Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome to Real Medicine real lives. I'm Dr. Yasser Sambal, and together we're showing medical expertise in a human way.
Hello, everybody, and welcome to Real Medicine, Real Lives. I'm your host, Dr. Yasser Sombal. And today I want to begin with something that affects almost every family at some point, which is called medication confusion. A patient may leave a doctor's office with a prescription, pick it up at the pharmacy, read the label, search online, hear a warning from a friend, and suddenly feel overwhelmed. What is this medication really for? What side effects matter? What should I not be mixed? What should I ask before I take it? This is where real medicine has to become real life. Because healthcare is not just about prescribing treatment. It's about helping people understand the treatment clearly enough to use it safely and confidently.
Today, my guest, Ross Fan, founder of Offscript Consults. She's a board certified clinical pharmacist with experience across multiple pharmacy settings, personalized health consultations, career coaching, business consulting, and medical writing focused on digital health publications and medical communication.
She brings a rare combination of clinical knowledge, communication skills, real world patient understanding, and today, we're going to talk about how patients can move from confusion to clarity when it comes to medications, health information and everyday care decisions.
Ross, thank you so much for coming to the show today. Welcome to Real Medicines in Real Lives.
[00:01:27] Speaker B: Well, thank you for having me.
[00:01:29] Speaker A: Great. So as we begin, I want everyone to watch and, you know, to think about last time you were handed a prescription, a lab result, a diagnosis, a medical instruction and thought, I understand some of this, but not all of it. And that moment really matters. Today we're going to talk about how to ask better questions, how to understand medications more and clearly, how to become a more confident partner in your own health care.
So we're going to start this by looking at, you know, medication clarity from a patient's point of view. For many people, the problem is not they don't care about their health. The problem is that medical information can feel rushed, technical, fragmented or intimidating. Medications may be necessary, but if patients do not understand why they're taking them, how to take them and what to watch for, when to ask for help, treatment can become stressful instead of empowering.
So we're going to start off this segment with the most common medication misunderstandings, the role of the pharmacist in patient education, and how clear communication can help people feel safer, calmer and more prepared.
So tell us when patients come to you with medications questions, where do you begin to see, you know, confusion begin?
[00:02:40] Speaker B: I Believe it often starts with gaps in knowledge or understanding, likely due to a mismatch in communication preferences or methods.
We may think that we're communicating appropriately, but everyone actually learns information differently. They inhale knowledge differently, and then there's a mismatch there.
For example, I sometimes notice confusion right from the start. When I talk with some patients. I would ask them about a medication, and then they might actually ask me. They identify it by color. So they asked me, what color is it? You know, or when I ask them, hey, what do you take this medication for? What did your prescriber tell you that this medication is for? And they will tell me that they don't know. They just said that they were told to take it, so they take it, and it's in their pillbox by their spouse, so they take it.
[00:03:34] Speaker A: Gotcha. That color thing is really interesting because people tell me that, you know, in the clinic all the time, I'm like, are you still taking this pill? And they'll be like, I don't know, what color is it? And I'm like, I actually have no idea what color the pill is, so I couldn't really tell you. So.
But yeah, I agree. And so what should every patient understand before starting a new medication?
[00:03:55] Speaker B: So for starting medications, there are some important things that I believe that everyone should understand.
Like I mentioned earlier, why is this medication? What is this medication for? Or maybe I think the more appropriate question is why is it important to take this medication? Right. And then, of course, how to take it. For example, is it daily, how often, with or without food, things to avoid with it. I also think common side effects are also good to let patients know about so they're not completely scared if certain common side effects happen right away, letting them know maybe when they might notice it go away, or when to actually seek medical attention if things get worse, if there are any interactions with their current meds or whether, you know, the interaction is something to be worried about or not. But again, still, letting them know what to look out for.
And of course, if they're taking any new medications at all, emphasizing how important it is to let their healthcare team know.
[00:05:03] Speaker A: I'm really glad you brought up side effects and, you know, common side effects versus people get this big insert, right. Whenever they get a medication that has so many different side effects. And maybe you can, as a pharmacist, kind of, you know, help people understand why every medication has this long list of pharmacists and what's required by pharmaceutical companies, for example, when they put these drugs out and the list of side effects that get, you know, listed with those drugs, why is there so many and what's required by them? So they understand the difference between common side effects and what pharmaceutical companies are required to do when they're putting a medication on the market.
