do them every week, they're super easy. [00:25:00] There's two test questions just to make sure you listened. And so that'll all be in Health Mart University for pharmacists to take.

 So they'll listen to the podcast on the channel and then they'll just log in to HMU to to get the credit for that. That is really exciting. Okay. So listen in Mondays, 30 minutes, clinical conversations, there'll be a link. I'm sure that we'll take them to a log in and you'll be able to claim and get your credit.

And then I won't be the night before every year claiming my CE credits because I can just do it on the go. I love, yeah. I love it up to date. Yeah. And I know, I mean, you'll get into a habit of, , whatever works for you. I know a lot of people listen and quick, , go in and take the exam and get the credit.

And then there's some people that, , do it once a month and it's like, , they listen to four and then they go in and kind of do them all at the same time. So whatever works for you. , again, we've had four years of experience in that space and it's really great. We have a really great, some regular contributors that are on quite a bit.

And then we also have guests that are experts in certain areas. So, so that is really [00:26:00] fun. I mean, I've been a long time listener and I have to say the one I think I was texting you about it cause we were driving back from vacation and my husband's also a pharmacist. So we're like, well, let's get some CE.

So we listened to the vertigo episode and, and it really, , what you said, it just reminded me of that because it, Like vertigo isn't something that I'm like going to seek out pharmacy education on. I was like, okay, well, I'll listen to this. I have a 14 hour drive and it was so fantastic. I remember thinking if I was still practicing in the community setting, I would be so happy.

I had stumbled upon this because there was key questions that you could ask patients and you really broke it down and very practical where it's like, Hey, one, two, three ways you can establish. So we're going to talk about how you can assess this vertigo and based on which category the patient falls into, here's where you need to triage them.

And, so many people complain of being dizzy or having dizziness and it's like, gosh, what the heck do you contribute, , attribute that to and how do you get them help? I wouldn't have really known and 30 minutes into that, I felt so confident in with self diagnosing myself and all the other things.

But it was just a really great episode. So I'm excited for our listeners to hopefully have that one to [00:27:00] check out. Really practical stuff. Yeah. Yeah. That is that is one of the ones that we are starting out with. So that's, and it is a really great one. It's one that I've had on my list actually for more than a year because it, I mean, it's a, that's a perfect example.

Somebody comes in looking for meclizine and you're like, wait, let's dig into this a little bit more. So yeah, so that's a perfect example of, of ways that we try to bring just really practical clinical topics. There's also some critical care and, , we try to really we map them out.

And so , there's something for everyone. We just did one also that I think is going to be an HMU on smart asthma therapy. And there's been some new evidence just released. And we did that podcast a couple weeks ago. So again, I was kind of on the cutting edge and I, , I don't claim credit for that.

I've got really smart people that are like, this is coming. We need to talk about it. , so that's awesome. And then this one, the independent insights will be, I think about once a month ish And that will be released on Wednesdays. I believe Wednesday afternoon. And, and [00:28:00] again, , I think, you know, better than I do what those topics will be, but, , talking to other owners and experts in community pharmacy and again, just bringing you similar to game changers, bringing information that's super practical that you can implement in your pharmacy that will elevate your practice.

So I'm, I'm, I think that matchup is, , two things that community pharmacy is really in need of. So it's, it's exciting. I love it. I love it. So to kind of recap with independent insights, our listeners can expect that on Mondays, they'll have access to clinical conversations through game changers, which 30 minutes of C.

E. And then on Wednesdays, at least once a month, we'll drop an episode that's really more focused on your business practice or patient care processes and how you're able to transform your pharmacy practice. So I love that those two pair together. I think they're both super important. Staying up on the guidelines, knowing what patients are going to come in and ask you about.

Those are the Monday episodes and then working on your business. We'll have those at least once a month. And, and Nancy, maybe you could share a little bit about what you're excited to bring on, on the monthly [00:29:00] episodes.

