Yesterday I renewed the hosting for this site - it is unbelievable to me that it's been nearly a year since I decided I was "done being quiet"and hit the Post button. It's been a really fun - and frustrating - year, and I've gotten to meet a lot of great people through this endeavor. I've learned a great deal and had a lot of fun challenges to meet when it comes to creating new things for the site.
I know I have been stepped back for a while due to holidays and other personal events, but the factors that drove me to create this site are just as serious, if not more so, than they were a year ago. With that in mind, I don't plan to stay away.
However, I also don't want to run myself and others into the ground by constantly posting only negativity. I would love to start a discussion in the blog comments about what anyone is interested in seeing from this site - the platform is VERY flexible and there is a lot that can be offered through it.
But what is it that we as pharmacists, technicians, and patients need that is not provided elsewhere? The blog comments below are open for your input concerning where we can look to in the next year.
One example that I have thus far opted to avoid is the option of adding a discussion forum to the site. Firstly, because the functionality creates a "user page" for all site members which would display emails of those folks who have registered as site members. So until I can find a way around that, I do not intend to activate that feature, due to the sensitive nature of what is discussed here. If there is a great deal of interest in doing so, I will be happy to investigate such an option and how to protect the identities of site members. The second reason I have avoided doing so is due to concerns of moderation input. Again, I'm just one lone pharmacist running this website as a personal outlet in my free time, so it's not like I have a team available to work on such things, aside from my close confidantes that proofread and test features for me (thanks you all, you're amazing!).
So, if you've been around from the beginning, thank you so much for coming along for this ride so far with me. I hope you continue to stick around. If you're here for the first time, I'm glad to have you too. Please hop into the discussion below. I highly value all the comments, feedback, emails, and especially public discussion on the page. I think one of the greatest things we can do on this platform is create a community that can work towards our common goals of improving patient care and pharmacy worker safety, because our fight has just begun. We will need every single one of us to be engaged and aware if meaningful change is to be made possible.
Please leave a note below letting me know what you'd like to see more of in the next year, and thanks for coming by!
@betty Thank you so much for the affirmation! It means a great deal to me.
I love the idea of exactly that - I agree our services are valuable. At the present time however, the public doesn't seem to be aware of that. Since our services cannot be covered by Medicare without regulation changes pertaining to provider status for pharmacists, the only way we will be able to change this is exactly what you said - raise public awareness of what pharmacists can do. Unfortunately, we have already set the precedent in many cases that our services are free. How can we reverse the broad perception that our services are not valuable enough to pay for? My employer offered this…
PA - I applaud you for starting this discussion and for having the foresight to continue even when others appear to be silent. My guess is that even when you don't get many comments on your posts, you're making people think. Think about how to pharmacy practice better, how to get involved, how each of us can make a difference.
I'd like to see a discussion of ways we could put more patient care into community practice. And get paid for it. My pharmacy practice is very small, but I'm learning that when people find out that pharmacists can help them understand their meds and use them effectively, they're willing to pay what it's worth. If community pharmacies began advertising…