[00:05:47] Speaker B: Sure. So for any medication to be approved as a prescription, it needs to be approved by the fda. And in order to do that, it requires a clinical trial. Right. And in the clinical trial, the medication that you're taking is likely being compared by, with either a placebo, which is almost like a sugar pill, looks almost similar to the medication, but doesn't have anything in it, or it could be something that is comparable to this medication, but definitely not the same thing. But either way, there's a list of side effects that these study participants can experience, and they all need to be documented down. And then of course, they get documented by, you know, the percentage of the patients who experience it. And that's why the list can be pretty long, because patients or the study participants can also get, can also experience side effects from the placebo as well. Right. And within, they need to make those comparisons too.
And then some of the medications, of course, this, some of the more severe things or the rare ones might not be noticed until after the medication gets approved. So that's like post marketing surveillance. And then those get added in later as well.
[00:07:07] Speaker A: And so when people are looking at these lists, what do you emphasize to them as far as side effects in the medications?
[00:07:17] Speaker B: Sure. So like I mentioned, I emphasize the more common ones. Right. So that means that a higher percentage of patients tend to experience these side effects when they first take it within the first couple weeks. And then I emphasize things that are, that can be worrisome. I try not to go.
I list the ones that can be very worrisome that requires medical attention.
So for example, let's do something simple like an antibiotic. I would usually let them know that, hey, you know, with this antibiotic you might experience, you know, some GI upset, like some stomach upset, some nausea, some vomiting.
Maybe taking it with food would help. So I always try to tell them like some next steps to maybe alleviate the side effects. But then like for another medication, like let's say lamotrigine, for example, I would let them know about the severe side effect of a skin rash. Right, that's, that's pretty severe. They experience a skin rash with this medication, and that should require medical attention right away. So in the end, it's definitely up to clinical judgment to decide what to provide to the Patient because the last thing we want is to overwhelm them to the point where they don't want to take it at all.
[00:08:42] Speaker A: Gotcha.
Why can it become dangerous when people stop, skip, restart or combine medications without any guidance?
[00:08:51] Speaker B: So I think for me, since I'm a pharmacist, I definitely have some examples in mind. So I'm going to provide some different medication examples. For example, one medicine is omeprazole. Right? That medication, most people are probably familiar with it, it's a proton pump inhibitor. It's usually used long term, or I shouldn't say long term, but some people do use it long term for reflux. If you stop that cold turkey, for example, your reflux can come back with a vengeance.
So that's not good, right? That's very. Reflux is already uncomfortable. It coming back a lot worse makes is unpleasant.
Even another medication like Baclofen, most people see it as a muscle relaxer. They think they should only take it every once in a while when they need it. But if that medication has been taking for a long time and stopping that cold turkey, your spasms can actually also come back with a vengeance as well. So these type of medications, you actually need to slowly taper it over time to make sure that the side effects don't come back.
Like I said, with a vengeance.
[00:10:01] Speaker A: Gotcha. No, I completely agree.
And so what does medication confidence look like for a patient in everyday life?
[00:10:10] Speaker B: So confidence for everyday life, how it looks like to me is I think them making sure that they notice that they can take control of their life instead of letting the medical condition take control of them.
For example, they don't let it.
They still feel a sense of achievement.
Yes, they do have to take this medication every day, but they don't let it become a reason that prevents them from doing the things that they love.
So I believe that that is one way I've noticed that confidence. I've seen that in real life. Of course, they also are proud of it. Proud of themselves too. They will show off to you. For example, I have a patient come up to me and they would say something like, hey Ross, I used your. Your diet handout. I was able to lose weight. That was definitely a goal of mine.
My doctors noticed that my lab values are at goal. I wanted to decrease the medications I'm taking since it looks like my diabetes are getting better controlled with diet, exercise. My doctors told me they're actually considering it. Right. So they show off to me, which feels great.
[00:11:26] Speaker A: Gotcha. Alright, so you know what? This reminds us of is that medication safety does not begin only with prescription. It begins with understanding. And when patients know what they're taking and why they're taking it and what questions to ask, they're no longer passive participants in their care. So we're going to take a little short break and we're going to come back. We're going to talk about the pharmacist role as a patient advocate and why the pharmacy counter can be one of the most important access points in healthcare. So stay tuned everybody. We'll be back with Ross Fan to talk more about this.
Stick with us. We'll be right back with more real stories, real breakthroughs and real lives transformed.
And we're back. I'm Dr. Yasser Sombol. Let's dive right back into today's medical conversation.
Hello everybody and welcome back to Real Medicine, Real Lives. You want to stay connected to this show and every NOW Media tv, favorite show, live or on demand, anytime you like, Download the free Now Media TV app on ROKO or iOS and unlock non stop bilingual programming in English and in Spanish on the move. Catch the podcast version at www.nowmedia.tv. from business and news to lifestyle and culture and beyond, NOW Media TV is streaming around the clock. Ready whenever you are.