But I know we have a lot of pharmacists within Health Mart and in within McKesson that have so much expertise and experience within the industry that we can bring them on. tons of owners that I talk with as well as my peers that we'd love to showcase. So share a little bit about what you're excited for with that particular show.

Yeah, just all, all of the above, really the practical applications, pharmacies that are implementing community health workers, pharmacies that are doing functional medicine well and profitably pharmacies that have figured out another niche area that might benefit Work across the country. We want to bring those individuals in, but really also leveraging the expertise that McKesson has across our organization that are benefits to independent community pharmacies.

I know there's going to be a lot of excitement and support for advocacy. We are still working on e caps, unfortunately. [00:30:00] But what all of that means and just all of the things that go through Congress, one of the best kept secrets, I believe, is all of the work that our public affairs team does with the assistance of health members and the teams support Health Mart here within the pharmacy.

Really amplifying that up, getting those messages out. , and Suzanne, what I think is I'm most excited about is you and the other VP pros and the other pharmacists in the organization that are supporting pharmacies, whether it be from our ownership teams or what have you, They have a limited scope.

There are only so many hours of the day and so many miles that each of you can travel, but through this, we can bring the expertise across the country more quickly and really amplify all those voices, independent owners, and all of the associated experts that we bring with us. So tons. There's almost too many topics [00:31:00] to choose from for that monthly offering.

, yeah, you hit on a couple of things. I was talking with the pharmacist yesterday about advocacy, and , he's going to be sharing with our customers at IdeaShare just about how to conduct a visit if you have a representative coming in, and he, , was so passionate about it. I'm excited about it.

, I could see that being a whole episode, how do you talk to representative? How do you host a visit? Why is it important? How do you engage with your different associations? So, so much learning to really share there. And for me, I always like to hear what other people are doing, kind of learn from them and then take that and make it my own and go do that.

So that's really my hope with this podcast is that, , we can bring that to those of you out here who are listening, who want to take bits and pieces of that back to your practice. So I, I love that. Along with the tools that you might not be aware of, if you are a member of Health Mart and the resources that are readily available just if you click or just if you ask, and so that's a big part of that message, too.

, yeah, that's exactly where my brain was going. And, , I wrote down, [00:32:00] you mentioned there's all these McKesson tools and resources and people. So how do we help you better connect to that? Because I think one of the cool things about. being a health Mart. And what I see as a health Mart is you get to be fiercely independent, , embed yourself in your community.

That's the beauty of it. You are the pharmacy there. You can do what you need to for your community. And we always tried to do that when we were at the chain when I was there anyway, but we're a big chain. So you're an independent pharmacy. You can do that. But then, Reach out. There are a ton of resources and expertise and tools that are available to Health Mart pharmacies.

And I think through this podcast, we can try to highlight some of those so people who are Health Mart pharmacies know what you have access to. Sometimes that's a big part of my job is just sharing, Hey, did you know you have a standard operating procedure that you can look up? Or do you know you have access to all this compliance training?

So I think we can work to highlight some of those tools as well. Yeah, and, and for the profession, right? It's all about that. So while we focus on Health Mart that is our flagship. Those are the pharmacies that, we work for [00:33:00] every day. All of us are pharmacists first and put the profession of pharmacy first, especially when it comes to advocacy and making sure that that all boats rise is, is truly where we go with those conversations.

Yeah, yeah, super important. Well, this has been a great conversation and I really appreciate both of you taking time to connect with our listeners and to share your background and what you're excited about. , for our listeners out there, I really hope that you'll join us each week. , getting that clinical conversation, that game changer piece of practice that drops each Monday and then joining us monthly as we'll have this podcast where we delve into a wide range of topics that are pertinent to your independent business and to your patient care and your practice.

And our goal is to really always give you those practical strategies, expert insights, and then really sharing the stories and highlighting other owners and pharmacy teams. So you can all excel. So I would encourage everyone who's listening today to really subscribe to Independent Insights wherever you listen to podcasts, and to join us each [00:34:00] week.