A Look Into Westminster Pharmaceuticals’ Superior Pharmacovigilance

We all rely on medicines to keep us healthy, manage symptoms, and prevent disease. Pharmacovigilance in a pharmaceutical company has two goals: to ensure the medicines we provide are both safe and effective for the general population.

The impact and importance of pharmacovigilance cannot be overstated  – it assesses the effectiveness of drugs and any adverse effects, as well as any challenges for consumer use, ultimately supporting the efficacy of the pharmaceutical industry. 

Pharmacovigilance is one of the most fundamental functions of pharmaceutical production, and at Westminster Pharmaceuticals, we pride ourselves on our superior pharmacovigilance focused on the customer experience.

What is Pharmacovigilance?

Pharmacovigilance is the process of identifying and responding to drug safety, effectiveness, and patient care issues. The goal is to improve patient care and safety with medicines, prescriptions, and supplements. Company-based pharmacovigilance roles serve as in-house experts on the safety and proper use of their products, acting as an intermediary between customers and the company to ensure the products they use and the way they’re using them are safe.

Essentially, it’s the customer area of quality control, but the feedback received by pharmacovigilance departments is also relayed back to manufacturers and pharmacies as needed (such as information on a damaged product or packaging issues). Changes may even be triggered by feedback unrelated to safety, such as how a customer likes a product or how they react to it. 

A Day in the Life of Westminster Pharmaceuticals Pharmacovigilance

At Westminster Pharmaceuticals, our pharmacovigilance department is headed by Olga Sanchez, a nurse with her Masters of Science in Nursing (MSN). 

Olga spends most of her workday fielding phone calls from customers about any inquiries they’re having with their medications. These inquiries could be about the consistency of a gel or cream, the size of pills, whether pills are scored or unscored, or any adverse reactions, for example. While safety is a primary outcome of pharmacovigilance, much of the feedback we manage is not safety-related, but rather related to the customer’s experience with the medication.

Every call that comes in is tracked with a case number in a master spreadsheet that Olga updates daily and is constantly monitoring for trends. On a case-by-case basis, Olga personally talks every customer through a solution to their problem and gets involved to help however she can. In some cases, this even means calling the customers’ pharmacy herself to ensure the customer gets a replacement product. Other times, it involves calling the customers’ physician and serving as a liaison to communicate patient concerns with their doctor. 

Of course, safety is always the top concern. In the case of adverse drug effects, Olga reports all adverse effects to the FDA, which collects this information nationally and keeps track to determine if a recall or further action is necessary.

Why WPRX Pharmacovigilance Stands Out: Our Competitive Advantages

We’re pleased to offer all of our Westminster Pharmaceuticals partners our competitive advantages in the area of pharmacovigilance. While many pharmaceutical companies have reliable and impactful pharmacovigilance departments, ours stands out in a few distinct ways.

These distinctions come not only from our pharmacovigilance expert, Olga Sanchez, as a tenured medical professional but also from the company values that set us apart from our competitors.

In her role, Olga offers a nurse’s insider perspective. She has decades of first-hand experience with patients and medications and even knowledge of how packaging details can impact the customer experience. Olga knows how doctors handle their prescriptions and intake, and she is familiar with where errors are bound to occur with medications. This experience provides valuable insight and builds trust among patients.

There are also the immense benefits of working directly with a smaller team. When a customer calls our pharmacovigilance department, Olga is the one answering the phone every time. No one is just a number, we offer personalized care on a first-name basis. Everyone gets a call back within hours, not days. No one waits over a weekend without hearing back. If it’s taking longer than expected, that is also communicated directly with the customer by Olga.

In pharmacovigilance, the little things make all the difference. Westminster Pharmaceuticals goes the extra mile, helping out in ways that others won’t, like price shopping for customers, talking directly to their pharmacist, or serving as an intermediary between patient and doctor. We also communicate regularly with manufacturers to provide feedback and insight on things like packaging and delivery, helping them optimize their operations to improve the patient experience.

Experience the Westminster Pharmacovigilance Advantages

While our customers benefit the most directly from our premium pharmacovigilance support, all of our manufacturing, wholesale and distributors, and pharmacy partners also benefit from these advantages. By communicating valuable feedback from customers to the relevant party, Westminster Pharmaceuticals pharmacovigilance gives our partners a key resource to continually improve their operations and the pharmaceutical industry as a whole.

To learn more about our key advantages in pharmacovigilance and beyond, reach out to our team today.