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No industry is immune to burnout, including pharmacy. At many traditional retail pharmacies, individual pharmacists are often asked to do more than is possible on any given workday. Not only does this deprive talented and extensively trained health professionals of a manageable working environment, it deprives patients of the exceptional care they deserve.

pharmacists-spotlight-roni-hein

The better pharmacy model we’ve created at Alto makes life easier for everyone involved in the prescription process: patients, physicians, and pharmacists. And in restructuring how pharmacists work, we haven’t just separated fulfillment and patient care responsibilities into different roles — we’ve ensured that there’s ample support for each specialization, as there should be in any profession.

To wrap up our series of pharmacist profiles in celebration of American Pharmacist Month, we spoke to Roni Hein, a patient care pharmacist lead who takes care of her team so that they can in turn care for patients.

What motivated you to pursue a career in pharmacy?

It all began with my high school and college job at Target. I interacted a lot with the pharmacy team while working in the health and beauty section and eventually moved into that department.

I never expected it to be more than a college job, but it turned into the beginning of my professional path. As I worked there, I was able to see the impact pharmacists made in customers’ lives each day. It really struck me that in many communities, including mine, pharmacists were the most accessible healthcare providers. That accessibility is so impactful on a person’s well-being.

What challenges have you encountered as a pharmacist?

Limited time and isolation behind the counter, without question. In retail pharmacy, more and more responsibilities were added to my job description, with fewer resources to accomplish them.

All pharmacists value the personal connections we make with patients. I think many of us would say that making an impact through patient counseling is the best part of our day, but that is often what gets lost when pharmacists are asked to do more. Our primary driver for entering the profession is the first thing to go. I found a very refreshing change at Alto.

Everyone at Alto, no matter their department or role, has the same shared goal of improving patient lives by transforming the pharmacy model. As a patient care pharmacist lead, I do that by supporting my people. I create the space for our pharmacists to do their best work. They are able to have better interactions with patients because they are taken care of.

The pandemic has been a trying time for many companies and teams, including mine. I am constantly looking for new ways to ward off burnout and maintain a sense of camaraderie, not only for the pharmacists I manage, but for the benefit of our customers as well.

The individual locations of many retail pharmacies can feel very separate from each other. Each one often serves a single population.

The centralization of Alto’s patient care team is a contrast to that model. We have a cohesive, unified team serving all patients. That means there’s a depth of resources available to each pharmacist, which is also really important for retaining great talent.

Our pharmacists have a great support system in their colleagues. There’s other smart, driven pharmacists to bounce ideas off of. Unfortunately, you don’t always get that in our profession.

It also means that you don’t have to worry about anything falling through the cracks if something comes up outside of work. It's a game changer to be able to take time to grieve a loved one or to care for your child if they’re sick while knowing that your patients are still in expert hands. I never had that in retail pharmacy.

Finally, what is one thing people would be surprised to know about life as a pharmacist?

At a tech-oriented pharmacy like Alto where there’s so much innovation, you’re constantly thinking of new and creative ways to problem solve. It’s challenging in the best possible way. There isn’t a day when I don’t have to put my critical thinking skills to use.

This is part of a series of pharmacist profiles to recognize American Pharmacist Month 2022. Meet the other pharmacists featured in this series: patient care pharmacist Travis Allison, specialty patient care pharmacist Gabrielle Kaplan, and medication therapy management pharmacist Wei-Lin Chang.

National Pharmacists Month Spotlight: Roni Hein

For many Americans living with a chronic health condition, prescription medications are necessary to manage symptoms and prevent complications. But following a treatment plan can be easier said than done. There are many considerations involved, from managing medication interactions and side effects to staying on track with related testing and follow-up appointments. And of the 66% of U.S. adults who are prescribed medication, only half take their medication as prescribed.

National Pharmacists Month Spotlight: Wei-Lin Chang

At Alto, medication therapy management pharmacists like Wei-Lin Chang help patients navigate all the complexities of managing a chronic disease. As part of our coverage of American Pharmacist Month 2022, we spoke to Wei-Lin about her professional path, the challenges of retail pharmacy, and the importance of medication education.

I honestly didn’t know what I wanted to do when I first entered college. My parents encouraged me to pursue a career in healthcare, but I knew I was a bit too squeamish around needles to become a doctor or nurse.

I took a chemistry class that I really enjoyed and decided to do all the pharmacy prereqs. I then did an internship with the head of pharmacy at Cook County Hospital in Chicago. Through that experience, I saw firsthand that pharmacists were a critical liaison between patients and doctors, with so much valuable information about medication strength, directions, dosing, and administration.

After that, I pretty much knew that pharmacy was for me. I’ve been practicing since 2002.

Before Alto, I worked in traditional retail pharmacy. In that setting, you’re so busy as a pharmacist — it’s one customer after another after another.

I worked both daytime and night shifts, and it was during the night shift, when the store was much more quiet, that I could really counsel patients without feeling so pressed for time. During the day, I simply didn’t have the free minutes to always answer patient questions or give recommendations.

