By PCCA

Over 300 PCCA members attended International Seminar live and virtually in October 2021. They shared best practices with each other, made new contacts and reconnected with colleagues. Meanwhile, experts from Clinical Services and other PCCA departments attended sessions and absorbed as much as they could, when they weren’t presenting on various topics or connecting with members one on one. Here are just some of the gems that they found while attending presentations and roundtables at the pharmacy compounding industry’s biggest event.

Mentorship vs. Management

Presented by Clint Pulver

• See challenges as opportunities
• Mentor-managers who set clear standards and connect with others create a culture of respect
• The five Cs of mentorship are:
  • Confidence
  • Credibility
  • Competence
  • Candor
  • Caring

This Works for Me: Innovation, Problem Solving, Patient Care

Presented by Jeff Carson, RPh; Peter Koshland, PharmD; Jasper Lovoi III, PharmD; and Gopesh Patel, RPh

• The four stages of team development are:
  • Forming
  • Storming
  • Norming
  • Performing
• Capture patient emails and make sure to claim Yelp and Google My Business pages for your pharmacy.
• Marketing via personalized emails can keep prescribers up to date on current prescribing trends and help to add patient care opportunities — all without you having to leave the pharmacy.
• Potential causes of hair loss include hormone fluctuations, stress, aging, nutrient deficiency, genetics, trauma to the area and medications.

Pharmaceutical Compounding: The Past, Present and Future

Presented by Loyd Allen, PhD, RPh

Intranasal theophylline treatment improved taste and smell in eight of 10 patients after four weeks in a 2012 study by Henkin et al.

Stress Resilience and Mental Health

Presented by Dian Ginsberg, MD, FACOG

• The four most important things to me that make a gut healthy are:
  • Good motility
  • Optimal levels of secretory IgA
  • Balance of the immune system
  • Microbiome diversity
• Light can be used as a therapeutic option that may offer improvements for sleep, mood and general well-being.
• Dysfunction and stress can lead to mental health issues and chronic disease.

Compounding for the Brain: Cognition and Mental Health

Presented by Sebastian Denison, RPh, FAARM (cand.)

• Essential nutrients to help decrease inflammation include:
  • B12
  • Folate
  • Vitamin D
  • Micronutrients
• According to Yoon and Kim (2020) , oxytocin “plays a central role in human social behavior, social cognition, anxiety, mood, stress modulation, and fear learning and extinction.”

The Mindset of Quality Compounding

Presented by Ross Caputo, PhD

With a growth mindset, you can identify opportunities in the process workflow, plan how the process can be improved, execute and implement changes, and review how the changes are working for the team.

Integrative Therapies for Compounded Preparations

Presented by Nat Jones, RPh, FAPC, and John Preckshot, RPh, CCN, FAARM

Patients with severe fibromyalgia experienced short-term improvements from topical capsaicin 0.075% treatment three times daily for six weeks, according to a 2013 study by Casanueva et al.

The Role of Hormones in the Microbiome

Presented by Pamela Smith, MD, MPH, MS

Many hormones have direct effects on the microbiome, including estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA, cortisol, insulin, melatonin, growth hormone, thyroid hormones and parathyroid hormone. The microbiome also affects these hormones. The great news is the innovative field of microbial endocrinology affords us new opportunities to help patients achieve optimal health.

Marketing and Sales Networking Roundtable

Moderated by Erin Michael, MBA, MS, CPhT, PCCA Director of Member Engagement, and Kim Speairs, APR, MBA, PCCA Director of Communications

• If a practitioner who isn’t a regular prescriber calls the pharmacy for any reason, take the time to talk to them and invite them for a tour of your compounding lab so that they can actually see what you do.
• If you can’t compete on price, build better relationships, provide better service and compound higher-quality medications than your competitors. Then communicate those competitive advantages.
• When hiring a new marketer or salesperson, bring them into the compounding lab and show them all the things you do. It helps them know the pharmacy inside and out.

Inflammation, Brain Health & Alzheimer's Disease

Presented by Richard Harris, PharmD, MD, MBA

Chronic inflammation leads to dysregulation of body systems and disease. Associated symptoms include:

• Joint aches and pains
• Chronic fatigue
• Depression
• Anxiety and mood disorders
• Gastrointestinal complications
• Weight gain or loss
• Frequent infections

Compounding Opportunities for Inflammatory Conditions

Presented by Sara Hover, RPh, FAARM

According to Passos et al. (2015) , post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with increased levels of the inflammatory markers interleukin 6, interleukin 1β, tumor necrosis factor α and interferon γ.

Envision and Actualize Your Future

The brain’s first goal is survival — everyone is listening to the radio station WIIFM (what’s in it for me) — so give your patients and prescribers the bottom line upfront.

Visit PCCAInternationalSeminar.com for information on next year’s event.

These statements are provided for educational purposes only. They have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration, and are not to be interpreted as a promise, guarantee or claim of therapeutic efficacy or safety. The information contained herein is not intended to replace or substitute for conventional medical care, or encourage its abandonment.