Alright, so I'm continuing my conversation with Ross Fan, the founder of Off Script Consult. And now I want to focus on something many people underestimate, the pharmacist as a patient advocate. Pharmacists are often one of the most accessible healthcare professionals in patients lives. They see medication lists, dosing patterns, refill habits, drug interactions, patient concerns, and sometimes the questions people were too nervous or too rushed to ask elsewhere.
So in this segment we're going to look at how pharmacists help protect patients from preventable problems, how they support communication between patients and the healthcare system, and why patients should feel empowered to use their pharmacists as part of their care team.
Ross, welcome back to the show.
So when you think about the pharmacist role, what do you wish more patients understood beyond simply picking up a prescription from you guys?
[00:13:37] Speaker B: Yes. I'm glad you asked this question.
I would like for them to not think of it as so transactional.
I wish that they know that we can be a resource to them.
So for example, we can be an advocate and a liaison to help patients reach their health goals, whether that is increasing their understanding or saving money, coordinating with their other clinicians as well.
[00:14:06] Speaker A: Gotcha. And so what are the most common issues pharmacists can catch before they become Serious problems for patients.
[00:14:13] Speaker B: I think we hinted a little bit about it earlier, but of course, interactions, right, we can catch that before it becomes a serious problem if we notice the new medication interacts with the medications that's already on the list.
This is why I encourage patients to usually stick with one pharmacy because then that means that their medication list is definitely accurate.
Then we can contact the prescriber and let them know that, hey, kidney doctor prescribed this, heart doctor prescribed this. And you know, there's an interaction and ask for next steps or advice.
Of course, we can also catch other things too, like missing medication. For example, after a patient gets discharged from the hospital with the heart attack, there's a list of medications that should be started.
This is also same thing with heart failure. And once in a while a medication is missed on the discharge list and then we can make sure that the medication gets added on and the patient doesn't have any gaps in therapy there.
So those are a couple of examples.
[00:15:19] Speaker A: Gotcha. And so how can patients use the pharmacy or the pharmacist, I should say, more effectively as part of their health care team.
[00:15:29] Speaker B: So I think it's more like a mindset change. So when they think of pharmacists as a less, less transactional then, and think of them more as an advocate or a liaison, then they can start using them more effectively.
[00:15:46] Speaker A: Gotcha. And so let's kind of elaborate on that. So tell me, for example, when patients come to you to pick up medications and you're running through the list of medicines that they're on, and how do you, I mean, I guess how can pharmacists be more interactive with patients, physicians in general, in order to help better coordinate medications, things like that. And what, what role do you play in that?
[00:16:14] Speaker B: Sure. So I think for me personally, I noticed that my role comes to something even as simple as saving money. Right. Everyone loves to save money. And patients don't realize that that's something pharmacists can do.
So when I was managing an independent pharmacy, what I actually did was patient told me they were struggling to, to be able to get this medication. They have to decide between that and other things that they need day to day. And then I would tell them something like, did you know that the manufacturer might have a program for you? You'll have to fill out some forms, here's a website. And then they go to it, they fill out the form, and then a week or two later they told me, hey, I got approved. Thank you so much for letting me know about that. I didn't even know that existed.
So, for example, just something like that.
Other things that I believe that we've been able to help patients out with is as long as they tell us what goals they want, health goals wise, we will try to help them.
For example, I gave an example earlier about a patient wanting to take less medications. That was their goal, and I found a way to help them reach that goal.
Other patients, they would like to take more natural medications, and I help them make sure that they are doing that safely with their current medical conditions and their prescription medications.
[00:17:40] Speaker A: I'm glad you brought up the cost of, you know, saving on prescriptions and so forth. You know, as a, as a healthcare provider, I mean, I get a lot of people that come into my office obviously promoting, you know, medications and asking us to prescribe things and so forth. And, you know, my general rule is if it's what fits with my guidelines or my practice, that's what I do. And if it's not, it's not.
You know, I get a lot of conversations with people that are like, oh, yeah, this medication is really well covered. I mean, obviously take Medicare out of the mix, because that's a whole different ball game. But in general, when we're talking about commercial insurances, etc.
And surprisingly enough, you know, the patients will come back and say, you know, this medication was really expensive.
And so can you tell us the difference between. Because I think patients really should understand this, the difference between what insurance decides to cover versus, I'm assuming pharmacies has a role in how they set prices for the prescriptions that they sell, etc. So I think, so patients understand the dynamics of how that works. Because I have patients that will, you know, come and say to me, for example, Berlantha is a drug that always, I get told, you know, it's really well covered by Insurance, it's $18 a month by commercial insurance, et cetera, which I don't really know the truth or not. And then I'll have patients come back and say, well, this drug cost me $300 a month. You know, and so I don't really know how to, how to explain that to people. Maybe you can elaborate on that more.