Another challenge I faced was the perception of our profession. At the beginning of my career, in the early 2000s, many people I encountered didn’t know a pharmacist did much beyond putting pills in bottles and handing them off to customers. Not only did this lead to frustration from my customers, who would wonder what we were doing and why it was taking so long, it led to missed opportunities to more actively participate in a patient’s health journey. 

More medication education for patients is an urgent need within American healthcare. People taking multiple medications have to be mindful of potential side effects and medication interactions.

The growing field of medication therapy management is an opportunity for pharmacists to play an even bigger role in patient health, and I’m very proud to work for a company that prioritizes this particular area of pharmacy.

As a medication therapy management (MTM) pharmacist, I contact patients who take multiple medications — often multiple heart medications — and review their entire regimen over the phone. I make sure that they understand the purpose of each medication they’re taking and are on track with related testing.

For example, it’s important to get your liver function checked every 6-12 months if you’re taking cholesterol-lowering medications that are processed by the liver, or to get your A1C levels checked every 3-6 months if you’re taking diabetes medication.

We also discuss side effects, interactions, when to take medication, and what food to take it with. Too often, there isn’t the space for these conversations between pharmacists and patients, but they are so essential to a patient’s overall health. 

I love our pharmacy specializations. It’s unique to have a team that focuses solely on patients and another team that focuses on fulfillment. Not all pharmacies have a medication therapy management program, and it’s possible at Alto in part because of our smart allocation of resources.

Being able to use all of my time to focus on my core job functions is such a contrast to retail pharmacy, where you’re constantly bombarded from all sides at once.

As a pharmacist, what does “care” mean to you?

Care to me means going above and beyond for your patients and making sure all loose ends are tied. As an example, I recently initiated a transfer for one of the heart medications a patient takes. At Alto, we always complete every single step of the prescription transfer process on the patient’s behalf. He was so appreciative, and when I got off the phone, I could tell from his voice that he was smiling ear to ear. That’s the experience I want all of my patients to have.

This is part of a series of pharmacist profiles to recognize American Pharmacist Month 2022. To keep the Pharmacist Month celebrations going, meet patient care pharmacist Travis Allison and specialty patient care pharmacist Gabrielle Kaplan.

Each October, American Pharmacist Month is an opportunity to not only celebrate the dedication of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, but also to shine a light on all that they do.

National Pharmacists Month Spotlight: Gabrielle Kaplan

The average American visits a pharmacy 35 times a year, and the availability of pharmacists has the potential to address many gaps within healthcare, like access to the underutilized HIV prevention medication PrEP.

Many people who could benefit from the medication are unable to get a prescription from their primary care provider, whether it’s because they live too far from the doctor’s office or aren’t comfortable speaking about their sexual health. There's growing recognition that expanding the role of pharmacists in HIV prevention can help increase PrEP usage.

At Alto, we’re committed to maximizing the possibilities of pharmacy care. Not only do we divide our pharmacy roles into fulfillment and patient advocacy — we have numerous specializations under the umbrella of patient advocacy that allow our pharmacists to be part of the solution to precisely these healthcare challenges.

As part of our coverage of American Pharmacist Month, we spoke with Gabrielle Kaplan, a specialty patient care pharmacist who makes HIV prevention medication and treatment for complex chronic conditions more manageable for patients.

I’m a patient care pharmacist in our specialty department. We oversee medications that aren’t as common and which often have more side effects — or more serious side effects — including HIV medications, PrEP for HIV prevention, and injectable medications used to treat chronic conditions like psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and high cholesterol.

The side effects associated with these medications can keep people from continuing with them. Since there’s a team of us whose sole focus is serving the patients who take these medications, they don’t just stop treatment. And they don’t have to worry about reaching out to us — we proactively check in. If anything is bothering them, we’ll take the initiative to call their provider and discuss their concerns.

What motivated you to focus on specialty pharmacy, specifically HIV treatment and prevention?

I was very interested in learning more about HIV treatment back in pharmacy school since a family member had passed away from it. The medications available today have drastically transformed what a diagnosis even means. I was excited by the possibilities, and it was always on my radar as a potential interest for the future. Working at Alto is the first time that I’ve been able to completely immerse myself in this specialization.

It’s a rapidly evolving area of both medicine and pharmacy, and there continues to be so much opportunity for pharmacists to take on a bigger role. In my state of Colorado, pharmacists can prescribe the HIV prevention medications PrEP and PEP. At Alto, we’re always discussing these updates and trying to expand the scope of what we offer patients and how we support their treatment.

By far the biggest pain point I experienced in retail pharmacy was staffing and having the number of pharmacists needed to execute all the day’s tasks while still providing great patient care.

Everyone working in a pharmacy is doing their very best, but there’s only so much we can do in an allotted time. It’s a disservice to patients and to those who work in the field — trying to balance the demands with your own mental well-being becomes nearly impossible.How do Alto’s pharmacy specializations make a difference for you and your patients?

