Telepharmacy brings needed service to Wyoming

By: 
Kim Brooks
Express Editor

     After the town’s pharmacy closed its doors in early 2015, Wyoming residents and community leaders came together to see how to remedy the situation.

     Soon, a telepharmacy will open its doors in Wyoming, only one of very few telepharmacies in the State of Iowa. The pharmacy will be located at 121 W. Main St.

     Thanks to new state laws and the Iowa Board of Pharmacy, telepharmacies can exist alongside any other pharmacy in Iowa.

     Helping to lead the charge is Linda Nightingale, owner of several other pharmacies in Iowa. She is the new owner of the telepharmacy in Wyoming, as well as one in Postville, both operating under the business name The Prescription Shoppe. (Nightingale also owns The Prescription Shoppe in Monticello.)

     Unlike a typical pharmacy most people think of, a telepharmacy does not require a Pharmacist in Charge to physically be on the premises. Carl Chalstrom is the Pharmacist in Charge at the Pharmacy Care Centre in Anamosa. He will also serve as the Pharmacist in Charge for Wyoming, though remotely.

     Technology inside the telepharmacy will allow customers to talk with Chalstrom via video conferencing to answer any and all questions they may have about their prescriptions.

     Janet Thomsen will be on site Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. as the telepharmacy’s Certified Pharmacy Technician, filling the prescriptions. She will also communicate with Chalstrom and other pharmacists at their various locations via video to check the prescriptions before they go out the door.

     Nightingale said telepharmacies have stricter laws to follow, meaning Thomsen’s work will be checked three different times throughout the prescription-filling process.

     “After each process has been checked, entering the prescription correctly, selecting the correct medication to fill the prescription, and the final check to verify everything has been done correctly, the patient will then communicate face-to-face with the pharmacists and be consulted on the correct use of the medication and any possible side effects of the medication,” explained Nightingale.

     She urged the community of Wyoming to take the time to stop in and introduce themselves to Thomsen, who will be the face of Wyoming’s Prescription Shoppe.

     The process to see telepharmacies developed in Iowa actually began about five years ago with the start of pilot telepharmacies. In the meantime, the Iowa Board of Pharmacy spent a considerable amount of time developing the rules for Iowa Board of Pharmacy to exist.

     Nightingale credits Rep. Andy McKean of Anamosa was helping to move the process along.

     “He was one of the legislators who was instrumental in trying to keep the whole process moving,” she said. “There were numerous small communities who appealed to the Iowa Board of Pharmacy to get the rules established so their community would have the opportunity to establish a telepharmacy.”

     Nightingale said the regulations are by no means perfect.

     Once the state legislature passed laws to allow telepharmacies, the Pharmacy Board was in charge of regulations and oversight of those telepharmacies.

     McKean said he was contacted Dave Butterworth, with Citizens State Bank in Wyoming, about assisting the community in their efforts. “I made it my business to find out where the project was at who I needed to talk to,” McKean said of things at the state level.

     “What brought me into it was the pharmacy board dragging its feet to come through on regulations,” admitted McKean. “They’re still fairly restrictive, but workable.”

     He said for Jones County to be one of the first communities in the state to open a telepharmacy is pretty remarkable for the county.

     “It’s so important for small towns to remain as active as possible,” said McKean.

     Nightingale commented that a lot of elderly people live in Wyoming, and having a telepharmacy is a real service for those people. “Not everyone has family to run and pick up their medications,” she said.

     He said through the help of modern technology, residents in Wyoming can see a physician (at Medical Associates) and can now have their prescriptions filled, all one town.

     “It’s nice to provide this service to folks without having to drive to another town,” said McKean.

     He said the people of Wyoming should be proud of the telepharmacy, much like a feather in their hat.

     “I love to see small towns thrive,” praised McKean.

     Once the laws were in place, Nightingale purchased a building in Wyoming in the summer of 2017. The building, over 100 years old, was in need of much work before a telepharmacy could exist. Nightingale said the winter remodel project meant extra, unexpected expenses, and delays in the process.

     Chris McMann with CM Construction did the brunt of the work.

     Much like McKean, Nightingale also praised Butterworth and Lynn Hayden for being persistent throughout the whole fight for a telepharmacy.

     “They formed a committee nearly four years ago when Wyoming Drug closed its doors, and worked diligently to bring this project to a conclusion with the opening of The Prescription Shoppe,” said Nightingale.

     She said Butterworth conducted a survey of the Wyoming residents, with an overwhelming need for a pharmacy of some kind.

     “They have a medical clinic but no pharmacy,” said Nightingale. “People have to drive to get their prescriptions filled.” She said that made absolutely no sense.

     Patty Manuel with Jones County Economic Development was introduced to the telepharmacy concept during the summer of 2015. She said through conversations with Iowa-based company TelePharm, interest grew into what is now The Prescription Shoppe in Wyoming.

     She said she hopes to have the telepharmacy open yet in June, if all goes well and according to plan.

     “We are excited to begin this new adventure with the completion of the telepharmacy and to begin out association as part of the Wyoming community,” concluded Nightingale.

 

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