APhA 2025: Advancing Reproductive Health Care Access and Patient Education

In an interview with Pharmacy Times®, Jasmine Cutler, PharmD, assistant professor at the University of South Florida Taneja College of Pharmacy, discussed the expanding role of pharmacists in reproductive health, highlighting her presentation at the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) Annual Meeting & Exposition.

Cutler emphasized the importance of staying educated about over-the-counter contraceptives and providing comprehensive patient education. She highlighted the need for pharmacists to be knowledgeable about medication side effects, drug interactions, and to utilize resources like CDC guidelines and digital platforms to support patient care. The conversation stressed the significance of collaboration among health care professionals to ensure patients receive holistic reproductive health support. Cutler also underscored the crucial role of pharmacy technicians and the importance of making reproductive health information accessible across various healthcare settings.

Pharmacy Times

How do you see the pharmacist's role expanding beyond dispensing in the context of reproductive health, particularly considering increased access to over-the-counter contraceptives?

Cutler

Thank you for asking about that. I think it's very important for pharmacists to remain educated, because in other countries and expanding within different states, pharmacists are able to actually prescribe medications. I think the availability of over-the-counter products will help decrease some of the barriers that patients have to getting the products that they need. We even look at countries like Canada and other countries where products are really, available to patients. I think it's going to be very important. I think it's important for pharmacists to stay educated about side effects, to be educated about any drug interactions, and to be able to provide education to patients so they can make the best-informed decision.

Pharmacy Times

What resources and tools would you utilize to stay current on sexual health concepts and effectively educate patients on topics like emergency contraception?

Cutler

Well, right now there's a lot of resources available through the CDC. I think some of the best resources are the updated guidelines, the Medical Eligibility Criteria, as well as the selective practice recommendation. So, I think practitioners should definitely read over those. They come with really good charts that provide some really quick information. There are also websites like Bedsider, and that's good for providers as well as patients. Also, I really like the fact they have a birth control pharmacist website, so you can see exactly which pharmacies offer these services. Pharmacists and other health care professionals are able to get trained on how to provide adequate information to their patients so they can make educated decisions.

Pharmacy Times

Given the increasing prevalence of over-the-counter contraceptive options, how would you ensure patients are making informed decisions about their reproductive health?

Cutler

I think it's important to stay with the time. I know social media is a huge, huge thing that individuals actually rely on. I think getting good information out, even on those type of outlets. I think also having a pharmacist on standby, which we always are, at any type of place that sells any of these products, to allow us to be able to educate the patient on things that they should know about side effects, about what to happen if they maybe missed a dose of medications, also to look at what medications they're on, to make sure there's no type of drug interaction, or even things that can decrease efficacy. Like I mentioned, drug interactions, but also patients who may be a little overweight may somewhat decrease the efficacy. I think it's again, important for them to know what to do if they miss a tablet, because a lot of times, of course, all options are not going to be foolproof. It's going to be very, very important to know just about everything about how it works.

Pharmacy Times

How do you think the community pharmacist can collaborate with other health care providers to improve patient outcomes in reproductive health?

Cutler

I'm really about collaboration, because I think a lot of health care professionals, unfortunately work in silos. I don't think that's really a good outlook, because our main goal is to help the patient. I know for myself, in any type of clinical activities I have, I always worked with physicians, nurse practitioners, also social workers. I even work with audiologists within my practice, so I think it's really, really important to work together. I know some of the barriers that I've noticed is that sometimes physicians want to make sure that everything is covered by pharmacists. So being able to definitely make them aware of the information that we are knowledgeable about and also working with them to make sure that we are giving patients all the information that they expect and even additional information. I also think it's important to ensure patients are still going for their routine visits, to make sure that we're decreasing the prevalence of cervical cancer. Which you still need a normal Pap smear, you need a normal cervical exam, just to look at those things. And also, being proponents of HPV vaccinations and different vaccinations to cover other issues that patients may have.

Pharmacy Times

Is there anything you would like to add?

Cutler

I was just going to say, I think it's going to be very, very important to use your whole staff and everyone that works with you. I think pharmacy technicians, they have a really, really important key role. Depending on the actual setup of where you're practicing, making use of any other health care professionals, and even if you work in a community setting. Let's say you work at a Target, or, Walmart or Walgreens, and not being specific to any particular organization, but to make sure everyone is aware of what the pharmacist can do and what is offered in that particular department, so that way we can get the information out to all.