In this episode Bryana Gregory shares a compounding pharmacist’s perspective on healthcare. She brings the viewpoint of the millennial generation (Generation Y) to the Perspectives on Healthcare Podcast with Rob Oliver. Bryana lives and works in Texas.
Here are 3 things that stood out as Bryana Gregory gave a compounding pharmacist’s perspective on healthcare:
· Quality healthcare means leading with a servant’s heart
· Healthcare should be about keeping people healthy, not keeping them sick
· Medical professionals need to listen to their patients with an open mind
You can learn more about Bryana Gregory through her website or you can connect with her on social media:
Website https://physicianspreferencerx.com/
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Here is the transcript of Bryana Gregory: A Compounding Pharmacist’s Perspective on Healthcare
Rob Oliver: Thank you and welcome. I appreciate you being with me today. Today’s perspective comes from Bryana Gregory. She is a pharmacist and physician liaison based in Texas. She is a millennial member of Generation Y. Welcome to the show.
Bryana Gregory: Thank you, Rob. I appreciate it. It’s an absolute pleasure to be here with you today. Thank you so much for having me.
Rob Oliver: You bet. So tell me a little bit about yourself and about your role in health care, please.
Bryana Gregory: Yes. So as I mentioned, I’m a pharmacist. I’m a compounding pharmacist to which means that I work in a less common sector of health care in pharmacy and then also as a physician leaves on what I really do is I help to facilitate the relationship between our providers, a prescriber and the pharmacy. So because company pharmacy is sort of a niche, I help educate providers basically on how to write the prescription for their patients, so it’s more customized as the patient can be customized treatment. So, you know, so much my inspiration, really in healthcare actually came from my dad. He always had a really begin. So funny. But he was a dentist, and he spent the, you know, several hours in the office even after after work. Just such a hard worker, which always had an impression on the but at the same time as a child, I spent a lot of time in his office. So I was watching what he was doing as a medical professional, I spent time with him. I was kind of like his shadow as a kid, watching him look over extras, watching him trade patience and and make moles in his lab. And several years later, in 2009, actually, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer or less is generally a pretty slow in cancer extruded correctly. But when he was finally diagnosed at age four, it became evident that something had been missed along the way during his routine check outs. And so throughout his dreaming journey, he saw several doctors, some specialists, federal oncologists. And if you started taking federal medication, and this is a guy that really never took medication in. So we really didn’t have exposure to what pharmacist did. Honestly, I really didn’t have a clue. By the time he reached his third year treatment, he was on 15 a medication, but something that in pharmacy we refer to as polypharmacy. And I remember that when my dad was in Hospice, one of the things that had the biggest impact on me to toss this farm team into the home and review its medications and actually slash the number that that number of medications by about half. And that’s just not what I expected. What really stick out to us, came in not to add more medication because he was really trying to actually lighten the pill burden for my dad to make it easier on his body and only keep them on the medications that he truly needed. I think that this is initially what pulled me to the field of pharmacy, because that was so in practice to me. But in the midst of all days, having doing with my own healthcare problems went to several doctors, had several referrals to many specialists, but still nothing was getting fixed. And eventually I visited with a functional medicine practitioner, someone who is finally willing to look at the entire picture of my life. You know, everything from what I put in my body, what I put on my body, what I was doing every day, my habits, because I was really struggling with my death health, and I was not so fast. So functional medicine is not a common area health care, but once I experienced it for myself, it really actually shifted my perspective of what that area health care looks like. You know, I think as most people get into health care, it’s something personal or it’s something that has to do with their family and that’s exact relief. What led me to do what I do today.
Rob Oliver: Okay, you’re so correct. I think that a lot of times there’s a personal connection there that draws us in. Not only does that personal connection bring people in, but it also motivates them to do better with health care because they’ve seen that there are areas of gap areas where there are things missing. Excellent. What does quality healthcare mean to you?
