Alphega Pharmacy France and Spain - July 20, 2022

Teams from the French and Spanish Alphega Pharmacy teams, Alliance Healthcare’s leading European network of independent pharmacists, recently came together to create a rich and engaging program for the 8th French Alphega Pharmacy university conference.

With the theme of "Your new challenges: 100% patient focus", the event hosted in Seville saw a series of round tables, workshops and meetings with laboratory partners or services take place over two days.

The bi-annual event saw fifty French Alphega pharmacist delegates convene to network and have topical debates related to the role of pharmacy and developments in the pharmacist profession. It also provided the opportunity for the Alphega Pharmacy network to present new services to its members.

The extremely packed agenda included the following :

Society and consumption key note speech: what is the future for ‘bricks and mortar’ commerce?

Philippe Moati, professor at the University of Paris 7 and co-founder of the Observatoire Société et Consommation made a presentation enlightening pharmacists on the behavior of "new" consumers and raise awareness about how the pharmacy must adapt in this context.

Round Table discussion: the place of the pharmacist in the care pathway

During the round table "the place of the pharmacist in the care pathway", renowned experts Dr. Mario Di Palma from the Oncology Institute G. Roussy ; Raphaële de Vaumas, Experience and Patient Solutions from Novo Nordisk Laboratories and Julie Faine, President of Alphega Pharmacy discussed the new missions of the pharmacist. Speakers aimed to understand the evolution and extent of the role of the pharmacist in the context of the new Pharmaceutical Convention and to highlight avenues for pharamacists to get involved.

The evolution of the patient's care pathway and the expectations of doctors vis-à-vis pharmacists in the follow-up of chronic patients was also discussed with Dr. Di Palma,  Medical Ophthalmologist. A focus on biosimilars helped to illustrate business transformation and also the theme of eco-responsibility with the help of Novo Nordisk.

Specialist training and workshops

Members were able to attend various workshops offered around the main themes of the Pharmaceutical Convention. Delegates also undertook training during their time together and learnt about procedures, equipment required and all conditions to comply with when performing Rapid Diagnostic Orientation Tests (TROD) for angina for eligible patients in pharmacy. This very operational training was an opportunity to reiterate the major role of the pharmacist in the fight against antibiotic and antimicrobial resistance.

A key highlight of the conference and a fantastic example of markets sharing best practice and expertise was a Round Table discussion: The Digital Shift in Healthcare

A panel consisting of Xavier Vitry, DGS Delegate from Ségur de la Santé; Bertrand Carlier, Director of Regulatory Affairs from Smart RX ; Jonathan Atlani, Co-founder of Sivan and also Isabel Galán, a Spanish Alphega Pharmacy Member took part in a discussion considering the impacts of digitalisation on the everyday lives of pharmacists and importantly, the need to embrace the opportunities that introducing digital technology can bring to the field of pharmacy. 

Digital technology and digitalization in pharmacies are facilitators to streamline the exchange and sharing of health data between health professionals, to save time on administration, to strengthen access to doctors for patients and thus allow pharmacists and their teams to be available to their patients.

Galán, a local Seville pharmacist, gave a first-hand testimony of the benefits to be gained from telemedicine and outlined the advantages that the implementation of the Alphega Salud services has brought for his pharmacy.  He spoke of how this service has enabled patients to obtain a first diagnosis online, by video conference, with a medical specialist through the computer, mobile or tablet.

As explained by the owner, "when the pandemic began, we realized that we needed to offer patients with access to a ‘doctor like’ healthcare professional directly through the pharmacy and especially to meet the initial demand for antigen tests. After several months with the advantages of Alphega Salud, we have seen a new form of patient loyalty, based on a more complete relationship with the client which is more reliable and at the same time, we have developed a new way of offering our services in a more personalized way, "said Galán.

These two days made it possible to discuss the future missions of the pharmacist following the 2022 Pharmaceutical Convention, to decipher them, to measure the stakes and to motivate Alphega Pharmacy members to get involved in the new opportunities of patient services. 

"Alphega Pharmacy supports its member pharmacists and provides them with turnkey solutions to succeed in the transformation of the pharmacist profession: new logistics and  digital services  and solutions for the benefit of both the pharmacy team and the patient-consumer" says  Sophie Rey, Director of Alphega Pharmacy in France.

Elvira Mayoral, Director of Alphega Pharmacy in Spain continued “pharmacy must adapt to new contexts to remain a critical centre of healthcare and lead in the adoption of innovation to meet the needs of the population".  We are delighted that we have been able to share the experience of one of our members with our counterparts in France.”

Feedback from the pharmacists was positive with attendees saying ‘the event was so successful and can’t wait to be at the next one’, ‘excellent plenary, high quality speakers and very good practice the next day with very successful training’ and ‘the bar is high for the next Universities!’.

As a business striving for continuous improvement and constantly seeking new ways to create value to its members, this cross market collaboration and liaison is sure to continue amongst the ten Alphega Pharmacy markets.