This pharmacy does more than fill prescriptions

The Upstate Outpatient Pharmacy provides services not typically found at retail pharmacies.

Anyone who takes a variety of medications at different times of day may appreciate pouch packaging. This service places pills into small packets, labeled with the date and time they are to be taken. “Everything that needs to be taken at that specific time of day is prepacked. The guesswork is gone,” explains pharmacist Emily Adamy, who manages the pharmacy on West Seneca Turnpike, across the street from Upstate Community Hospital.

A second location is inside the main entrance of Upstate University Hospital in downtown Syracuse. Both pharmacies are open to the public from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays. The downtown location is also open 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

Planning for the outpatient pharmacy included coming up with solutions for patients’ most common complaints about pharmacies, says pharmacist Eric Balotin. He says it was important that the pharmacies are well stocked with a variety of medications for prescriptions written by Upstate providers. He has a team of staff who can obtain prescription authorizations from health insurers on behalf of providers. He also has medication assistance coordinators whose sole job is to help patients find ways to afford their medications. Balotin is director of the Upstate Outpatient Pharmacy.

The pharmacists help minimize adverse effects by monitoring which drug therapies a patient has been prescribed. They teach patients and their loved ones about how to take medications and the potential side effects. And they offer basic compounding for patients who need a special formulation, a reduced dose of medication or, for example, an oral suspension of a medication that is not sold in liquid form.

Balotin describes one of the features patients like most. “We built a very strong ‘meds-to-beds’ program. When a patient is in the hospital and being discharged, we deliver their medications to the bedside at the time of discharge, so when they leave the hospital, they can go right home. They don’t have to make any additional stops. They go home with everything that they need.”

And when it’s time for a refill, or for any outpatient pharmacy-related questions, they just call 315-464-3784 (DRUG). The pharmacy ships medications via United Parcel Service or through a courier service at no additional charge.

Patients who have old medications at home can safely dispose of them using disposal boxes at either location. CC

On the cover: Nurse practitioner Davia Moss works in adolescent medicine at Upstate. See her story, page 4.

PHOTO BY SUSAN KAHN

The Upstate Cancer Center provides the magazine Cancer Care for anyone touched by cancer. Send subscription requests or suggestions to magazine@upstate.edu. The magazine is free of charge. Or subscribe online, using the QR code.

CARING FOR PATIENTS This pharmacy does more than fill prescriptions

page 2 A rarity: Cancer during pregnancy page 4 Surgery got rid of his prostate cancer page 6 Deciding each day will be good page 8 A hoodie made for infusions back cover

SHARING EXPERTISE A swollen testicle warrants evaluation page 11 3 questions about genetic testing page 12 The stroma and its role in pancreatic cancer page 14 When cancer means bladder removal page 15 What to expect from chemotherapy page 16 More precise lumpectomies page 18

RESEARCHING FOR ANSWERS Predicting breast cancer spread page 19

LIVING WITH CANCER Don’t panic about finances page 21 A dietitian recommends these cookbooks page 22 How cancer psychologists can help page 23

EXECUTIVE EDITOR Leah Caldwell Assistant Vice President, Marketing & University Communications

MANAGING EDITOR Amber Smith 315-802-9152 or smithamb@upstate.edu

WRITERS Jim Howe, Emily Kulkus Jeanne Albanese, Amber Smith

DESIGNER Rebecca Janowski UPSTATE CANCER CENTER

The Upstate Cancer Center is part DIRECTOR (INTERIM) Thomas VanderMeer, MD of Upstate Medical University in DEPUTY DIRECTOR Gennady Bratslavsky, MD Syracuse, New York, one of 64 ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR FOR institutions that make up the State CLINICAL RESEARCH Teresa Gentile, MD, PhD University of New York, the largest ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR FOR BASIC AND TRANSLATIONAL comprehensive university system in RESEARCH Leszek Kotula, MD, PhD the United States. ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR FOR COMMUNITY OUTREACH Leslie J. Kohman, MD Upstate Medical University is an ASSOCIATE academic medical center with four ADMINISTRATOR Richard J. Kilburg, MBA colleges, a robust biomedical research enterprise and an extensive clinical health care system that includes Upstate University Hospital, Upstate Community Hospital, the Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital and many outpatient facilities throughout Central New York — in addition to the Upstate Cancer Center. It is located at 750 E. Adams St., Syracuse, NY 13210.