[00:19:10] Speaker B: Yeah, sure. I think that's a great question. That's definitely another way that I think pharmacists are able to save money.
Not all, not, not all pharmacies do this, though. But, but let me start with the beginning of your question. I think you asked how the whole pricing thing works.
So pharmacies work with different Wholesalers, most of them, tend to work with only one. This is where I think for independent pharmacies, a little hint, I would say don't be loyal to just one wholesaler, you know, actually use more than one. So then it helps with negotiating. Negotiating.
Of course, if you also join some type of co op as well, that helps with negotiation of prices to get the wholesaler to decrease how much it actually costs the independent pharmacy to buy the medications. But then after that, it's also insurance comes into play as well too. Insurance sets certain prices. So like you mentioned, someone claims overall that this Bry lenta medication costs $18 across the board. Not true. It really depends on everyone's insurance. And every company insur insurance company also have different plans. Right. Which makes things more complicated.
So when what my team did was in the past, what we would do is we would run the prescription through, let the patient know the cost, and if it does look like it's going to be pretty expensive, we actually ask them if they're okay with us contacting the prescriber for them and we would run the prescription, run another like clopidogrel for example through and see if it's less expensive if it's preferred by the insurance company. If we notice that the price is different and the patient is okay with this potential change, we contact the prescriber and ask if they would consider this to help the patient stay adherent due to cost problems or cost issues or concerns. And that's actually how we usually do it, to help patients save money, but also can can start and stay on their treatment.
[00:21:17] Speaker A: You must know, I'm a cardiologist. I'm glad you brought up clopidogrel because that's a drug I prescribe on a regular basis. And you know, I always assumed clopidogrel is generic. Right. And so at this point, because when I was first started, you know, working clopidogrel was not generic and it was the only anti platelet therapy we had on the market. And you know, it was 200 to $300 a month for people to take it and they couldn't wait to get off of it. Right. Because it was expensive.
And so can you give us an idea of is there a standard in pharmacies for what generic medicines cost or is that also a price that differs from pharmacy to pharmacy? Because I've had people come and say, well, Michael Pitter girl is like $40 a month. Which is surprising to me because I'm like, well, it's a generic medicine And I always thought generic medicines are like five bucks a month, you know, but I don't really know. So can you maybe explain to people how generic medicines are priced as well?
[00:22:11] Speaker B: Sure. So generic medicines unfortunately is also priced differently from pharmacy to pharmacy as well. And partly is because again, insurance comes into play. Right. Where the insurance would have a network of pharmacies that they prefer or don't prefer. And so let's say that clopidogrel at one pharmacy actually could be, like you said, less expensive. It could be $5, but then the patient prefers to go to this other pharmacy and unfortunately, pharmacy is considered out of network. Right. And that, that increases the price. I think you've noticed almost everything has tiers when it comes to insurance. And if you're on the appropriate tier, you can save money. If you're on the non preferred tiers, it can be more expensive.
[00:22:56] Speaker A: Gotcha. All right, well, so what's become clear is that pharmacists are not just connected to medication. They're connected to safety, access, communication and trust. And for many patients, that guidance can make the difference between feeling overwhelmed and feeling supported. So we're going to take a little short break and when we come back, we're going to look at the digital health information online medical content and how patients can protect themselves from confusion and misinformation. So hang out. We'll be right back in a couple minutes.
Stick with us. We'll be right back with more real stories, real breakthroughs and real lives trans transformed.
And we're back. I'm Dr. Yasser Sombol. Let's dive right back into today's medical conversation.
Welcome back to Real Medicine, Real Lives. I'm here with Ross Phan, founder of Off Script Consults. And now I want to talk about the place where many healthcare decisions begin, the Internet. People search symptoms, they compare medications, they watch videos, they read posts, they scroll through medical wellness claims, medical opinions, patient stories, and sometimes information that sounds confident but is not clinically reliable.
Digital health can be powerful, but can also be very confusing. The question is not whether people will search for health information.
The question is how it will help them interpret the information wisely, safely and with the right medical guidance. So if you've ever searched for a symptom online and ended up more anxious than informed, this segment's for you. Health information should help people ask better questions, not push them into fear, self diagnosis or unsafe decisions.
So we're back with Ross Vaughn and we're going to talk with her about as well as medical, she's A medical about her medical about her work as a medical writer and reviewer with a focus on digital health publications and medical communications.
This segment explores the tension between access and accuracy.
