Dale Smith, R.Ph., was specializing in HIV pharmacy before it was a specialty.
During the late 1980s and early 1990s he co-owned Home Health Depot, a pharmacy located in Kansas City, Mo., that focused on home health pharmacy. As HIV/AIDS became more prevalent in the late 1980s, Smith recognized a need to help those patients.
Longtime pharmacist Dale Smith, R.Ph., has been helping HIV patients since the 1980s.
“An unfortunate thing happened at that time in that people were scared of those with HIV/AIDS,” Smith said. “They didn’t know how it was transmitted. They didn’t know if you breathed it in like influenza or something like that.”
“I actually knew pharmacists who would tell HIV patients that they didn’t want them to come in their doors. People with HIV/AIDS were really ostracized. So, we started dispensing those drugs and building a business because other people didn’t want to take care of those patients at the time.”
Leading the way
For a number of years, Home Health Depot was the only pharmacy in town actively accepting HIV patients. “Nobody else wanted those patients,” Smith said. “All of a sudden all of the doctors around would call us and say, ‘Hey, we hear you’ll take care of these patients and you do a good job.’ And they’d send patients our way.”
Helping HIV patients involved far more than just dispensing the drugs. “Many of these people had mental problems or were not very compliant because they didn’t realize the seriousness of their disease state,” Smith said. “They’d get tired of taking the drugs and they’d stop. So, it became a pharmacist-managed program to take care of those people, to educate them and to make sure they filled their prescriptions on time.”
If patients were late on their refills, the pharmacy would immediately call them. “The doctors at the time were frustrated too,” Smith said. “Patients would come in and they’d find out that they weren’t taking their medications and the pharmacy didn’t do anything about it. So, they’d channel that business to us.”
HIV pharmacy today
Throughout his career, Smith has been active in creating awareness for HIV/AIDS, both to the general public and to pharmacists. He has served as president of the AIDS Service Foundation of Greater Kansas City, and has helped open HIV/AIDS-focused pharmacies in states with high populations of the disease.
“It’s a good business opportunity for independents,” Smith said. “You’ll see physicians send patients to pharmacies that really take care of those patients, that talk to them, counsel them and give them the medication therapy management they need.”
For independent pharmacies looking to specialize in HIV/AIDS today, Smith offers some advice. “Independent pharmacies have to get involved with the HIV community,” he said. “You, the pharmacist, have to be involved with that community because the people with HIV/AIDS are very private about their disease; they don’t want people to know because of rejection and things like that. They want to know their pharmacist and they want to trust their pharmacist. They want to walk into that pharmacy and realize that their pharmacist knows them, knows they have HIV/AIDS and is happy to help them.”
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Specializing in HIV: A Look at Gateway Apothecary
How to Become a Certified HIV Pharmacist
5 Niche Services to Offer at Your Pharmacy
