Member Spotlight

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

Brian Smith Pharm.D.

Pharmacist in Charge/Owner Prescription Pad Pharmacy

Pharmacy School & Graduation Year: UAMS, 2001

Years in business: 13 years working for the chain drug stores (6atBrookshires, 7 atFreds) 6yearsin businessformyself.

Favorite part of the job and why: Patientsandagreatstaff. Helping our patients manage their medication needs is our job. Getting to know each of them as a person establishes relationships and trust in us that last for years. We absolutely couldnotserveourpatientswithoutagreatstaff.Theywork hard and work together to serve on a daily basis in a pretty stressful environment.

Least favorite part of the job and why: Insurance reimbursements and PBMs.

What do you think will be the biggest challenges

for pharmacists in the next 5 years? More than ever, insurances are entering into an outcomes-based payment system. It will be imperative that pharmacists be recognized as providers to make sure those outcomes are met and be able to be reimbursed fairly for the services we provide.

Oddest request from a patient/customer: "Have your delivery driver go by Burger King, pick up two number 1 combos, and I'll payherwhen shegetshere."

Recent reads: The Book of Revelations, Bottle of Lies

Favorite activities/hobbies: Spending time with my family, watching my girls swim, hunting and fishing, training for triathlons

Ideal dinner guests: My grandfather that passed away in 2009

If not a pharmacist: Plumber or electrician - I like to fix things

Why should a pharmacist in Arkansas be an active member of the Arkansas Pharmacists Association? The The APA works very hard to ensure that issues facing pharmacists are addressed with legislators on a daily basis. They keep us up to date on these issues as well as other areas of pharmacy and give us relevant information to help us make decisions in an ever-changing pharmacy environment.

How has your business and practice changed in the months since the COVID19 pandemic began?

One of the hardest decisions we had to make was closing our lobby and moving to drive through, curbside, and delivery. We don't have a huge lobbyand overthe counterarea that accommodates a large group of people. When we added our employees into the mix, we were over the 10 person limit. As I type this, we have moved into phase 2 and decided to reopen thelobbyonJune15. Therewillbesomedifferences,butwe will make it through them as a team. We are looking forward interacting and spending more time with our patients again.

One advantage of this Covid-19 crisis is we have been able to focusonsynchronizationmore. Ithaschangedourworkflow dramatically for the better in just 3 months. I would encourage any business not using sync to implement a program. §