Having a specific focus on patient care allows us to actually deliver quality patient care. At retail pharmacies where one pharmacist is doing it all, you’re trying to fill a prescription while on the phone and with someone yelling at you from across the room.

With fulfillment and patient advocacy separated at Alto, we are each able to focus on what’s in front of us at any given moment. For me, that means I can give patients my full and undivided attention and spend as much time with them as possible.

We have such a great team and plenty of support, so there’s no need to worry about other people’s tasks. We can each do the jobs that we’ve been specifically trained and are uniquely equipped to do.

What else is unique about Alto’s model?

The digital model makes it so that geography is less of an obstacle to care, and that each patient in our service areas has access to all of our resources. This is particularly relevant to my division of specialty pharmacy.

Many traditional retail pharmacies don’t have a specialty pharmacy in every physical location. Sometimes the specialty pharmacy is one centralized location from which everything is mailed. That means you won’t necessarily have a pharmacist in your local store who’s familiar with your medications and able to counsel you.

The medication used to treat or prevent HIV is complex, and it can be difficult to stay on track with treatment. The fact that any Alto customer taking these medications can talk to a pharmacist with deep expertise in that area of pharmacy makes a world of difference.

It means always putting patients first — thinking about the care you would want a family member or friend to receive and delivering just that.

This is part of a series of pharmacist profiles to recognize American Pharmacist Month 2022. To keep the Pharmacist Month celebrations going, meet patient care pharmacist Travis Allison.

Pharmacists are one of the most accessible healthcare professionals, seeing people 5 to 8 times more frequently per year than primary care providers. Their role has become more expansive than ever, and many people don’t realize just how integral they are to a patient’s health and well-being.

National Pharmacists Month Spotlight: Travis Allison

At Alto, fulfillment pharmacists focus on dispensing medication — ensuring that the entire process is carefully monitored every step of the way — while patient advocacy pharmacists tackle anything related to a patient’s wellness, from provider communication and insurance coordination to guidance on managing chronic health conditions.

These specializations have opened up entirely new possibilities for the patient-pharmacist relationship at Alto. And this October, as we celebrate American Pharmacist Month, we’re spotlighting a few of the extraordinary Alto pharmacists who focus on patient advocacy.

To kick things off, we’re pleased to introduce Travis Allison, a patient care pharmacist based in Dallas, Texas.

I took the long and winding road here. I didn’t always know this was what I wanted to do. In college, I started off as an English major but had a change of heart after a semester or two. I went on to study agriculture, and those experiences made me believe that I could pursue a path grounded in science.

My childhood memories of visiting the pharmacist were always in the back of my mind. As a kid, I hated going to the doctor. When those dreaded appointments were over and done with, I knew I’d get to see a guy in a white coat who would give me something to feel better. I always saw pharmacists as a comfort in the often scary world of healthcare.

At any chain pharmacy — which is where I spent my career before Alto — pharmacists are inundated with so many tasks. It isn’t that these tasks are unrelated to pharmacy, but they interfere with our ability to deliver patient care.

On a typical day, I would give 100 Covid shots and fill 200 prescriptions by myself while also coordinating billing and calling doctors’ offices. We also had to think about corporate metrics. I was frequently asked to get more people signed up for text message alerts and hit specific quotas.

Patient care is always the priority, for any pharmacist, but the reality of my job made it extremely difficult, and often impossible, to give patients the time they deserved.

The first thing I noticed when I started at Alto were the specializations. We have many different team members to handle all the responsibilities that fall on a single person’s shoulders at a traditional retail pharmacy.

I’m a patient care pharmacist, which is distinct from fulfillment pharmacists who process prescriptions.

I review prescriptions for accuracy and initiate medication transfers, and I interact with both patients and doctors. I’m here to answer any questions a patient has about their medication.

In a way, I feel like I’m on the frontlines the same way that I was when I worked in a pharmacy chain. It’s all of what I liked about retail pharmacy without the distractions of retail. We’re able to practice our most important functions as pharmacists without the noise.

We’re utilizing technology in a way no other pharmacy does, which allows us to communicate with patients and providers in so many different ways — without having to rush through interactions.

And the wheels of change turn much more quickly at a tech-oriented company than they do at a massive corporation. At my previous job, you could have conversations all day about what improvements were needed, but nothing ever happened. Alto was founded by software engineers, and we’re able to easily make changes in real time.

As a digital pharmacy, we serve so many patients that only we can serve. I talk to many who are homebound without a caretaker. Because of Alto’s model, I’m able to communicate with them, and we’re often their only point of contact within the healthcare system. I don’t know of another way these patients could get pharmacy care.

The digital model also allows us to get a broader view of healthcare, and to make an impact on a larger scale. Alto was one of few places where New Yorkers could get the Covid medication Paxlovid when it was first introduced.

It was incredible to be sitting here in Texas, getting prescriptions out in New York City just as a new variant came out that was really devastating to the city. At no other pharmacy would I have been able to help out my neighbors in New York.

