Improving therapeutic effects for patients by establishing a system to support the qualitative improvement of pharmacists
Improving the quality of pharmacists at “family pharmacies” is essential for improving therapeutic effects for patients. The SUGI Pharmacy Group aims to improve therapeutic effects for patients by establishing support functions to enhance the quality of pharmacists.
SUGI Pharmacy Group’s DI function
DI stands for “drug information.” The DI Section of SUGI Pharmacy collects medical information, analyzes, processes, and edits the information in a way that takes mainly account of those who need it, and then disseminates and stores it in an easy-to-understand manner. The prescription dispensing and the sales of medical and pharmaceutical products are carried out by pharmaceutical professionals such as pharmacists and registered pharmaceutical distributors. To support these operations, the DI Section acts as a consultation and inquiry desk regarding response. SUGI Pharmacy, which also operates prescription dispensing drugstores that focus on healthcare and beauty care, disseminates a variety of information in the fields of medicine, health, and beauty. When necessary, the DI Section conducts checks and offers advice from a pharmaceutical perspective and from the perspective of pharmaceutical affairs laws and regulations, thereby strengthening governance.
Providing academic support for conference and paper presentations
As we work to improve the quality of our communication with customers, we help pharmacists who can
offer high-quality services to give presentations on their achievements at academic conferences and
other opportunities. We have a system in which pharmacists who serve as role models in terms of their
efforts to improve the quality of communication with customers give presentations at academic
conferences and the presented information is shared inhouse. By taking advantage of this system, we
strive to ensure that pharmacists working at pharmacies contribute to even better medical care. In
FY2025, our pharmacists gave 29 presentations at 13 academic conferences.
In June 2024, we established the SUGI Pharmacy Academic Research and Ethics Committee to inspect
whether in-house academic research is conducted appropriately and effectively. Prior to such
inspection, we also support the planning and implementation of the relevant in-house academic
research. In FY2025, seven studies received ethical approval, followed by the launch of clinical
research aimed at contributing to the local communities.
Major Academic Conferences Where Pharmacists and Nationally Certified Dietitians of SUGI Pharmacy Gave Presentations
| Conference name | |
|---|---|
| 30th Anniversary Meeting of the Japanese Association for Disaster Medicine | |
| 14th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Pharmaceutical Oncology in 2025 | |
| 18th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for Pharmaceutical Palliative Care and Sciences | |
| 9th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Geriatric Pharmacy | |
| 18th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Association of Home Care Pharmacies | |
| 6th Annual Meeting of the Japan Asthma Society | |
| 2nd Kinki Regional Meeting of the Japan Society of Metabolism and Clinical Nutrition | |
| 47th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Clinical Nutrition | |
| 46th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Clinical Nutrition Association (23rd Grand Joint Conference) | |
| 19th General Meeting of the Pharmacy Society of Japan | |
| 19th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Nephrology and Pharmacotherapy | |
| 35th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Pharmaceutical Health Care and Sciences | |
| 41st Academic Conference of the Japanese Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition Therapy | |
| 47th Kinki Regional Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Hospital Pharmacists | |
Establishing a framework for supporting patients through Family Pharmacy Support app
Based on the cooperation between our prescription dispensing and merchandising sectors, we have encouraged customers who have purchased merchandise to download our Family Pharmacy app, with the total number of downloads reaching 1.47 million. Consequently, 250,000 prescriptions are sent per month through the app, leading to improved convenience for patients. We will continue to reinforce the support framework for patients through the app.
Improving medication adherence* by providing medication follow-up
We have adopted a preliminary counseling style in which pharmacists provide counseling to patients when receiving prescriptions from them. Under the system, pharmacists can concentrate on communication with patients, which is their primary role. In addition to detailed medication instruction to patients at the store, pharmacists also provide medication follow-up during the medication period via a smartphone app after the patients return home, thus allowing them to deal with their problems anytime, anywhere.
In FY2025, the number of medication follow-up cases reached 1.4 million. By reinforcing the activity, we
would like to improve medication adherence and therapeutic effects.
*Adherence refers to the degree to which a patient actively participates in deciding their treatment
policy and independently carries out their treatment plan (medication, dietary therapy, exercise therapy,
improving lifestyle habits, etc.)
Reinforcing alliance toward preventing polypharmacy
Polypharmacy (multiple medication use causing harmful effects) is a social issue primarily related to senior citizens. To prevent this, we are undertaking joint research with the National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology on an operation model featuring a local alliance involving doctors and pharmacists at hospitals and pharmacists at pharmacies. Usually, it is difficult to address polypharmacy in outpatients and in-home patients after their discharge from hospital. By reinforcing cooperation between hospitals and pharmacies, however, we are striving to eliminate polypharmacy and consequently to increase the effectiveness and safety of medical therapy.
Yakumed
Yakumed, a membership-based community site exclusively for pharmacists, is a platform planned and operated by SUGI Pharmacy that connects pharmacists both inside and outside the company, promoting the exchange of knowledge by allowing its members to share professional concerns, advice, learning content, and other resources. The number of registered pharmacist members is approximately 34,000, of whom 4,700 (about 14%) are hospital pharmacists, enabling the accumulation of knowledge from diverse fields, including medical institutions besides pharmacies. This allows us to accumulate and utilize on-site knowledge as collective intelligence, leading to improving expertise among pharmacists as a whole and providing safer, more secure, and higher-quality support to patients.
