My Role in Pharmacoeconomics as a Pharmacist
I am a Public Health Pharmacist with nearly a decade of professional experience dedicated to serving marginalized communities at both national and subnational levels. Through my journey, I have come to aapreciate the evolving role of pharmacists in shaping the future of healthcare. Today, pharmacists are actively engaged in patient care, medication management, and driving public health initiatives. Their unique expertise in medication therapy and proximity to patients position them as vital players in addressing some of the world’s most critical health challenges, including chronic disease management, medication access and affordability, and medication safety.
Within the realm of my practice, Pharmacoeconomics holds a pivotal place. It represents a distinct subset of health economics that focuses on systematically and evidence-based evaluations of the economic value of pharmaceutical products and services. This approach allows us to assess the value of medications and identify the most cost-effective treatment options. In the public health sector, where resources are constrained, it becomes crucial to maximize the impact of available funding.
Throughout my career, I have had the privilege of participating in various programs that involved and required analysing the cost-effectiveness of different pharmaceutical interventions. In these endeavours, I have witnessed first-hand the importance of taking a comprehensive approach to these analyses, not just considering the immediate costs and benefits of a given treatment but also its long-term impact on patient outcomes and healthcare spending.
Allow me to delve into some key spheres of practice where pharmacists contribute significantly to Pharmacoeconomics:
- Identifying cost-effective treatments:
In the public health sector, the provision of medicines must adhere to the essential medicines concept, which involves providing quality medicines that meet the majority of a population’s health needs. I actively contributed to updating the essential medicines list of Zimbabwe (EDLIZ 8th Edition) published in 2020. This involved evaluating the cost-effectiveness of different medications and assessing their value in addressing the disease burden faced by our population.
- Managing drug formularies:
As a provincial pharmacist, I oversee hospital-specific formularies through the work of hospital medicines and therapeutics committees (HMTCs). This practice ensures that hospitals and clinics have safe, efficacious, and cost-effective medicines. By reducing medicine costs and ensuring patients have access to the medications they need, we contribute to improved health outcomes.
- Supporting healthcare decision-making:
One of my key areas of specialty and passion lies in the clinical and programmatic management of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis (DRTB). Within this complex and dynamic field, I closely collaborate with our National Tuberculosis Programme (NTP). In 2019, as part of an expert team, I played a pivotal role in reviewing our national guidelines for the clinical management of DRTB and subsequently implementing them. Pharmacoeconomic considerations played a crucial role in selecting the preferred medicine options for the SHORRT regimen and ensuring an optimal rollout process from older regimens that involved injectable medicines. Over the past four years, our collaboration with expert pharmacists has significantly improved the efficiency of the DRTB medicines supply chain management. This improvement has led to greater availability of medicines at treatment facilities, reduced stockout rates, decreased need for costly medicines redistribution, and ultimately, improved DRTB treatment outcomes.
Why are Pharmacists Key in Pharmacoeconomics?
Pharmacists are key players in Pharmacoeconomics due to their exceptional skill sets and deep knowledge. Their understanding of drug therapy, the healthcare system, medication management, clinical decision-making, and effective communication make them well-suited to evaluate the economic value of pharmaceutical interventions and contribute to the development of evidence-based healthcare policies.
Their expertise in the mechanisms of action, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of medications is essential for assessing the clinical effectiveness of drugs across diverse patient populations. Additionally, pharmacists possess comprehensive knowledge of the healthcare system, including the roles of various healthcare providers, drug formulary management, and healthcare financing. This broad understanding enables them to contextualize pharmacoeconomic analyses and identify opportunities to optimize medication use within the system.
Moreover, I have also come to appreciate that Pharmacists have a unique effective communication skillset, which is important for working collaboratively with other healthcare providers, presenting findings to decision-makers, and educating patients about the value of different healthcare interventions.
How can I become a Pharmacoeconomist?
This requires a combination of academic qualifications, practical experience, and specialized training in pharmacoeconomic analysis and health economics. A Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy (BPharm) or a Doctor of Pharmacy degree (PharmD), complemented by additional training in economics, statistics, public health, supply chain management, and health policy, forms a solid foundation. Advanced degrees, such as a Master’s or PhD in Health Economics, Pharmacy, or related fields, further enhance professional competencies.
Furthermore, practical experience in public healthcare or the pharmaceutical industry is invaluable for aspiring Pharmacoeconomists. Such experience provides individuals with the practical knowledge and skills necessary to conduct pharmacoeconomic analyses and apply the results to real-world healthcare challenges.
Key Links
- TB ECHO 25th Session, The supply Chain of DRTB medicines: A Case study of Kwekwe General Hospital, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1b1kVpDco8VkdHOo3wgnQb_eRboQc993X/view?usp=sharing
Written by:
Shaun Ryan Zisengwe,
Public Health Pharmacist
Zimbabwe