Ahmad El Cheikh Ali is a qualified Pharmacist and one of our Medicine Review Specialists. Learn more about his role within Claims Pharmacy in our spotlight interview.
Tell us about your background in pharmacy?
My background in pharmacy consists of working in a Community Pharmacy setting for seven years. I had the opportunity to take on a managerial role in a busy Community Pharmacy that gave me an enormous scope of knowledge beyond the traditional pharmaceutical role. My role allows me to provide care to patients ensuring that the supply of medicines is within the law and the medicines prescribed to patients are suitable.
What is your role at Claims Pharmacy, and how does it benefit injured people?
My role at Claims Pharmacy consists of various duties of care towards patients’ medication intake and ensuring that the patient’s medication is not hindering their recovery. I consider myself as an essential component of a comprehensive, interprofessional, healthcare team that contribute to better medication management, reduce medication misadventure, and improve patient outcomes. At Claims Pharmacy, my purpose is to ensure that my expertise helps insurers to make informed decisions about their claims and help injured people on their road to recovery,
What do you find challenging and rewarding about your role?
I do find the timely response and willingness of other healthcare providers to rationalise medications challenging. It often seems that questions or conversations may come across as not being empathic to the patient’s experience. However, I always pull through with meaningful advice and outcomes to fit the patient best interest and long-term health outcome. For example, it might seem human to prescribe pain killers for patients with chronic pain, however, patients who are prescribed long-term opioids for chronic pain are at a much greater risk of developing a substance use disorder than the general public.
How has the role compared to your past work as a pharmacist?
Pharmacists do not just work in the local Community Pharmacy. Pharmacists can also be found in managed care organisations such as Claims Pharmacy. My current role at Claims Pharmacy is very satisfying and rewarding. I am acting as a primary healthcare expert. Claims Pharmacy provided me with a rewarding career pathway with the opportunity to make a valuable contribution to the health and lives of venerable people in the community. As a pharmacist at Claims Pharmacy, I hold a trusted professional role as a valued member of a healthcare team.
What do you think are the most significant benefits of reviewing medication?
The most significant benefit of a medication review is changing the process outcomes of prescribing including reduced polypharmacy, use of more appropriate medicines formulation and more appropriate choice of medicine. This is done through a collaborative effort between the pharmacist and the prescriber to provide optimal care by adhering to therapeutic guidelines towards a recovery process. Ultimately deter any medication misuse, dependency and ensure the patient manages the effectiveness of their medication.
What is an interesting area of pharmacy and medication you have found while working as a pharmacist?
To many people, a pharmacist is someone who wears a white coat and works behind a counter filling prescriptions. Pharmacy is more than preparing or dispensing medications and reaches far beyond the community shop-front level. To me, it is very interesting to operate as part of a healthcare team and be involved in monitoring medication usage, providing drug information and advice to health professionals, including appropriate selection, dosage and drug interactions, potential side effects and therapeutic effects
What do you feel is the most important thing people should know about Claims Pharmacy?
People should know that accidents and work-related injuries impact people’s lives and have a big effect on their overall health outcomes. Therefore, their road to recovery goes a very long way. Claims Pharmacy is a highly person-centred health organisation where treatment caters to each patient individually to help the injured person achieve their goals and gain back their lives.