Those moments where you can tell in a patient’s voice that you seriously helped them. To me, that’s an indication of how well I’m doing my job, much more so than the number of prescriptions processed or dollars generated.

Alto’s mission is to improve the quality of life for all who need medicine, building a pharmacy experience that serves people of all backgrounds. As we work toward a more inclusive and accessible healthcare system, we recognize the importance of diversity among physicians, pharmacists, nurses, and other public health figures. In honor of Black History Month, take a moment to learn about five influential Black healthcare leaders past and present — those who paved the way and those who continue to break barriers today

Five Black Healthcare Leaders to Celebrate

Alto’s mission is to improve the quality of life for all who need medicine, building a pharmacy experience that serves people of all backgrounds. As we work toward a more inclusive and accessible healthcare system, we recognize the importance of diversity among physicians, pharmacists, nurses, and other public health figures. In honor of Black History Month, take a moment to learn about five influential Black healthcare leaders past and present — those who paved the way and those who continue to break barriers today. (For additional inspiration, revisit the first post in this series.)

Dr. M. Jocelyn Elders: the first Black U.S. surgeon general

As a Black woman born to farmers in a rural, poverty-stricken area of Arkansas, M. Jocelyn Elders encountered numerous obstacles on her path to becoming the first Black U.S. Surgeon General in 1993. At 16, she met a doctor for the first time, but she didn't consider a profession in healthcare until she connected with Edith Irby Jones, the first Black person to attend the University of Arkansas Medical School, during college.

Throughout her career, Dr. Elders balanced clinical practice and research, increasing the public’s awareness of adolescent health issues. In 1987, Bill Clinton, then the governor of Arkansas, appointed Dr. Elders as head of the state’s Department of Health. The Arkansas state legislature mandated sexual education and substance misuse prevention programs in the K-12 curriculum in 1989 in large part because of Dr. Elders’ advocacy. During her tenure as Surgeon General, Dr. Elders continued to champion progressive policies, advocating for better sexual education programs, distribution of condoms in schools, and abortion rights. She remains active in the field of public health as a professor emeritus at the University of Arkansas School of Medicine.

Bernard J. Tyson: former CEO of Kaiser Permanente

As chairman and CEO of Kaiser Permanente, Bernard Tyson transformed the company’s services to account for social determinants of health like food access and affordable housing as well as the importance of mental health and wellness. He was also instrumental in the development of the Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine, which trains physicians to be not only clinicians, but patient advocates and innovators, too. By shining a spotlight on how social determinants of health contribute to disparities in health outcomes, Tyson leaves behind a legacy that reaches far beyond Kaiser’s services.

Nadine Burke Harris: first surgeon general of California

A physician, researcher, advocate, and California’s first surgeon general, Dr. Nadine Burke Harris has transformed how our society responds to childhood trauma. While running a health clinic in an underserved San Francisco neighborhood, she observed that preventative health practices and quality treatment didn’t resolve her patients’ risk for poor health outcomes. Drawing upon research from the CDC and Kaiser Permanente on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), which linked early adversity to higher rates of chronic illness later in life, Dr. Burke Harris studied her own patients and found that more than 67% had experienced at least one ACE. She has helped increase public awareness of ACEs and toxic stress, advocating for universal screening of children and adolescents for signs of trauma. Her 2014 TED Talk, “How Childhood Trauma Affects Health Across the Lifetime,” has been viewed more than 7.5 million times, and she published The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Adversity in 2018.

Dr. Patrice Harris: first Black female president of the American Medical Association

Despite not knowing any doctors while growing up in West Virginia, Dr. Patrice Harris’ passion for medicine started early. The board-certified psychiatrist initially planned to pursue pediatrics but shifted her focus after discovering an interest in psychiatry during medical school. Her focus on child psychiatry allows her to merge her passion for children with her expertise in mental health. Throughout her career, Dr. Harris has focused on the role of implicit bias within the medical profession and how unconscious biases among healthcare workers influence health disparities.

Dr. Harris’ involvement in the professional healthcare community spans many leadership positions at state and national organizations. She became the first Black woman elected as president of the American Medical Association in 2020. During her tenure, she focused on a variety of health issues, from opioid addiction to COVID-19. She previously chaired the AMA’s Opioid Task Force, providing evidence-based recommendations to clinicians with the goal of ending the opioid epidemic.

Betty Smith Williams: first Black graduate of the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing

Betty Smith Williams was the first Black student to earn a nursing degree from Cleveland’s Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, in 1954, and the first Black individual to teach at a higher education institution in the state of California, but her individual accomplishments are only a part of her legacy. Williams has helped ensure that today’s aspiring Black healthcare professionals have the opportunities and support to break down barriers of their own. She was instrumental in developing the National Black Nurses Association and the National Coalition of Ethnic Minority Nurse Associations, Inc. — initiatives that have elevated the voices of Black nurses within the profession. In uniting Black nurses, Williams hoped to create better health outcomes among the Black community. In her own words: "We had no voice, but we understood our culture and our unique needs better than anyone else.”

