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Just wondering...also, how hard are these jobs to get, relative to retail/hospital positions? thanks!!
What does a home infusion pharmacist do?
- Thread starter BetseyJohnson
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do a google search to get the best answer......they are harder to get than retail and maybe a little harder to get than hospital depending on the area.
I did two rotations in it and liked it alot.....
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I asked one of my friends this the other day, she just finished a rotation at a home infusion company. Her response was very close to how the Pfizer pharmacy career digest describes 'Home Care' pharmacist roles:
http://www.pharmacy.ohio-state.edu/...rmacy/materials/PfizerPharmacyCareerGuide.pdf
Hope this helps!
Thanks PumpkinSmasher.........great overview!
My guess is a lot of TPNs and antibiotics. I wouldn't mind getting into home infusion either.
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that with some pain meds and chemo mixed in where I rotated....
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you will spend your time giving dapto to patients with the "right" payer mix
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Part of my IPPE was in home infusion... I liked it. The overview above is pretty accurate. Where I rotated, it was pretty slow paced but there was still a decent amount of work to do. I liked learning about all the methods of infusion and guidelines. I wouldn't mind doing it.
Home infusion pharmacist here, hoping to shed some light on this topic.
Primarily what we deal with are antibiotics, TPN, hydration, chemo, PCA's, intrathecal injections, and some penile injection stuff.
Typical day for me: Review the list of patients on service, prioritize based on where they live (delivery) dosing schedule and drug, fill the scripts, call docs constantly to make suggestions, discuss end of therapies, continutity of care with nursing agencies, call patients to do monitoring, always am checking on labs and evaluating them. I then have to make sure our pumps are all in good working condition, check on the sterility tests, support the techs, etc.
All in all, its really enjoyable. No phones ringing off the hook. Billing department takes care of the insurance issues. I get to do lots of vanco dosing and use clinical skills that retail and some institutional settings don't lend themselves too. Docs listen and respect us, patients appreciate our phone calls, and I go home at night satisfied that I did a good job.
Now for the cons,
Nurses and nursing services get kinda bitchy and always blame the pharmacist if anything goes amiss. To get insurance to pay for home infusion (especially medicare and medicaid) you have to gather a ridiculous amount of information to put on the script. There is often a clash between morally what a pharmacist has to do and finding ways to get paid for it (Like changing the abx due to adverse reaction, but insurance wont pay for the other one and not wanting to delay therapy). Call on nights and weekends is a downside. But the primary problem with home infusion is a grumpy boss or coworkers, but that is the same everywhere.
Primarily what we deal with are antibiotics, TPN, hydration, chemo, PCA's, intrathecal injections, and some penile injection stuff.
Typical day for me: Review the list of patients on service, prioritize based on where they live (delivery) dosing schedule and drug, fill the scripts, call docs constantly to make suggestions, discuss end of therapies, continutity of care with nursing agencies, call patients to do monitoring, always am checking on labs and evaluating them. I then have to make sure our pumps are all in good working condition, check on the sterility tests, support the techs, etc.
All in all, its really enjoyable. No phones ringing off the hook. Billing department takes care of the insurance issues. I get to do lots of vanco dosing and use clinical skills that retail and some institutional settings don't lend themselves too. Docs listen and respect us, patients appreciate our phone calls, and I go home at night satisfied that I did a good job.
Now for the cons,
Nurses and nursing services get kinda bitchy and always blame the pharmacist if anything goes amiss. To get insurance to pay for home infusion (especially medicare and medicaid) you have to gather a ridiculous amount of information to put on the script. There is often a clash between morally what a pharmacist has to do and finding ways to get paid for it (Like changing the abx due to adverse reaction, but insurance wont pay for the other one and not wanting to delay therapy). Call on nights and weekends is a downside. But the primary problem with home infusion is a grumpy boss or coworkers, but that is the same everywhere.
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Hey, call is the major downside to it I saw. But, you get paid and it might be once a month and most things dont require you to go in if your company is running things right so you anticipate the weekend problems.
If I stayed in pharm for the long haul, home infusion was where I was looking to go. I also like consulting but it is hard to find and the most travel can become tiring.
If I stayed in pharm for the long haul, home infusion was where I was looking to go. I also like consulting but it is hard to find and the most travel can become tiring.
