Anyarat Anna Rikard
PharmD, MHA, BCGP, CPEL, AACC 

If you have heart surgery at Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare (MLH), a pharmacist is often the last person you’ll see before leaving the hospital. They’ll make sure you have your medication at discharge from the hospital and know how to take it at home, as part of the health system’s Meds to Beds program.

The pharmacy is also the first place you’ll go after being diagnosed with diabetes. Pharmacists lead diabetes education at MLH, teaching people to check their blood glucose and inject insulin.

The Methodist Germantown Outpatient Pharmacy, led by Dr. Anyarat Anna Rikard, serves four hospitals and the wider Memphis community — so they can be there for patients in these important moments and all the difficult times in between.

Pharmacists are making really big decisions that affect our community.”

“Pharmacists are making really big decisions that affect our community. We get the prior authorizations, we make sure medication is affordable, and we help patients understand how to take it, so hopefully they won’t need to come back for the same problem. … Pharmacy is the future of healthcare.”

Southwestern Tennessee is home to many people with lower incomes and levels of education. It also has some of the nation’s highest rates of obesity, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. Helping people in this community get and stay healthy requires that care be accessible and health information be crystal clear. Dr. Rikard takes this mission seriously and imparts it to her team of clinical pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and student pharmacists.

“When people come to the pharmacy or the hospital, it’s usually not because they feel good. It’s because something’s wrong. When you go into a patient’s room, you have 30 seconds to get them to trust you. It makes a huge difference. If you put the patient first, the patient will trust you, the physicians will trust you, and the community will trust you.”

Throughout her pharmacy career, Dr. Rikard has worked hard to earn that trust through proactive communication. “I love over-communicating,” she says with a laugh. “I want you to hear the same message from the physician, the nurses, and the pharmacist so you get it.”

Dr. Rikard also earns trust by getting to know her patients and listening closely to their needs. After years of treating people who couldn’t afford to pay for their life-saving medications, she started MLH’s Dispensary of Hope, a nonprofit program that partners with drug manufacturers to provide medications free of charge to patients without health insurance.

“It’s harder to pay $3 than it was five years ago. [For some people] $3 may not be a big deal, but for others, that could be their last amount of money to pay for groceries. So that program has been hugely rewarding.”

Dr. Rikard also earns trust simply by showing up. She tells every new patient they can call on her, anytime, for any reason. And she means it.

“If you cannot get that appointment in 30 days because everyone’s busy, you call me. If you run out of your medicine and you can’t get it refilled, call me. Whatever you need me to do, I will do it.”

Dr. Rikard’s commitment to patient care has earned her a loyal following. She remembers one woman, Marcy*, whose heart failure was so advanced that she couldn’t walk from her bed to the bathroom without becoming short of breath. Marcy also didn’t have insurance. Dr. Rikard worked to get medication that she could afford.

Today, Marcy has insurance, and her health has improved significantly. And she still travels 30 miles each way from her home in Mississippi to get her prescriptions filled at the MLH Outpatient Pharmacy.

I love over-communicating. … I want you to hear the same message from the physician, the nurses, and the pharmacist so you get it.”

“[Marcy] could go anywhere else. But she knows we’re going to take good care of her. … And because her medication is working and her heart failure is being managed, she doesn’t need to have a heart transplant. That makes me the happiest.”

What does it mean to Dr. Rikard to be your pharmacist?

“Being someone’s pharmacist means taking your care to the next level. When you come to talk to me, I want you to be the most important person in the room. I want to answer all your questions and ease any uncertainties. I want to be the person you call when something’s wrong.”

*Patient name has been changed.