Patients have more information than ever, but more information doesn't always mean better and more better understanding. And Ross can help with us unpack how the medical content should be created, reviewed, consumed, and how patients can use online health resources without replacing professional care. The goal is not to shame people for searching. The goal is to help them search smarter, ask better questions, and know when to bring that information back to a qualified healthcare provider professional.
So Ross, thanks for bringing this topic up because I think this is really, really important. And you know, in the digital era, the Internet now, artificial intelligence with, you know, chat GPT and people asking things questions and it just spits out information to them.
And you know, I tell people all the time, you know, I appreciate Dr. Google, but Dr. Google doesn't have healthcare experience. You know, he's just spitting out information that's put into it.
And so when you look at health information online today, what concerns you the most as a pharmacist and as a medical communicator to people?
[00:25:59] Speaker B: I'm sure, I think you definitely hinted at some of it is misinformation, I think is my biggest fear.
And of course sources as well. Right. Like you said, chatgpt, all this AI, it spit out all this information. But what I've come to learn when I talk with other users of AI, for example, they rarely ask for the sources of like, of like just, just say hey chatgpt, please always list the sources you use when you give me an answer, for example, because they can actually totally do that. And then you can look through the sources, make sure that it's reliable, legitimate. And then you can also try, if you want to go another step further, you can also go in and look if there's any hallucination, any misinterpretation because we as well as humans and you know, we also have misinterpret things before.
So yeah, hopefully that answers your question.
[00:26:58] Speaker A: And so how can patients tell the difference between content that's actually educational content that may be misleading or incomplete,
[00:27:09] Speaker B: just don't take its word for it, the AI's word or anything you look up.
And even with people I talk to these days, I always ask them, where, where did you find this? Was this Insta news? It's what I always joke about. I'm like, is this insta science? And then I'm like, okay, not saying that insta science and Insta News is always incorrect. But, you know, did they like list their sources for you? Right. If you put a comment and ask for their sources, did they respond back where they got this information?
And then, so I always go a step further. That's what I always do. Now when I talk with everyone, I'm like, I need to know your sources. I need to look at it. Because if it's just something like, how can I say just a story from someone not saying that that's always illegitimate. That's like n equals 1, right? My science brain kicks in. That's not enough data for me to create a trend and rely completely that this is factual.
[00:28:11] Speaker A: Yeah, no, I mean, it can be really difficult as a healthcare provider who, you know, has a foundation of several years of not only clinical experience, you know, book experience, schooling, etc. Trying to really explain to people and break it down in a way where they understand it and, you know, differentiate between something you read online versus something that's actually used in practical medicine. Because, you know, not everything that we read online is how we practice or how we implement things. And I think that's, you know, I have a patient, God bless his soul, young guy, you know, who just kept coming to me with all the stuff he was reading on Google. And I finally had to one day say, look, if you bring one more thing from Google for me, I'm going to send you to see Dr. Google himself because I can't answer these questions anymore. You know, and that wasn't trying to be inconsiderate, but it was more of a.
You kind of run yourself in a loop. And that loop can make be dangerous for patients, in my opinion, because they just don't really understand the information. It would be like me going to my lawyer with a bunch of stuff I read online about how the law works. And that's just not how it happens.
So why does medical writing need to be both accurate and understandable for real people?
[00:29:34] Speaker B: Like you mentioned with your patient, he is using this information to make decisions about his health.
If it's not understandable or accurate, we're pretty much setting them up for failure. That's why I feel like a medical writer. It's a very important responsibility to make sure that we're interpreting our sources correctly. We shouldn't be misinterpreting it or twisting it with our own opinion without having any disclaimer that it is our opinion here.
[00:30:07] Speaker A: And so would you, in your opinion, say it may be better if these medical writers wrote this stuff down in
[00:30:15] Speaker B: a
[00:30:17] Speaker A: what's the word I'm looking for. Maybe a more simpler form for people to understand. And should there be a lot more disclaimers when people are writing this stuff to say please go seek medical advice from a professional without taking this information with a grain of salt?
[00:30:34] Speaker B: Yes, I agree with you. I do think that there should be a little disclaimer. I think if you look at my writing, you'll see it at the bottom every time. It's like please do not make any changes to your medications, your treatment plan without talking with your clinician team, your clinical team.
Then I always the sources are linked or they're listed at the bottom too so that then people can verify how I came up with these conclusions, if any assumptions are made. Because I had to extrapolate anything and it's not all from like the same article, for example, it was two different articles and there's a little bit of, you know, assumptions or extrapolation that's made. I also try to, you know, include that information as well. So people knew how I came up with a certain conclusion. But you know, like you said, with a grain of salt, Right?
