Left to right: Denise Keller, Vivian Bui, Sarah Blythe and Brittney Marshall
Though pharmacists in Ontario can provide more clinical services than ever before, many retail pharmacies can be too busy to offer one-on-one testing and medication review for all their patients.
POCkit Clinics, a business designed by pharmacy students Denise Keller, Sarah Blythe, Britney Marshall and Vivian Bui, provides a solution to this problem. Their business proposal won this year’s Pharmasave Industrial Case Competition. The competition pits third-year pharmacy student teams against their classmates in a battle for a $5,000 prize that tests their business acumen and innovation in the field of pharmacy.
POCkit Clinics is a clever play on “Point-of-Care” kits, kits that include screening technology which give patients health-related readings in real-time. The POCkit Clinics business has students bring these kits to pharmacies to deliver student-run clinical services. POCkit Clinics features tests like blood pressure and respiration that are often used to monitor the health of patients with chronic illnesses like high blood pressure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorders (COPD).
As pharmacy students, we are always searching for ways to expand our clinical experience and we were inspired by the University of Waterloo’s co-op program to continue to use our knowledge and put it into practice.
In a busy community pharmacy, many pharmacists neither have the access to the latest screening tools or the time to conduct assessments and consultations with patients on results. POCkit Clinics proposes a quick and affordable solution to that issue.
Pharmacists can request a POCkit clinic to come to their pharmacy for a day. The business sends students with the latest screening tool for the requested condition. Students are trained in using the device and providing clinical services, such as medication reviews. Patients will benefit from POCkit Clinics through increased access to thorough, patient-focused care and education about their chronic diseases.
Since POCkit Clinics is a mobile business, the company would purchase expensive screening equipment once and be able to use it broadly, saving pharmacies from the expense of investing in technology themselves.
Pharmacy students receive comprehensive and up-to-date training from the University of Waterloo. By partnering with pharmacies, patients can recieve high-quality clinical services, ensuring that those with chronic diseases receive optimal patient care. Students will benefit from the opportunity to gain additional training and more clinical experience before graduation.
“POCkit Clinics provides a realistic and business-savvy solution to a current issue in the world of retail pharmacy,” says associate professor Roderick Slavcev, instructor of the pharmacy business class. “Mobile student-run clinics are an intelligent and cost-effective way to ensure patients can better monitor their health.”
The Pharmasave-sponsored business competition has been held for six years and has led to three real-world businesses.