Join us in delivering our industry-leading pharmacy care to millions of people across the country. As a member of the team, you’ll play an integral role in improving our customers’ quality of life and redefining what’s possible in pharmacy. View our current openings.

This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.

In honor of National ERG Day, which falls on November 17 every year, we’re highlighting the important work of Alto’s six ERGs. 

Celebrating National ERG Day at Alto

The history of employee resource groups (ERGs) in the U.S. dates back to the 1960s, when a group of Black employees at Xerox self-organized to discuss their experiences of workplace discrimination and advocate for more inclusive policies. At the time, these networks of employees united by a shared identity or experience were known as affinity groups.

Today, ERGs can be found at companies of all sizes and industries where they play an important role in shaping an inclusive culture and fostering a sense of belonging in the workplace. In honor of National ERG Day, which falls on November 17 every year, we’re highlighting the important work of Alto’s six ERGs. 

At Alto, we believe that every perspective matters, and that diversity fosters creativity and leads to innovation. Our six ERGs are part of our broader commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), both in creating our company culture and delivering an exceptional pharmacy experience.

"At Alto, we’re committed to building and sustaining an inclusive workplace that both supports our employees and helps us deliver on our mission to improve the quality of life for everyone who needs medicine,” shared Ty Bledsoe, Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. “Our ERGs help foster authentic relationships, offer safe spaces for education and conversation, and celebrate the incredible diversity of our Altoids and our communities."

By building community, providing support, and contributing to an individual’s personal and professional well-being, these groups help ensure that every Altoid feels a sense of belonging each day at work and that we appreciate the diversity of the customers we serve.

Here are just a few ways that each Alto ERG contributes to a more inclusive culture and pharmacy experience.

Umoja’s mission is to inform, educate, and empower Black Altoids and allies. The group has deepened Altoids’ understanding of the Black experience by sharing educational resources in support of Black History Month, Juneteenth, and Pride.

They also help our team explore the intersection of identity and healthcare as it relates to our services. After Dr. Reverend Stacey Edwards, founder of Fertility for Colored Girls, spoke at Alto about the fertility journeys of Black families this spring, Umoja continued the conversation by inviting Dr. Temeka Zore, OB GYN and reproductive endocrinologist at Spring Fertility, and Esther Ebeuhi, a licensed doula and birth equity analyst, to speak on Black motherhood.

Alto Auténtico aims to build community among Latinx Altoids and ensure that they have a voice at Alto. In addition to facilitating company-wide learning about the Latinx experience and the diversity within Latinx culture, Alto Auténtico’s mentorship program connects junior and senior Latinx team members for coaching sessions and professional development. The group is also working with Alto’s operations, product, and marketing teams to establish a bilingual team to better support Spanish-speaking individuals using our pharmacy services across our communities.

Proud unites LGBTQ+ Altoids and allies in creating an environment where all Altoids can be their most authentic selves. The group has led Alto in celebrating important LGBTQ+ awareness days with events such as drag queen bingo nights for Pride and LGBTQ+ history month. Two Proud members who identify as bisexual gave a talk for Bi Visibility Day on September 23 and also shared their experiences of coming out in in observance of National Coming Out Day on October 11.

Proud also invites experts to speak at Alto about a range of LGBTQ+ issues. They recently hosted a session with Chris Tompkins, author of Raising LGBTQ Allies: A Parent’s Guide to Changing the Message from the Playground, and a fireside chat with Dr. Lisa Capaldini, who has focused on HIV since the beginning of the epidemic.

Women of Alto + Allies (WOAA) helps create an inclusive community for women at Alto with mentorship and networking opportunities that advance their leadership potential. Their newly launched initiative, WOAA Project Spotlight, celebrates female-identifying team members who have helped us deliver on our mission while living our values, and a quarterly webinar series shares how various self-identifying Altoid women launched their careers.

Working Parents + Allies facilitates discussion and collaboration in celebration of our working parents. The ERG has led Alto in supporting working parents with a variety of initiatives, including a community event with the Kids & Art Foundation’s Purvi Shah in honor of Bereaved Parents Month this July; an “Ask a Parent Anything” Slack advice hotline for parents, caretakers, and allies; and free access to Outschool’s live online classes for kids ages 3-18.

And with their second annual Holiday Giveback Program, which donates gifts to kids and families in need through Marine Toys for Tots and the Boys & Girls Club of America, Working Parents + Allies is an example of how our ERGs look for opportunities to give back and show support beyond the immediate Alto community.

During Asian American Pacific Islander month, the Asians ERG shared resources for individuals like Modern Health's Healing Asian Communities Circles and highlighted community groups for volunteerism and donations.

To learn more about any of our employee resource groups, contact the emails below.

Women of Alto + Allies: womensERG@alto.com

Working Parents & Allies: parents@alto.com

Visit alto.com/careers to learn more about our open roles and join us in delivering industry-leading pharmacy care.

