"Ultimately, it’s all about improving patient outcomes,” said Dave Heckard, President, Pharmacy Times Continuing Education.
PLAINSBORO, N.J. (PRWEB) July 20, 2016
The continuing education sessions of the 2nd Annual Convenient Healthcare and Pharmacy Collaborative® conference for retail healthcare providers begin today at the Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek, in Florida. This one-of-a-kind, 3-day conference focuses on ways pharmacists, nurse practitioners and physician assistants can work together and expand patient access to affordable, high-quality healthcare.
The Convenient Healthcare and Pharmacy Collaborative conference, sponsored by Convenient Care Association and Pharmacy Times—both leaders in educational programming and best practices for delivering high-quality healthcare services by retail health professionals—features continuing education sessions to address gaps in professional education for clinicians and pharmacists, as well as best practices for interdisciplinary collaboration in the retail health practice setting. More than 300 pharmacists and convenient care practitioners are registered for the conference.
“This is the only conference in the world to bring together nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and pharmacists—the heart of convenient care—allowing an opportunity to network and discuss best practices,” said Tine Hansen-Turton, founding executive director of the Convenient Care Association, during her opening remarks. “Separated, we are able to do great things, but together, that’s when we become a movement, one dedicated to improving the services that we offer and innovating the healthcare landscape.”
Kevin Ban, an emergency medicine doctor, affiliated with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, gave today’s keynote address, entitled “Population Healthier - Population Health & Retail Medicine.”
“The conference provides the opportunity to engage two professions in the same room to share best practices on diseases and conditions they may come across in practice,” said Dave Heckard, President, Pharmacy Times Continuing Education. “It’s a collaborative opportunity to join together in learning the latest about primary care, health promotion and disease prevention, healthcare screenings, chronic care management, and treatment of common acute and chronic conditions. Ultimately, it’s all about improving patient outcomes.”
Educational sessions address patient management from the clinician and pharmacist perspectives. At these sessions, leading industry experts discuss the management of chronic conditions such as diabetes, respiratory disease and obesity, as well as acute conditions frequently seen in the retail setting.
In addition, the sessions address what pharmacists need to know about the management of patients to whom opioids are prescribed, as well as legal issues related to filling controlled-substance prescriptions. For nurse practitioners and physician assistants, a session will cover the role of naloxone, the opioid antidote, in the retail setting.
Tomorrow, for the first time, the continuing education sessions are presented in two tracks, one for nurse practitioners and physician assistants and the other for pharmacists. The first day of the conference, yesterday, July 19, featured a pre-conference management workshop.
Pharmacists, nurse practitioners and physician assistants can earn up to 10 contact hours of continuing education each. Pharmacy Times Continuing Education will provide accreditation for the pharmacy audience, and Dannemiller will provide accreditation for nurse practitioners and physicians assistants.
Retail clinics, also known as convenient care clinics, provide a valuable service to millions of patients by offering affordable and high-quality basic primary healthcare at convenient retail-based locations, such as retail pharmacies, supermarkets, and big-box retailers, outside of the traditional doctor’s office. Clinicians within this setting, including nurse practitioners, physician assistants and pharmacists, are highly educated and skilled professionals who can offer services ranging from primary, preventive care to the management of chronic illnesses.
About Pharmacy Times
Pharmacy Times is the industry’s leading media resource, providing practical clinical information pharmacists can use in their everyday practices when counseling patients and interacting with physicians. Each issue contains articles and features covering medication errors, drug interactions, patient education, pharmacy technology, disease state management, patient counseling, product news, pharmacy law and specialty pharmacy. Pharmacy Times Continuing Education is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education as a provider of continuing pharmacy education. Learn more at http://www.PharmacyTimes.org, write to info(at)pharmacytimes(dot)com, call 609-716-7777 or visit us on Facebook or Twitter. Pharmacy Times is published by Michael J. Hennessy Associates, Inc., a leading provider of healthcare media resources, research, information and education.
About Convenient Care Association
Convenient Care Association is the national trade association of companies and healthcare systems that provide consumers with accessible, affordable, quality healthcare in more than 2,100 retail-based locations nationally. CCA works primarily to enhance and sustain the growth of the Convenient Care industry through sharing resources, best practices and common standards of operation. Learn more at http://www.ccaclinics.org or email tine(at)ccaclinics(dot)org.