NurseWeek: Prescription for success: Pharmacist, nurse unite in life and in extended health care business

Prescription for success
Pharmacist, nurse unite in life and in extended health care business

By Melissa Gaskill
September 18, 2000
Photo: Courtesy of Roger and Patricia Klotz

Pharmacist Roger Klotz and his wife, Patricia, a nurse, are the owners of Care Partners Pharmacy. They are not aware of any other pharmacy that has a nurse on staff.


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A customer’s first clue that Care Partners in Chino Hills, Calif., is a different sort of pharmacy occurs when they spot the credential on the name tag Patricia Klotz, RN, wears. Her husband, pharmacist Roger Klotz, RPh, founded and built the business with her. Their combined expertise allows them to offer much more than a quick advisory about a prescription’s side effects.

One day, for example, the Klotzes spotted a young woman with inflammation around her ear. They noticed she had swollen lymph nodes and advised her to see a doctor before she developed a serious systemic infection.

Another time, a parent brought in a child with ear pain. The child’s ear wasn’t red or inflamed, but the child was congested, which could have been a result of pressure on the ear.

"We said to try Sudafed and see a doctor if it wasn’t better by morning," Roger said. "When we asked how she knew to come to us, she said the doctor’s office next door couldn’t fit them in and sent them over, saying that if was serious, we’d send them back."

A middle-aged man asked Patricia about HIV concerns because, for the first time in many years, he’d started dating again. He never had to worry about that sort of issue before.

Patricia finds the educational aspects of the job particularly rewarding. "When a patient comes in and he or she is absolutely bewildered and I’m able to answer questions, it makes them feel better. I showed a woman how to use her asthma medicine, and later I told her how well she was doing. She said, ‘Well now that I know how to take the medicine, [I’m better].’ I get the reward of seeing them coming back improved," Patricia said.

That was what she and her husband expected when they opened Care Partners two years ago. They financed it with the income from their home health care support business and personal savings. Patricia had worked as a nurse since 1960, in various hospital settings in Chicago and later in volunteer positions for schools and the PTA. Roger worked in hospitals and for a home health pharmacy that brought them to California in 1980. The Klotzes dreamed of owning their own pharmacy, but not just any pharmacy.

"Roger had a wonderful experience working in a neighborhood pharmacy years ago," Patricia said. "We wanted to go back to the time when you really talked to patients."

Being able to talk to a nurse made a difference for Peggy Joy, a customer who works nearby. She originally stopped in at Care Partners because it was convenient, but continues to go there because a nurse is available. "I really dreaded giving myself shots," said Joy, who recently began injections for rheumatoid arthritis. "Pat was very helpful."

Patricia said firmly that she and her husband don’t cross any lines. "I have certain nursing knowledge, and Roger has certain pharmacy knowledge. We know what we don’t know and what we aren’t supposed to do. I can say, ‘This looks like something to me.’ I’m not making the diagnosis, just letting them know it is something to take seriously."

The Klotzes are not aware of any other pharmacy with a nurse on staff. Neither is American Nurses Association senior policy analyst Virginia Burgraff, NP, RN, but the approach makes sense to her. "You have to take health care to where the consumer is, and a pharmacy is one of those places," Burgraff said. "Nurses are an ideal partner with pharmacists, to give consumers accurate information and to speak to the science behind the product."

Temporary associations, such as a visiting nurse administering immunizations at a pharmacy, are more common, said Susan Winkler, spokeswoman for the American Pharmaceutical Association, and those are a good thing. "By getting other members of the health care team involved, you get a better result," Winkler said.

Patricia works regular hours and takes appointments. The pharmacy, designed by Roger, has two private treatment rooms where she checks blood pressure, draws blood, provides wound care, and gives prescribed injections, from B-12 shots to fertility drugs.

In their on-site lab, the Klotzes use a device that measures liver enzymes to indicate a drug’s effectiveness and to show whether a patient is taking medication as prescribed. Patients might have such tests about every six months at a physician’s office, but at Care Partners, they can be tested every time a prescription is refilled.

Typically, the Klotzes carry out a physician’s prescription and bill the insurance company. They charge fees for most nonprescription services. "That places a value on it," Roger said. "People don’t object." The pharmacy charges less than most physicians’ offices and is often more convenient.

"So many patients have doctors who are far away, or can’t get in to see them for two or three weeks," Patricia said. "But we’re right here in the community." The reaction from physicians has been extremely positive, she added. "We did some immunizations over the weekend and sent the paperwork to the doctor’s office. They were thrilled because they couldn’t fit it in."

"We can get people into a doctor’s office faster," Roger said. "We can call and say our nurse looked at this and you need to see it. Because she’s a registered nurse, it becomes a higher priority. It’s almost a triage."