University of Findlay Telehealth Center

The Telehealth Center at the University of Findlay is a College of Pharmacy initiative which pairs community health education with student experience. Supported by three full-time staff and several other part-time pharmacists, Findlay students work with patients over the phone or video messaging to assess their medication regimen and lifestyle factors and look for any conflicting medicines.

Through this process, students improve their proficiency in patient communication, learning how to convert technical jargon into layman's terms their patients can understand as well as learn the crucial patient-centered relationship building that is essential to a career in pharmacy. On the medication side, students work with cases that contain medication conflicts and will experience the steps pharmacists take to reconcile the issues. They also develop their ability to identifying unforeseen side-effects or problems with medication regimes in order to provide their client with different drug recommendations as well as guidelines for identifying future issues and tips for taking medication.

Students can work in the Telehealth Center as early as their first year. As they grow in their knowledge of pharmacy, their responsibilities also grow. Paid positions are offered, or hours spent working there can count toward the students Intermediate Pharmacy Practice Experience (IPPE) hours, which are required as part of a Pharm.D. degree.

A pharmacist works with a patient at the Medication Therapy Management Center

Telehealth Center Website

What is Telehealth?

Telehealth is any distribution of healthcare through the means of telecommunications. Telehealth centers exist to fill a gap in health services for many people. Groups such as senior citizens, those with travel limitations and rural populations benefit from the use of telecommunication technology to enhance the delivery of their care. Telehealth centers can reduce the cost and time burden of travel for patients, identify health risks sooner and increase access across the board to healthcare.

Medication Therapy Management

Medication Therapy Management (MTM) is one of the two services offered by Findlay's Telehealth Center. MTM services are distinct from medication dispensing by focusing on a patient-centered process of care. Services encompass the assessment and evaluation of the patient complete medication therapy regimen, rather than focusing on an individual medication product. As pharmacies nationwide begin to place more emphasis on MTM skills, gaining experience in this field allows students to serve their patients to the best of their abilities.

Chronic Care Management

Findlay also offers Chronic Care Management (CCM) as a service offered through the Telehealth Center. Whereas MTM is typically a two-time interaction with a patient with new patients continuously being added, CCM pairs each student with the same patient every month. Students working in the CCM component work with specific diseases as opposed to general care. This unique experience allows students to build a relationship with their patient as well as observe how different ailments progress over time. The CCM component currently has 1000 patients nationwide.

Student Testimonial

“Working at the Medication Therapy Management Center has helped me with my Pharmacy classes. With the classes you get a great base of knowledge, the Center reinforces that base and shows you how to apply it. I started working here in my p3 and now know that this is the kind of pharmacy work I want to do when I graduate." –David Rippetoe, p3 student

History

In 2014 Dr. Erin Thompson, assistant professor of pharmacy practice, proposed the idea for the Center to fill an experiential learning need which many universities lack. With the help of a few Graduate Assistants and Megan Conway, Thompson opened the Center. Upon opening, the Center worked with 800 patients through a southeast Ohio pharmacy contract. Today, the Center provides assistance to more than 30,000 patients via video conferencing, telephone and internet. A Chronic Care Management component was added in November 2017 with planned expansion to transitional care and a variety of other clinical support services in order to continue their goal of providing patients the best service possible.