Bryana Gregory: To me, quality health care really always means leading with a servant’s heart. And the reason I say that is because Lucky just said, Rob, you know, a lot of times it’s personal, and if we can just be there to serve others and meet the patient where they’re at, we’re always going to be keeping the patients best interest in mind, and that should be the plan. So if you check them like your family, they pick up on that very quickly. And Homo pharmacist perspective. What this means to me to deliver quality healthcare de pharmacist is that you’re delivering the right medication to the meditation at the right time, but only if meditation is necessary required. And it isn’t always required. Quality health care, as the term suggest, really should be quality of our quantity, and it should also focus on getting people healthy rather than keeping them sick. And for whatever reason, this seems to be a very novel idea in the modern healthcare system. So for that reason, I think our health system appears ever broken in some assets broken in such a way that there’s a lack of communication between hospitals and pharmacies outpatient centers, insurance companies in a way that it keeps the whole system very money for the patient. Difficult to understand. It doesn’t appear to be streamlined or simple. And because of that, patients can default to the gas and they feel that and then they fall off of their health care treatment Regiment, and they’re not compliant. And for that reason they don’t reach their health care goals. So their treatment generally becomes very segregated to Poeling in several different places at once. So quality health care is really about bridging those gaps and providing the best pop voice experience for the patient because it is an experience this journey health care journey. It’s not the same every day. And if we can help patients reach their individual and our health care goals, then I believe that we’re actually delivering quality care. And this is why the area of functional medicine is still affected, especially when there’s not a lot of communication, because it’s an integrated practice. You’re looking at everything. And just like I said when I was seen by medical a functional medicine practitioner, she’s looking at everything. She’s looking at my whole body, the whole picture. And this is what helps to protect that. But the functional medicine is about also finding with underlying causes of the owner. But it requires a whole team of healthcare professionals and not just a pharmacist. It’s the physician, it’s nutritionist, everybody right. But they have to be willing to listen and to empower and to encourage and compare enough to be beyond what seems like. It’s obvious what generally happens in that 15 appointment window, and patients deserve more time than that. Patients deserve to be held accountable and to have an adequate support system which they don’t always have at home. That might come from a part assist that might come from a position. But functional medicine is not about overloading people with medications that only offer in grade six. It’s about replacing what you’re deficient in because it’s important to recognize people don’t get sick because they have a low level of pharmaceutical drugs and their blood. The the decision or something or their body is not about. And so as a comparative, once the doctor identifies with that root causes, we can customize the medication for the patient is a medication is necessary and we can replace it and the dose of appropriate to vacation. And when I say deficient in something, I mean the most common one to be hormones. It can be vitamins, nutrients, antioxidants and ins or anything like that. But it’s different than traditional treatment because traditional treatment means covering up the symptoms, are masking them, will get another medication. But in functional medicine and contacting piracy in replenish up the body deficient in. So this is restoring Bill health and wellness. And Robin, it comes to medications. The reason quality is so important is that the quality of the medication that you put in your body directly affects the way you feel right. It’s just like the food that you choose to put your body. So I think that quality health care really health and moments all around.
Rob Oliver: Okay. You’ve done this a little bit. Can you give me some examples or give me an example of quality health care you’ve provided somebody, if you don’t mind.
Bryana Gregory: Yeah. So quality health care except my health care. I think that customize healthcare. It because we are all very different, which means we’re all going to be on a very different health care journey. So compounding pharmacy is actually a really great example of this for listeners who aren’t familiar with what contacting pharmacy is. A compounding pharmacy is a pharmacy that makes or compounds medications on site in their laboratory right there. How to customize those for the patient based on his or her individual needs. Court compounded Restriction When you go in to say, a retail pharmacy and see all those bottles on the shelf, those are medications that have been FDA approved, but not everybody is going to sit inside of a box where they’re going to be able to take those medications, and it’s going to get them to where they need to be. Sometimes people have a sensitivity or an allergy to medication. They either allergic to an active ingredient or a die or something like that. So in the compounding lab, we can make those medications free of those offensive or problematic ingredients that bother people. This way they’re able to attain achieve their healthcare outcomes in a way where they can still receive the same medication. But in a way that works for them. Or, for example, we have an elderly person or a child lady who can’t scroll with tablets so we can adjust that dosage for putting it into something like a topical cream that gets absorbed still into the body. But basically, we’re just finding a different route of how we can do that. You know, the traditional medications are not designed for everyone. Kids were not one type at all, and that means that we deserve more than a one size fits all treatment. So I always encourage my patients that if they’re not feeling their app for the best, then they should consider talking to the doctor and talking about having the medications customized compounded and tailored to their individual needs. But not all coming pharmacies are created the same either. They have to be sure to specialize in confine medication, and they cannot dabble in it just by adding a flavor here there they need to have strip quality standards implemented because that means that the medications are measurable and repeatable, which means that the patients response will then be measurable and repeatable. And that’s something that we can count on getting the station where they need to be.
Rob Oliver: Got it. You kind of led me into the next question, which is, what do you wish people understood about your role in health care?
