Can responsible AI finally give pharmacists their patients back?

Pharmacist counseling points and the potential for clinical AI tools

WK: Is there a place for AI-powered clinical decision support, like the evidence-based tools Wolters Kluwer develops, in retail pharmacy?

GM: The short answer is absolutely. What makes Wolters Kluwer unique is our vast library of clinically vetted medication and disease state content. In a world with AI, our 7,000+ editors are as important as ever. Our process allows us to develop AI solutions with confidence because we know the source content is current and evidence-based. Many AI solutions aren’t able to make such a claim, potentially leading to inaccurate recommendations.

There are a few different opportunities we are exploring today with our strategic partners. I’m personally really intrigued by the role responsible AI can play in helping guide patient counseling. As AI helps automate portions of the medication-filling workflow, pharmacists should finally have the time they’ve always wanted to increase their level of engagement with the patient. As pharmacies continue to evolve, the list of topics to counsel on becomes quite large. AI, in combination with the patient profile and Wolters Kluwer content library, can play an important role in helping to recommend relevant counseling points. These counseling points will not only lead to better patient outcomes, but they can also drive additional revenue from recommended OTC (over-the-counter) products and clinical services.

WK: Is that kind of AI-powered support feasible right now?

GM: If we continue with the example of patient counseling points, I envision a crawl-walk-run model. Without delving into PHI (patient health information), AI can leverage data we receive today, along with our clinical library, to identify, for example, a prescribed medication that is known to be nutrient-depleting. With that information, an AI-driven solution can generate a recommended counseling point that would include adding an OTC supplement to the patient basket. As a next phase, with this same information, you could imagine expanding those recommendations into recommended clinical services, and finally, where appropriate, recommended grocery items or recipes as food as medicine matures. All of this is feasible today. The key is making sure that it is grounded in current and clinically validated content.

WK: Do you think pharmacists will be open to receiving expert support – like the counseling points you envision – from an AI-driven resource? Or will there be skepticism and resistance?

GM: One thing I do know definitively is that pharmacists got into this business because they want to help people. It sounds cliché, but it’s true. Every pharmacist I talk to wants to be in front of people, counseling and helping them. But the reality is, they spend an enormous amount of time filling and dispensing medications, and it's not nearly as fulfilling or enjoyable as actually being with the patient.

So, yes, I think they will be open to AI if it can provide an opportunity to help them engage more with patients and facilitate clinical conversations. AI-driven solutions aren’t intended to replace them, but guide them. The pharmacist will always guide the conversation with support from clinically vetted counseling points tailored to the patient.

I sound like a broken record, but again, the trust in AI will – and should be – heavily dependent on its source of content. It's important that our customers know that we have an editorial army constantly validating our source data.

Supporting pharmacies with evidence-based technology

WK: What is Wolters Kluwer Health’s perspective when working with retail pharmacies?

GM: Retail pharmacies are experiencing unprecedented financial pressure. A multitude of factors contribute to this including lower reimbursement rates and higher operating costs. Pharmacies are looking for vendors who can help demonstrate a return on investment to help alleviate that financial pressure. Typically, when my team is exploring innovation opportunities, I expect the best ideas to ladder up into at least one of the following:

• One: You want to optimize pharmacy workflow. The grand vision is to automate as much of the pharmacy workflow as possible, understanding that you still want a pharmacist in the loop to maintain that human oversight. If we can help do that, it frees up more time for the pharmacist or even the technician to spend elsewhere. In the case of the pharmacist, that gets us to the second strategic pillar – driving new pharmacy revenue streams.
• Two: Top of mind is finding ways to lean more into clinical services because we know there's going to be a primary care physician gap, and there's an opportunity for pharmacy to fill in when it comes to things like vaccines. But it could also be A1C testing, blood pressure monitoring, or more medication therapy management consultations. Now, that’s dependent on legislation in each state. But legislation's coming along quickly – it’s already happening in some states. There are opportunities to lean into that and gain a first-mover advantage right now or in the near future, depending on where you’re located.
• Three: Pharmacies need to find ways to drive their differentiation. What can you do to drive loyalty with a best-in-class patient experience?

An idea like AI-powered counseling points serves all three of those areas.

WK: How else is evidence-based medication and clinical decision support valuable to retail pharmacists?

GM: I've heard this directly from senior leaders at some of the top retail chains: A big part of our role is providing pharmacy staff with confidence. When you’re asking pharmacists all of a sudden to offer clinical services that they've never done before or aren’t as comfortable with, if they can access information they trust to help confirm or inform their decisions, it gives them the confidence to practice at the top of their license.

Explore retail pharmacy’s role in a connected healthcare ecosystem in our recent whitepaper with Fierce Healthcare, “Are we truly innovating – or just automating the past?”