[00:31:30] Speaker A: Yep. And so what should someone do when online health information seems to conflict? You know, it conflicts with what I tell them or you tell them.
What do you advise people to do in that situation?
[00:31:42] Speaker B: So I advise them to talk with their provider or their pharmacist. Right.
The thing is that health information is out there and it's supposed to be helpful, but it should not completely substitute or take over and be the end all for your whole health journey. It shouldn't substitute you, for example.
So if anyone have concerns or doubts, they should ask.
If you don't ask, then you don't get an answer. Right. So if you have a question, do ask.
[00:32:16] Speaker A: Gotcha. And how can digital health content help patients become better prepared without encouraging them to self diagnose or self treat?
[00:32:27] Speaker B: Yeah. So sometimes I think that health information helps people become less overwhelmed so they can learn things on their own terms, on their own time. Because like you mentioned, sometimes when they receive a diagnosis, for example, in the doctor's office, or that it's very overwhelming for them and they're too scared at the moment to ask. They don't even know what this condition is. But when they go home, they learn about it on their own now they feel a little bit more confident and they know what they don't know so that they can ask the questions during their next visit.
Like I mentioned, it should supplement their health journey, not completely replace it. Replace their Clinician.
[00:33:16] Speaker A: How often, for example, in your field? I mean, I run into it a lot. But how often in your field do people come to you and tell you things about medications that, for example, they read about it online, A friend of them told them, you know, hey, I took, I get this all the time about statin drugs. I mean, that's probably the biggest one that people come to me about. You know, obviously the muscle aches issue. You know, if you look at the clinical data, it'll tell you about 1% of patients may have, you know, the muscle side effects or the aches and pains.
Whereas I think in clinical practice it's probably about 40%. Right. And there's a lot of people that complain about that. And so how do you, how do you tell people to look at the, look at that, for example, and you know, be able to alleviate their concern about taking a medication like that, that has good clinical data, that has good background and be comfortable taking it despite what they're reading online?
[00:34:16] Speaker B: No, I think that's a great question.
So I think one of the things that goes a long way, definitely don't completely dismiss what they are going through.
It is at that moment, their truth. That's what they're experiencing. So I do try to ask them some more questions to see what's going on. So for example, if I notice going through their medication list, if they're taking Simvastatin and Amlodipine, for example, and the Simvastatin is actually higher than 20 milligrams, maybe it is true they are definitely experiencing muscle aches because of this interaction that happens sometimes. Maybe working with them to try to get their buy in. Like for example, saying, hey, why don't we switch you to another statin?
There's a little bit of data out there that says some statins are more fat soluble than others.
So switching from one to the other may help. And of course, maybe just slowly, you know, negotiating. Right. And slowly helping them taper the medications, increasing the dose slowly over time that that may, may help increase buy in as well that we're working with them.
[00:35:30] Speaker A: Okay, can you just take about, you know, 20 seconds and just tell people where they can find you and tell them a little about your pharmacy?
[00:35:37] Speaker B: Yeah, sure. So they can, they can definitely find me online. I work remotely.
So you can find me on my website, which is off script. I think you have my website there. Thank you. With the word consults at the end. C O N S u l t s.com again, that's offscriptconsults.com you can also find me on social media too.
A lot of my social media handles is Ross, which is my first name and underscore the word off script. So any social media accounts you can probably find me on, I'm definitely More active on LinkedIn but if you want you can definitely find me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and threads. So my, my Instagram is, is definitely vetted so my Insta Noose and Insta Sciences as I definitely do my research if someone wants to go and try to find my content that way.
And of course you can always email me as well on my website. You can find my, my email there to reach out to me.
[00:36:42] Speaker A: Great. All right, so what I really appreciate about this conversation is it gives people permission to be curious but also careful. Online health information can be a starting point, but should never become the entire care plan. We're going to take a short break, we're going to come back and we're going to close this conversation with personalized health consultation, career purposes in pharmacy, and how Roz is helping patients, both professionally, find more clarity.
Stick with us. We'll be right back with more real stories, real breakthroughs and real lives transformed.
And we're back. I'm Dr. Yasser Sombol. Let's dive right back into today's medical conversation.
Welcome back everybody to Real medicine, real lives and every Are you enjoying the show? Want to catch more of these shows and other shows on live or on demand anytime you like? Download the free Now Media TV app on ROKO or iOS and unlock nonstop bilingual programming in English and Spanish. Are you on the move? Catch the podcast version at www.nowmedia.tv. from business to news and lifestyle, culture and beyond, Now Media TV is streaming around the clock. Ready whenever you are. Alright, so I'm going to close this conversation with the founder of Off Scripts, Ross Phan.