October is American Pharmacist Month, a time to celebrate the critical role that pharmacists and pharmacy technicians play within healthcare.

Celebrating American Pharmacist Month At Alto

October just might be our favorite month of the year, and for a good reason: it’s American Pharmacist Month, a time to celebrate the critical role that pharmacists and pharmacy technicians play within healthcare.

Pharmacists are one of the most accessible healthcare professionals, seeing people 5 to 8 times more frequently per year than primary care providers. And as such, they are integral to your overall health and well-being. 

You may not realize all the responsibilities that a pharmacist’s role encompasses. In addition to filling your prescriptions, they also educate on medication usage, advocate for changes that improve care, and problem solve clinical, ethical, managerial, economic, and legal compliance issues, becoming a trusted resource to the individuals they care for. Extensive training and education are required to enter the profession: a pharmacist must earn a doctorate in Pharmacy and complete state-specific licensing requirements before becoming licensed to practice pharmacy.

At many traditional retail pharmacies, each pharmacist is expected to tackle a broad assortment of tasks that often leave them feeling overwhelmed and stressed, like managing transactions for customers, answering questions about where non-pharmacy items are stocked, and contacting insurance companies on top of ensuring prescriptions are dispensed properly and safely. At Alto, however, pharmacists align with one of several practice areas — fulfillment, customer care, and onboarding — so that they are able to focus on specific aspects of pharmacist practice and deliver exceptional care to Alto’s customers.

Fulfillment pharmacists are responsible for inventory management, medication preparation, physical quality checks, and dispensing, all to make sure the right medication arrives at your door, on schedule. Our customer care pharmacists review prescriptions for accuracy and for potential complications with other medications on file; provide individualized consultations on dosing, side effects and other concerns; and partner with healthcare providers on clinical recommendations. And our onboarding pharmacists — a relatively new role at Alto — are a bridge to an individual's broader team, supporting healthcare providers and ensuring continuity of care between prescriber and pharmacy.

“At Alto, we are proud of our customer-focused services and forward-thinking means of providing those services,” shares Ashley Lee, Onboarding Pharmacist. “Being a pharmacist at Alto gives me the unique opportunity to not only practice patient care, but also to design it to be meaningful to as many individuals in need as possible. The innovation never stops here at Alto.”

How Alto pharmacists serve our communities

There’s no shortage of opportunities for a pharmacist to support an individual with their medication needs or to be a partner in their health journey alongside their doctor’s office, family and other support networks. Here are just a few of the many roles that Alto pharmacists fulfill.

Literally. Our pharmacists are educators who mentor other pharmacists-in-training. Sandra Aziz, Pharmacy Compliance Program and Training Manager, is responsible for training new Pharmacy Managers and Supervisors at our dispensing sites, ensuring they have the resources needed to be effective managers and to oversee their pharmacy location’s compliance program and daily operations.

Sandra also manages our internship programs for pharmacy students. Alto offers an immersive 10-week Pharmacy Operations Management summer internship program for eligible students at Howard University’s School of Pharmacy (HUCOP). The program provides an opportunity to gain a breadth of experience across clinical pharmacy care, operations, and business development. Students also have the opportunity to actively influence Alto’s software development and implement ideas that further preventative healthcare and pharmacist involvement in community health.

Sandra also launched our Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences (IPPE) and Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPE) programs, which allow students from pharmacy schools across the country to select Alto as a practice site. While at Alto, they are exposed to highly skilled and entrepreneurial pharmacists, engineers, and operations experts with whom they can partner to challenge, reinvent, and improve pharmacy. 

“It’s been really rewarding to see more pharmacy students expressing interest in our programs,” Sandra said. “We have a rare opportunity to give students an experiential learning experience that you won’t find at any other pharmacy. At Alto, our pharmacists work cross-functionally across operations, engineering, and design to build a better, more intuitive community pharmacy from the ground up. We focus on challenges faced by patients, providers, and payers, and find solutions that optimize experience, transparency, and health outcomes.”

Read our previous post, 'From Pharmacist to Professor: Sandra Aziz Spotlight'.

They’re also here to teach you! Our pharmacists are happy to chat on the phone for however long you need to offer individualized support. Many customers use these one-on-one consultations to learn how to give themselves injections as part of fertility treatment or diabetes management or to confirm special storage or dosing instructions, but our pharmacists are happy to share their expertise on any question related to your prescriptions or health needs.

For example, did you know that our pharmacists are experts on managing side effects? As a bridge between you and your doctor, our pharmacists review all of your current medications to identify any potential symptoms or medication interactions, and they’re available to talk through any questions or concerns.

Lawmakers in several states have recognized the accessibility of pharmacists and their potential to play an even larger role in healthcare, specifically in the HIV prevention space. California became the first state to allow pharmacists to prescribe HIV prevention medication like pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) in 2019, and Colorado became the second in November 2020. 

