UCSF Health Opens New Outpatient Pharmacies in San Francisco

UCSF Health is opening retail pharmacies at its Mission Bay and Parnassus campuses to complement the health system’s suite of comprehensive and accessible health services. The new pharmacies build on UCSF Health’s history of innovative clinical pharmacy care and are integrated with health records to provide seamless care for UCSF patients and convenience for people who live and work in San Francisco.

The UCSF Health Mission Bay Pharmacy opened Oct. 1. The UCSF Health Parnassus Pharmacy location will open Oct. 29. Both are open to the general public, accept most insurance and offer pickup, mail order and home delivery fulfillment services. Soon, they’ll offer vaccinations and are developing other clinical programs such as administration of long-acting injectable medications, smoking cessation and hormonal contraception services, among others.

“The access for our patients, employees, students and faculty to have an outpatient pharmacy available is so important,” said Desi Kotis, PharmD, chief pharmacy executive at UCSF Health and vice dean of clinical affairs at the UCSF School of Pharmacy. “Most medications in the pharma development pipeline are self-administered, so medication access is key for the future. Providing care to our community, especially those most vulnerable, is core to our pharmaceutical enterprise mission.”

Seamless care with UCSF Health hospitals and clinics

The new pharmacies are fully integrated with UCSF Health’s electronic health records (EHR) system and pharmacists will have access to patients’ lab results and diagnoses. With EHR access, pharmacists will be able to assess medication interactions and ensure optimal doses based on organ function such as kidney function and communicate this directly with physicians. Pharmacists will also be able to collaborate with providers to optimize patients’ medications and provide medication management for conditions such as hypertension and diabetes.

“A patient shouldn’t have to figure out on their own who to call about their medications or their health care,” said Noelle Chapman, PharmD, MBA, chief pharmacy officer at UCSF Health and associate dean at the UCSF School of Pharmacy. “At the pharmacy, we want to be a source for information about their care. Often, patients have questions about medication side effects, affordability and other issues, and we want to be a trusted resource for those answers at the pharmacy.”

UCSF Health patients will have the added convenience of receiving their prescriptions at the bedside upon discharge from the hospital or following an appointment at a clinic. When patients at UCSF Health’s Mission Bay or Parnassus campuses are diagnosed with diabetes, for example, they can receive medications and guidance from a pharmacist as part of their discharge plan.

The outpatient pharmacies will also offer compounding services, allowing pharmacists to make medications that are not commercially available. This is particularly important for ophthalmology patients who need compounded eye drops and for compounding the suspensions and solutions that some pediatric patients need.

A history of integrating clinical pharmacy with inpatient health care

The pharmacies are a continuation of UCSF’s legacy of innovation in clinical pharmacy. Starting in 1966, UCSF Health was among the first hospitals in the U.S. to include pharmacists as part of care teams. UCSF’s Ninth-Floor Pharmacy Project began by developing a hospital-floor-based pharmaceutical service to maximize patient safety by charging pharmacists with responsibility for all phases of drug distribution, with the exception of administering medication to the patient. Additionally, pharmacists served as a source for reliable drug information and conducted studies with nurses and physicians to assess pharmacy services.

By 1968, the pharmacists’ role included supervising technicians who filled unit-dose orders, preparing IV additives, participating in teaching and work rounds, responding to Code Blue calls, replying to drug information requests from staff and attending physicians, and teaching nursing staff, pharmacy students and residents. The work of the Ninth-Floor Pharmacy Project later informed the UCSF School of Pharmacy curriculum.

“At UCSF Health, the practice of pharmacy is interdisciplinary, whether you’re in the acute care setting, in an ambulatory clinic setting or now in our outpatient pharmacies,” said Lisa Kroon, PharmD, assistant chief pharmacy officer, clinical innovation, education and research at UCSF Health, and Thomas A. Oliver Professor of Clinical Pharmacy at the UCSF School of Pharmacy. “We want our students exposed to this approach so they can continue to be leaders in the field of pharmacy and innovate further in outpatient pharmacy settings.”

In the coming years, UCSF pharmacy students will be able to complete part of their training at the outpatient pharmacies. Their training will involve being part of an interprofessional, interdisciplinary team that is equipped to provide patient-centered care.