And we want to take a look at the bigger and full picture of her work together. She supports patients through personalized health consultations, helps pharmacy professionals through career coaching, offers business consulting, and contributes clear medical communication through writing and review. The combination matters because healthcare does not happen in only one place. It happens in clinics, pharmacies, homes, screens, conversations, careers and daily decisions. This final segment is going to be about empowerment. How do patients become better prepared? How do healthcare professionals reconnect with purpose? How do we make medical information feel less intimidating and more useful? And how do we keep the human being at the center of the healthcare conversation?
So, Ross, when somebody comes to you for a personalized health consultation, what are they usually hoping to understand and get more clarity on and more information.
[00:38:55] Speaker B: Sure. So I noticed that they usually have a goal in mind and they're pretty blunt with me.
They'll just share it with me.
So someone would come and ask me why, for example, their healthcare provider did not let them decrease their Pixaban dose even though they requested for this.
And I apologize, the brand name for Apixaben is eliquest.
The other thing they might actually tell me is they just received their genetics test result. Even though someone has already tried to explain it to them, they're still very confused.
So they will ask me to try to help them better explain this to them.
Other people would also ask me, hey, why is nothing working for my condition? What can I do?
And another question, of course that I keep mentioning over and over is definitely natural medications. There's been definitely an increased interest on how to safely combine prescription medicines and natural medicines.
[00:39:55] Speaker A: And so how can patients better prepare when they come to see you or come to see their doctor or any sort of consultant, get better prepared with better questions before meeting them?
[00:40:06] Speaker B: Sure. So I think we definitely mentioned it a little bit earlier, but definitely if they want, learning beforehand is totally fine.
They just need to make sure their sources are reliable and prepare a list of questions. Sometimes the list can be very long though. Right. We all have a lot of questions, especially if this is not our specialty.
So I would like to encourage them to focus on their top three things or questions that they would like to achieve at that visit. And then at the end they can share maybe the next few things that they would like to achieve during the next visit. And it would help the clinician be able to prepare for the next visit as well.
Of course, I keep reemphasizing this. Don't be afraid to ask questions or else you won't get an answer. But the other thing also is if the question, the answer is overwhelming, please speak up. Right. Ask the clinician to explain things in a different way because everyone learns and inhales information differently. And if you share how you lear information best, like if you're a visual person, for example, things like that, then that would actually the clinician can learn and adapt to you because they. They want you to succeed as well, but they need to know how you prefer to.
To. To learn this information.
[00:41:32] Speaker A: Great.
And so what have you learned from coaching, you know, pharmacy colleagues about burnout, reinvention and professional purposes?
[00:41:40] Speaker B: Purposes, sure. So I've learned that it's more like it gets re emphasized that pharmacy colleagues are humans too. Right. They're successful, but they can also experience self doubt just like any of our patients and our caregivers.
So I've learned that all of my colleagues have the knowledge and skills all along and I share this with them. And once I am able to pick out certain examples of their current experience that they've shared with me and how it's transferable and relevant to an unfamiliar setting that they want to transition to, or in unfamiliar situations, you can actually see like a light bulb that goes off and then you know, the eyes start to sparkle and they get a lot more motivated and realize that this is possible.
[00:42:33] Speaker A: And you know, how does your work in consulting, pharmacy and medical communication all connect under the mission of off script consults?
[00:42:45] Speaker B: Sure. So I started off script consults because I wanted to create something of my own where I can dictate what services that I feel is important, that needs more attention, where I can have more of a positive impact.
I also wanted to be in charge of my own schedule and achieve better work, life alignment.
I also have a passion for education, wellness and writing. And off script consults allow me to do all of these things.
And what I've noticed is a lot of people also want to achieve these things as well. Right. They have their own goals and I can help them achieve their goals as well. And sometimes from personal stories of what I've been through or what my brother has been through, he's also very inspiring as well.
And stories from other people too.
And it gets the their blood pumping, right. And it gets them want to want to achieve their goals.
[00:43:42] Speaker A: Gotcha.
And you know what's a practical habit viewers can start using today to feel more confident, more organized in their healthcare decisions.
[00:43:53] Speaker B: So I believe we also hinted at this earlier too, but a change in mindset, right? Viewing a pharmacist as less transactional. And all clinicians actually, instead of seeing any clinician as being out of reach, see them as more being more in reach. And I think that helps that mindset helps you realize that they are there for you and they're meant to be there to help you. And of course, like I mentioned, let's see, this is their life. So they don't need permission from anyone but themselves. They need to take control of it. And then after they take control of it, will realize any doubts that they have any doubting voices, it just gets quieter, it doesn't matter as much.
