ACCC Recognizes Pharmacy Technician Day

Danielle Duy, CPhT, has been working in pharmacy for thirty years. She got her start in the field on a whim working as a cashier at Walgreens. While on the store-front floor, Duy often heard the pharmacy announce that they were in desperate need for assistance.  She occasionally helped, and the pharmacy manager noticed that Duy was talented and a quick learner. She was offered a position to join the pharmacy staff as a technician—a career field that Duy has since fallen in love with.

Today, Duy is a pharmacy concierge representative at SSM Health Cancer Care at St. Mary’s Hospital in St. Louis and St. Clare Hospital in Fenton, Mo. In recognition of Pharmacy Technician Day today (October 18), ACCCBuzz spoke with Duy to learn more about her role and the services she provides patients to ensure they can access their anti-cancer therapies and afford any healthcare-related costs.

ACCCBuzz: Can you tell me about your current role at SSM Health Cancer Care?

Duy: I'm employed by pharmacy but placed within the oncologists’ offices. I have three offices of my own and ten or eleven providers whose patients I help. 

I receive a notice from an oncologist that they're going to order an oncology medication for a patient. I then acquire a prior authorization to determine the co-pay amount. About ninety percent of the time funding is necessary for patients in my area, so I’ll determine if grant or manufacturer assistance is needed and follow through with the patient from prior authorization to the first delivery of their treatment. I then educate patients on how to complete treatment refills and give them the option to call me to have me initiate a refill or they call the pharmacy themselves. 

The patients are fun to work with. They're going through a rough time, and some of them don't know how to handle the process. Some are dumbstruck and don’t know their next move. I think I can draw out the best in them and make sure they are focusing on the positive rather than the negative.

ACCCBuzz: You mentioned helping patients with accessing and affording their treatment. Do you address patients’ financial health as part of your role in pharmacy?

Duy: I sure do. I find that you often see two groups of people. One is too prideful; they don't want to admit that they can't afford anything. And the other just says, ‘I can't afford anything.’ So pulling out information from some people is really difficult sometimes. I try to use my own life story to help other people. If they know that you've been there, they're a little more comfortable talking to you about these things. Then you can gain their trust, and they’re a little more open to giving you information that they wouldn't give to anybody else.

I help patients with financial assistance first by doing a work-up on their medication: checking for grants and, if no grants are open or available, I move to manufacturer assistance. I determine the federal poverty level to make sure that, when I call my patients, I can determine if they qualify. If they do not qualify, I determine what our next steps will be. My team (there are several of us in various other “ologies”) will exhaust every available resource to help our patients, including accessing discount cards (generally not for the expensive medications), co-pay cards, specific pharmacies that offer very reasonable prices, and manufacturer-based assistance. 

ACCCBuzz: You mentioned that you participated on an advisory committee for an ACCC oncology pharmacy educational program. Can you talk about that?

Duy: I loved being on the committee because I got all these amazing viewpoints from people who do things differently in each practice. Everybody is a genius, and I would just sit, listen, and absorb their knowledge. Some of the insight that you get from listening to others is so impressive and full of great benefits. I then took what they shared and tried to utilize it at my practice to see how I could implement certain aspects of what they shared here at SSM, which can ultimately create a better process for our patients.

ACCCBuzz: What aspect of your role brings you the most joy day to day?

Duy: Making sure my patients are taken care of and gaining their trust in the relationship. I have one patient who has been on anti-cancer therapy now for a year, and she was really going through it when I met her. Her brother had recently died, her family was homeless after quickly selling their house before they had time to purchase their next home, and then she found out she had cancer—this all happened within a short time. When I met her, she was hysterical. I let her cry for a few minutes before I told her, ‘You’ve got to focus on your things, but you also need to trust me.’ I was able to help her acquire the medication she needed. We were able to get it for free from the manufacturer even though she had commercial insurance—which was no easy task. Now she's covered under Medicare, so I was able to help her still get it for free. She calls me her angel, and, every time she comes in, she makes sure I give her a hug. 

I don't care what background patients come from. I want them all to feel like they are my only patient. So just really, truly making sure that they’re taken care of to the fullest extent of my abilities, and to make sure that they are happy because they're going through something, something that none of us ever wishes to go through. I'm blessed enough that I’m not going through it like they are and that I can help them. If I can make them smile one more day, that's my goal.

ACCCBuzz: What advice do you have for people who are looking to get involved at some level in pharmacy or, more specifically, oncology pharmacy?

Duy: If anybody is interested in the pharmacy profession, even just as a tech, there are so many different avenues that can be taken. Do not to be afraid to reach out, call somebody, and ask about their role. “How do you like this role versus being inside the retail pharmacy?” Or something along those lines because there's so many different opportunities that are available. If you don't like being a tech, then maybe consider pharmacy school. 

I just so happen to like being a tech and doing what I do when working within the providers’ office. We're (pharmacy techs) generally nice people, so almost anybody is willing to give advice. You just have to take the initiative and reach out.

For more information on oncology pharmacy, including helpful tools and resources for team members, visit the ACCC website.