“As healthcare providers in the community, there is a big opportunity for us as pharmacists to play a critical role in HIV prevention and help increase accessibility to medications like PrEP and PEP,” explains Susan Sun, Specialty Pharmacist. “It’s been wonderful to see growing recognition of a pharmacist’s impact even outside of the healthcare community, and the recent legislation that allows pharmacists to prescribe in some states is just a start. It’s a privilege for pharmacists to be a part of these exciting changes and make HIV prevention easier for others.”

In honor of American Pharmacist Month, we’d like to say a big and heartfelt thank you to our incredible team of 175+ pharmacists. Each of you plays a critical role in the wellbeing of our customers, the strength of our provider relationships and the quality of our service — we’re grateful for your hard work all year long. 

Here are just a few of the faces responsible for providing exceptional pharmacist care at Alto!

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in October 2021 and has been updated for accuracy and completeness.

Reproductive endocrinologist Dr. Guy Ringler — a former faculty member at UCLA and an advisory board member at Men Having Babies — was one of the first doctors in the world to help gay men have children through assisted reprodutive technology.

Spotlight on Men Having Babies & Dr. Guy Ringler

There are many ways to start a family and raise a child. And as recent decades have brought forth milestones in marriage equality and the fight for LGBTQ+ rights, the options for LGBTQ+ family building have also expanded.

According to 2019 data from the Williams Institute, almost 29% of people who identify as members of the LGBTQ+ community are raising children, up from 16.2% between 2014 - 2016. That includes a growing number of gay men who’ve had children through surrogacy, a process in which a woman who is not related to the child — a gestational surrogate — carries a baby who is biologically related to one of the fathers and an egg donor.

Breaking down barriers to LGBTQ+ family building

Reproductive endocrinologist Dr. Guy Ringler — a former faculty member at UCLA and an advisory board member at Men Having Babies — was one of the first doctors in the world to help gay men have children through assisted reprodutive technology. Throughout the twenty-five years that he’s been in practice, he’s seen how scientific advances and cultural changes have broken down barriers for gay men interested in parenthood.

“Over two decades ago, when I began my career, people barely understood the concept of surrogacy for gay men,” he says. “It wasn’t as easy to find women who wanted to become surrogates for gay couples. There was still fear about HIV, and there were questions about the impact of surrogacy on a child’s development.”

The landscape looks a lot different today. Thanks to cultural shifts and greater understanding of the science behind surrogacy — and to awareness-raising organizations like Men Having Babies — there are now more options than ever to become a parent regardless of your sexual orientation or gender identity.

“Greater acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community and marriage equality has opened people’s minds and allowed them to see that gay families can thrive, just like any family,” Dr. Ringler says. “Gay men are now able to plan for a future that we once didn’t know was possible.”

Getting to meet prospective fathers at Men Having Babies’ annual conferences is one of Dr. Ringler’s favorite things about working with the organization. He’s observed a greater number of gay men pursuing parenthood at an earlier age.

“I’m so inspired by the next generation of gay men, who are planning their families in their twenties. That simply wasn’t an option when I was their age.”

Men Having Babies and financial assistance for IVF and surrogacy

There are many steps on the road to parenthood for LGBTQ+ individuals and couples: fertility treatments, legal consultation, and financial planning are all required to start a family.

“Having a baby doesn’t just happen for gay men,” Dr. Ringler says. “It takes thoughtful planning and there are many decisions along the way.”

That’s why support from organizations like Men Having Babies is so critical. The organization started as a program at The Center (formerly the NYC LGBT Center) in 2005 and officially became a nonprofit in 2012. Today, Men Having Babies supports thousands of gay men and couples around the world in starting their families through surrogacy, with monthly workshops, annual conferences and financial resources. 

Determining how to pay for IVF and surrogacy is an important part of planning your family. As part of the process, Dr. Ringler suggests mapping out a vision for your family. Knowing how many children you want can help you prepare for the cost: “When you’re making the commitment to start a family as a gay man, think about how you will financially support the decision. It may feel overwhelming, but it’s similar to the process of buying a house. If it’s really important to you, you can find a way to make it work.”

There are many resources to help alleviate the cost, including Men Having Babies’ Gay Parenting Assistance Program (GPAP) . The program offers different forms of financial support, including:

Discounted and free services donated by more than one hundred leading IVF, surrogacy, egg donation, and legal service providers to prospective parents (Stage I support)

Discounted and donated ancillary services, including fertility medication, escrow services, and insurance resource services (Stage I support)

Cash grants for approved prospective parents based on income eligibility (Stage II support)

Learn more about the criteria for applying to Stage I or Stage II support from the GPAP.

You must be a member of Men Having Babies to receive financial assistance. You can become a member by making an annual donation of $150 or more. Learn more about the membership process.

In addition, EMD Serono offers financial assistance for fertility medications and Family Equality has a list of family-building grants that help LGBTQ+ families afford fertility treatment. Be sure to also ask your fertility clinic or pharmacy about available financial assistance programs and payment plans.