And of course I am always encouraging for them to learn more and bring bring their questions to their clinician and focus on top three things just Do a few things at a time. Don't try to overwhelm yourself. I guess that's the best practical thing they can do, right, is don't overwhelm yourself. Focus on three things at a time.
[00:45:08] Speaker A: Yeah, that's true. And so tell us, you know what, what made you get into this? You know, this part of it, the medical writing and the consulting and you know, not just pharmacy and you know, just, you know, giving people pills and things like that. I mean what, what inspired you to do the other part of this?
[00:45:27] Speaker B: Sure. So I, when I was in pharmacy school, I was actually debating about pursuing the PharmD PhD program and so the dual degree. But then I decided not to. I decided not to continue with the PhD part of it. A part of me still misses it a little bit. But I think maybe you might have noticed at this point I'm a little bit more interactive and a people person and hearing the HPLC machine click away, things like that, I definitely needed more interaction. So I decided to stick with pharmacy. But a part of me still missed the writing part, the analyzing, gathering data, analyzing data, noticing trends, things like that. And that's as you can see, how the medical communication comes in hand.
But when I got out of pharmacy school, if I wanted to pursue anything more than like you mentioned, just dispensing medications, it looks like I had to do residency at that point. So a part of me have always wondered, can I do all the things I love with my PharmD? No residency, no PhD training.
And so I've learned how to. That's how I started working at different pharmacy settings was I showcase myself as a person with all these knowledge that can be transferable or translatable to the position or opportunity at hand. And I am convincing. So, you know, the, the person who interviews me gives me a chance, right? And then people started asking me about my journey, how did I do all this? And then that's when I was like, okay, maybe I should also do coaching because people ask me, how did you do this? And I want to do it too.
[00:47:12] Speaker A: Gotcha. And just, you know, if you take a minute, one more time, I just want to go back over, you know, cost and drug medications to close it out. And if you can give people, I know you mentioned, you know, the pharmacy or not the pharmacy, the pharmaceutical company as, you know, ways to help people, you know, be able to get medications that are expensive. What are other, just some other resources people may or may not be aware about. I mean obviously we see things like goodrx etc how helpful are these things and is there other things like that so people can just kind of plan ahead before they come to the pharmacy?
[00:47:45] Speaker B: Sure. So there's something other than the pharmaceutical company. There's also something called needymeds as well. You can look and search for your medications and when you do that they will actually tell you everything that's available to you. They'll give you a list of the pharmaceutical company.
They will also give you things like RX Outreach as a which is a non profit pharmacy that helps people who where their insurance isn't covering their medications or they don't have insurance at all. There's other patient assistant programs out there too and these programs, they actually are usually based off of the medical condition you have. A lot of these programs though do keep in mind you do have to actually apply for it once a year.
And when you apply you need to make sure you meet the eligibility criteria and things like that. And that's where probably the pharmacist can come in and help you. Because all of these forms can be very intimidating, all of this information, but the pharmacist can read through it real quick, quick fill it out in half the time that you yourself is filling it out and that can be part of the consultation and then they can even submit it for you, talk to the program coordinator for you or the manufacturer for you and make sure that you're getting your medications delivered to your door at little to no cost.
Like you mentioned, there is Goodrx. There's also other things as well, such as pharmacychecker.com that one is for certain patients who for example their insurance don't cover their brand name medication at all and it's the only thing available. Right. Like for example you mentioned Plavix a long time ago. That was the only antiplatelet available and there was no generic for it. Yet there's no other alternatives.
Or let's say a patient has no insurance at all.
That's also one other resource that can be used. It's been recommended by JAMA as well. And I think JAMA gives a really good table where it actually tells you all the different resources out there for certain patient types or what each patient is going through and what each type of resource would be best fit for that patient.
So I think that's, that's a good example. And of course if you visit my website as well, I also have a, an article on there about non profit resources that can be used too. So if you go to, under.
Let's see, let's go to, well, wellness seekers and go to resources, for example.
And then you can scroll down, then you actually see an article that says nonprofit resources, and that will give you a list of all resources that you can use.
[00:50:54] Speaker A: Perfect. Thank you so much. Well, we're gonna have to wrap it up here, but I really appreciate your time today. And to everyone watching, we keep inviting to ask questions, keep seeking clarity, and keep remembering that your health decisions deserve time, care and understanding.
Stay connected. For more on NOW Media television, this is Dr. Yasser Sombo. This has been real medicine, real lives. Today, we try to make sure that healthcare becomes more powerful when patients understand why they get the care that they do.
In this episode, we enjoyed. Dr. I'm sorry, Ross Fian for joining us. And we'll see you next time.