Bryana Gregory: Yeah. So did you know that pharmacists are considered the most successful healthcare professionals? And yet at the same time, we’re probably the most under utilized. You can call up the pharmacy and to speak with a pharmacist, pharmacists or medication expert, which means that the are the most highly trained in that to advise on the safe and appropriate use of medication, when to take them, how to click them. And we’re experts in pharmacology, which means that we’ve been trained in depth about the science of how these meditations are working in the body and affecting every single system in the body. And because every person’s body is unique, this means that they need unique types of medication and dose of medication and then also debunking the myth that pharmacists or drug pushers instead, a great pharmacist honestly should set realistic expectations with the patient about life here is on the medication. How long is she be on the medication, why they’re on the medication and when they can come off of the medication because again, it’s not about overloading and adding, adding, adding without taking anything off. And even more so in functional medicine, we believe that cruises are commonly overprescribed treating symptoms only rather than actually addressing the underlying condition. So many prescription drugs are only offering that temporary fix, but they don’t solve through cause the problem. And this is why we focus on replenishing the body other than maxing this symptoms. Again, people don’t get sick because we have a low level of pharmaceutical drugs in their flood. They get sick because they’re deficient in something or because their body is out of balance. So it’s necessary to replenish these things that were deficient in and set realistic expectations of patient along the way about the length of treatment to and this is really the responsibility of the pharmacist.
Rob Oliver: Got it. What excites you about the future of healthcare?
Bryana Gregory: There’s so much opportunity for education and for requirement. And from my perspective, I’m actually blessed to have the opportunity to educate patients and providers and what I do. So that’s a little bit unique. I kind of closed the triad there between the patient, the pharmacist and the provider. But what really excites me is when a patient comes to me and they’re excited about taking charge of their own health. If we can help patients be more informed by educating them about health care and allowing them to make more informed decisions about their own health, then I believe we actually have better health outcomes overall, because the patient has more say in their own health care treatment, they know what to look out for, and they can also be more Proactive in reaching out to their health care team in a timely manner to get what they need if they’re more informed. So when a patient comes to me and they’re excited about learning, it’s an opportunity for me to feel like I’m not only helping them, but improving the whole healthcare system too.
Rob Oliver: An excellent point and having patients be empowered and patients be included as part of the care team is essential. What is one thing medical professionals can start doing today to improve the quality of health care?
Bryana Gregory: Listen. And do so with an open mind. I really think it’s so important to take time to remember that the privilege to be invited in the law of someone’s health care Joury. And that journey is different for everybody. I believe it’s important to honor that by listening. And sometimes we may take that for granted if someone diagnosis is not terminal, but when it is, it just a little heavier with it. And even if we’re involved in keeping people call me, well, we still have to remember that they’re letting us in too many details of their personal lives that they don’t share with anybody else, sometimes even their own spouses. And for that reason, it’s important to remember that we have the opportunity to pull state genuine relationships with our patients and just look like any other type of relationship people want to be heard. Do you know what’s amazing to me, Rob, is it so frequently? I mean, I think even on a daily basis, as happens in consultation, over the phone or in person, and the patient will finish up the conversation saying, thank you so much for listening. I know that you’re so busy and I just can’t believe you set the time and I’m taking I’m taking back every time because I’m sitting here just thinking, I’m really my job, you know? And I love my job, but they’ve taken the time to open up their lives and share their personal details with me. And I really believe that people will tell you everything that you need to know, and often times give you the key to their treatment plan and the answer that you need if you just be present and listen.
Rob Oliver: Yeah, what you’re saying makes so much sense, especially when you have to when I’m speaking to medical professionals. One of the things that I try and remind them is that people are generally coming into the office because they are in a time of crisis, that they don’t feel good and so they can’t get to work or their child doesn’t feel good and their child can’t go to school. And if their child can’t go to school that interfere. So their world is in a place of turmoil and crisis and listening to them, helping them to find what the solution is. You’re helping them get some sense of normal feedback in their life. So I think what you’re saying is as far as listening is imperative. So thank you. But thank you very much for sharing that. Listen, Bryana Gregory, you have been phenomenal. I appreciate you sharing today. Thank you for giving us your perspective on healthcare.
Disclaimer: All opinions expressed by guests on the Perspectives on Healthcare Podcast are solely the opinion of the guest. They are not to be misconstrued as medical diagnoses or medical advice. Please consult with a licensed medical professional before attempting any of the treatments suggested.