The importance of researching your options

As Dr. Ringler emphasized, gay men building a family through IVF and surrogacy have many decisions to make throughout the process. For that reason, it’s important to thoroughly research your options and to work with a medical team that you trust. Here are some additional considerations to be mindful of as you plan your family.

Understanding the process of IVF and surrogacy

In IVF, eggs and sperm are combined in a laboratory. When gay men conceive through IVF, the sperm will come from one of the fathers and the eggs will come from a donor. Then the fertilized eggs, or embryos, are placed into the uterus of a gestational carrier who will carry the baby to term.

Not only is this an exciting time for expectant dads, as Dr. Ringler notes, but surrogates can play a big role in raising awareness of LGBTQ+ families.

“In my experience, surrogates who are asked when their baby is due while out in public may feel comfortable sharing that they’re having a baby for a gay couple. This helps open up more people’s minds to the possibilities for LGBTQ+ parenthood.”

Understanding your goals for your relationship with your surrogate is one of many key decisions, and there is a spectrum of options. Some couples cultivate intimate relationships with the surrogates while others prefer to remain more detached. There’s no one right choice — it’s all about understanding what’s best for you.

“If your surrogate wants a little distance, that does not mean that they are any less committed to the process,” Dr. Ringler says, adding that it’s important to discuss your preferences in an open discussion with your surrogacy agency.

Deciding who will be biologically related to the child

Another important decision for same-sex male couples is deciding which parent will be genetically related to the child. When heterosexual couples have babies through IVF, both parents can contribute their genetic material, so that the baby is biologically related to both, even when using a gestational carrier. 

But with gay men, only one father can contribute his sperm per pregnancy, so it’s important to discuss this decision with your partner if having a child as a couple. Some fathers fertilize multiple eggs so that both can have a biological connection with one of their children. Taking time to identify your family building goals will allow you and your partner to plan for the financial cost of more than one round of IVF, if you choose to pursue that option.

Keep in mind that you can establish a legal paternal relationship with your child even if you are not biologically related to them. It’s critical to research your state’s laws about legal parentage procedures once your baby is born. Movement Advancement Project’s interactive map on parental recognition laws is a good starting point. 

Be sure to speak with an experienced LGBTQ+ family lawyer in your state before starting the IVF and surrogacy process. There are many forms of financial support to help alleviate the cost of these legal services, like Men Having Babies’ Gay Parenting Assistance Program.

There's a wide selection of available egg donors, and one of the factors to consider as you choose yours is whether they will be anonymous or open. With an open donor, you can more easily answer any questions your child may have about their genetic background. However, some families prefer anonymous donors, and sometimes an anonymous donor’s physical or personality traits better fit your goals. Both paths are viable options, and it all comes down to what’s right for your family.

Regardless of which option you choose, Dr. Ringler notes that you should be prepared to share information with your child about how they were conceived. You can even get creative with how you share their journey: some of Dr. Ringler’s patients have created story books for the whole family to read together, which helps children understand their background and feel proud of who they are.

Seeking support for your family building journey

While there are many paths to take, and many decisions to make, as you build your family, all will lead to the same destination of parenthood.

“I personally had a very close relationship with my mother growing up, and as gay men, we can’t guarantee our children that same experience,” Dr. Ringler says. He notes that if you have an open donor, your child’s biological mother may be able to have a presence in their life, which is another important factor to consider when planning your family.

But regardless of your chosen family structure, “I’ve seen again and again throughout my career that all you need to start a happy, healthy family is love and fun.”

One thing that’s certain: family building as a gay man is much easier to navigate with support from organizations like Men Having Babies. If you’re feeling overwhelmed while planning for a family, remember that you don’t have to go through this journey alone. Men Having Babies understands the challenges specific to building a family as a gay man, and their resources can help you fulfill your dreams of becoming a parent.

Learn how to become a member of Men Having Babies.

At Alto, we’re proud to support Men Having Babies, and we’re happy to be a part of your family building journey if fertility prescription medications become part of your plan. Reach out any time to get started though the Alto app  or phone at 1-800-874-5881.

Dr. Lisa Sterman, M.D., MPH, is an expert in the field of HIV medicine who has been in private practice in San Francisco for over 20 years. She kindly agreed to sit down and talk with us about pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), an HIV prevention method that's available by prescription.

HIV Health Spotlight: A conversation about PrEP with Dr. Lisa Sterman

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Dr. Lisa Sterman, M.D., MPH, is an expert in the field of HIV medicine who has been in private practice in San Francisco for over 20 years. After obtaining her Master’s in Public Health, she completed her training in medicine and HIV at UCSF. She’s been involved in clinical research for HIV medications and has worked in the community as an educator and advocate, including serving on the Board of Directors for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, for many years. 

Dr. Sterman kindly agreed to sit down and talk with us about pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), an HIV prevention method that's available by prescription. The most important thing she wanted us to know? This conversation is for everyone.

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