Jordan Haag: Innovative and Collaborative Pharmacy Practice in Primary Care
As a student at Paynesville High School, Jordan Haag was considering a career in pharmacy. To explore the profession, Haag spent time shadowing Todd Lemke, site coordinator for CentraCare Health in Paynesville and a 1999 graduate of the college.
“That experience shaped my vision of the role of the pharmacist,” said Haag. “Todd’s practice was very progressive and he was providing care at the top of his license. The experience was definitely part of my decision to pursue a career in pharmacy.”
It was later that Haag learned how progressive Lemke’s practice actually was, particularly in a rural setting.
Following graduation from the college in 2011, Haag completed two years of residency training at Mayo Clinic in Rochester and then joined the faculty as an ambulatory care pharmacist.
Board certified as a Pharmacotherapy Specialist and an Ambulatory Pharmacist, Haag practices at a Mayo Clinic primary care clinic that opened in 2015 to serve residents in southeast Rochester, Minn.
The clinic serves as a learning laboratory and innovation practice site for the Mayo Model of Community Care and to test drive new models of care delivery. As one of the Practice Transformation Networks in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Transforming Clinical Practice Initiative, Mayo Clinic is focused on innovative models for community-based care.
To foster collaboration, the care team is entirely co-located—physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, scheduling staff, care coordinators, integrated behavioral health providers, social workers, and pharmacists. A mixed team model provides many benefits for the patients, as well as members of the care team.
“Our care coordination program aims to help medically complex patients with self-management skills,” said Haag. “We have interdisciplinary weekly population reviews, and if patients are enrolled in our care coordination program, they have a consultation with a pharmacist.”
To alleviate any barriers to care, those consultations for a comprehensive medication review are available through a face-to-face visit, phone call or electronic health record review.
As a vital member of the health care team, the role of the pharmacist has been prioritized to focus on three areas: chronic disease management, high-risk or rising risk patient populations with multiple co-morbidities and medications, and patients experiencing care transitions from hospital to home. The innovative model at Mayo has garnered interest from other health systems across the country.
“Along with the direct patient care activities, we also offer practice support activities such as curbside medication consultations for other providers and care team members,” said Haag.
Haag’s time at the college and its Duluth campus helped prepare him for the challenges facing primary care. His advice to pharmacy students interested in primary care is to seize the opportunities available.
“Personally, I feel that primary care has some of the largest opportunities for pharmacist job growth,” he said. “The evidence behind the value of pharmacists is growing, along with the incentive for health systems to leverage the role of the pharmacist as we transition from fee-for-service to value-based care.”