NIPCO, Pfizer launch men's health program

Drug Store News, Oct 8, 2001 by Diane West, Jim Frederick

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- The National Institute for Pharmacist Care Outcomes and Pfizer will announce the launch of a pharmacy-based "Men's Health" initiative next week.

Pfizer, maker of Norvasc (amlodipine besylate), a high blood pressure and angina drug, and Viagra (sildenafil citrate) for erectile dysfunction, gave NIPCO an unrestricted education grant to develop the program. The effort will include the creation of a NIPCO-accredited Men's Health Certificate Program.

The program hopes to provide community pharmacists with education and training to start a Men's Health Program at their respective pharmacies.

The National Community Pharmacists Association will launch the Men's Health Care Program at its 103rd Annual Convention, which is scheduled for Oct. 13-17 in Philadelphia. A symposium, "Improving Your Pharmacy's 'Fitness' Through a Men's Health Care Program," will be held Sunday, Oct. 14.

In addition to the certificate program, NIPCO and Pfizer are developing a men's health survey that pharmacists will give to their patients. Pharmacists then will evaluate the surveys and make recommendations for follow-up care with a physician based on the patient's survey score.

Related to the survey will be an outcomes study coordinated by the University of Oklahoma. The study will follow 400 patients in 20 community pharmacies nationwide. Pharmacists will receive personal digital assistants on which to record and receive reimbursement for patient counseling sessions. Researchers will seek to determine patients' likelihood to follow through with pharmacist recommendations and the effect on patient health. A community pharmacy-based educational outreach program for consumers also will support the initiative.