Tag Archives: Lipotrim Patient Tracker

Conducting your own audit of evidence

Apr 2012

Getting evidence from services is no longer a luxury for pharmacy. With the new NHS bill, every healthcare professional and service will have to demonstrate value if they want a future.
However, collating evidence has been a particular challenge for pharmacy – pharmacists are not in the habit of documenting the value of their services and they often don’t have the means to do this efficiently, relying too much on paper.
Conducting an audit and gathering evidence for your service is easier if you have an online recording system and the PSNC are going that way with Pharmabase.
When it comes to your weight management service, the evidence from your audit can be compelling. Using the Lipotrim Patient Tracker, you can pull off data to demonstrate benefits using a range of criteria, for example by gender, BMI, age and co-morbidities such as hypertension and diabetes, all at the click of a button. It allows you to continuously audit your pharmacy service for evidence based commissioning while at the same time monitor and support your patients and cut down on paperwork and filing.
Getting started is easy. Draw up objectives and then decide on what evidence you want to present, to whom and for when. Set aside time to become familiar with the Lipotrim Patient Tracker or simply book a quick 20-minute online demo to see it in action and get your first patient record in place.

PDF Version: ICP LIPOTRIM COLUMN april

Setting up a successful weight management service

Feb 2012

A weight management service can help you meet both your professional and business objectives. The first step to setting up your service is to recognize the business opportunity as well as the professional contribution you can make to the health of your community. Pharmacy is a primary healthcare provider for weight management services and the widespread need for effective weight control will direct customers to the pharmacy providing the most effective service. Properly run, a weight management programme will substantially increase footfall and lead to extended customer loyalty. Decide on a service specification that will provide the evidence of efficacy, the equipment you need and the SOPs, staff training and continued support for your programme.
You need to think about how you bring the customers in. In-store posters and leaflets, local GP surgeries and sports centres and tie-ins with national campaigns are all good sources of new business, but the best source of new people is the impact successful dieters have on their relatives, friends and acquaintances. Paying proper attention to the protocols of the programme will pay off big time.
And don’t forget about evaluating your service and the positive health outcomes to your population. Gathering evidence for this puts you in a strong position for further funding from local commissioning groups and getting involved in the Healthy Living Pharmacy initiative.
Lipotrim Pharmacy supports you in all the above, from training and CPD, to tools to promote your service and right through
to evidence gathering thanks to the Lipotrim Patient Tracker.

PDF Version: ICP LIPOTRIM COLUMN feb r1