When Todd Eury began working in the pharmacy sphere — his first gig was implementing data analysis and reporting in nursing home pharmacies — he quickly started hearing about the importance of consultant pharmacists in long-term care facilities.
“I didn’t realize the impact that pharmacists were having when they got involved in medication management,” Eury recalled. “They could take a senior that was on 16 medications and de-prescribe them down to maybe eight, or get them exercising. They were doing things that physicians often couldn’t, because the consultant pharmacist was coming into the nursing home three times a week. That opened my eyes.”
In 2009, Eury began conducting regular interviews with pharmacists, weaving them into a podcast that became a vital source of education for the profession. Before too long, the podcast evolved into a must-listen for anyone hoping to gain a better understanding of long-term and hospital care settings. Those interviews ultimately became the foundation for the Pharmacy Podcast Network (PPN), a network showcasing evidence-based audio content on the pharmacy business.
PPN now has a new home. As part of an effort to expand its connection to pharmacists, Finn Partners announced Monday that PPN will be joining the agency. PPN will operate as a separate unit within the firm, led by Eury.
“Pharmacists are the living encyclopedias of health knowledge,” said Gil Bashe, global health chair at Finn Partners. “Pharmacists are playing a larger role as intermediaries and ambassadors for the patient, physician and system. Having a stronger link between health innovators and the people who actually make those innovations accessible — pharmacists — was a natural for us.”
PPN, which has around 120,000 listeners and around 50 pharmacist contributors, explores topics ranging from health equity to hyperlipidemia. The network’s Twitter account has some 26,000 followers.
Eury and Bashe stressed the increasing importance of the neighborhood pharmacy and the shift away from “transactional care” at major chains. PPN, they believe, can facilitate that.
“It’s about establishing community and identifying where that community wants to be,” Bashe explained. “Some of that community wants to be connected via podcasts while they drive. This recognizes that people have different preferences for how they get their information.”
“We’re going to take full advantage of our reach and partnership with Finn Partners, not only to collaborate but also educate our consumer base,” Eury added. “Everybody knows people will go to Google to self-diagnose, but we’d like them to start listening to podcasts by pharmacists who are passionate about what they do in patient care.”
