There is a new pharmacy at ONU which is open to the public. What is that all about? Might you be interested in having your prescriptions filled there?

Katie Westgerdes, a pharmacist for ONU HealthWise Pharmacy, spoke at the Kiwanis Club meeting this week and explained:

The pharmacy will be an extension of all the preventive and disease state management services that ONU HealthWise already offers and will accept most prescription insurance plans. 

The pharmacy will be a full-service community pharmacy with a focus on comprehensive personal care, including the sale of over-the-counter medications. 

She noted that prescription transfers are easy. “Just let us know where the prescription is located and the prescription number, and we will take care of the rest,” she said.

She said their goal is to provide personalized care with each prescription filled. This means you will have the ability to have a phone conversation or a sit-down consultation with the pharmacist (or a supervised pharmacy intern) with each visit to the pharmacy. They provide education on disease state management and preventive health. Educational materials will be available to take home.

A one-on-one session with an ONU pharmacist includes a review of each medication, consultative services regarding best utilization, and other advice. These sessions are available either in-person or over the phone depending on insurance coverage.

The pharmacist also will discuss medication side effects and review drug-to-drug interactions. The pharmacist will complete a review of disease state management and ask measurement questions, such as "How often are you using your rescue inhaler?" and "What is your fasting blood sugar?" 

The consultation will involve a discussion of lifestyle changes that may assist with disease states such as high blood pressure or heart disease. The goal of this session is to assist you in feeling confident about how and why you are taking your medications.

​“We designed this program to save you time and money.  Each month, we'll review your prescriptions with you before we prepare them. We will help get refill requests or prior authorizations through your prescriber. We then will notify you when they are ready for pickup,” she said.

(Ada Icon thanks Kiwanian Jon Umphress for this review of her talk to club members.)