Auburn University Pharmaceutical Care Center

At the Auburn University Pharmaceutical Care Center (AUPCC), pharmacists become an active member of your health care team. Our team works closely with your other healthcare providers to make sure you are getting the most from your medications. The AUPCC pharmacists are experienced medication experts and have been providing collaborative care with many physicians and prescribers since 2000.

The appointments scheduled at the AUPCC are personalized and based on the individual needs of the patient. We are dedicated to spending time with you to make sure you understand your disease states, why you are taking your medications, how you should take your medications appropriately, what you should expect from your medications, and when you should report to your physician or prescriber for follow-up.

Pharmacy Clinical Services

• Medication check-ups [PDF]
• Medication Therapy Management (MTM)
  • This program is designed for you to come in and speak with one of our pharmacists regarding your prescription and non-prescription medications. We will take the time to make sure you understand why you are prescribed certain medications for your medical conditions. We will also discuss how to take and what to expect from your medication, as well as recommend when you should report to your healthcare provider for further evaluation. We will also analyze the cost of your medication to ensure they are affordable. The goals of the MTM program are to help you better understand your medication management, prevent and effectively manage your medical conditions, and provide ongoing medication evaluation and monitoring.
  • Learn more about MTMs
• Medication Monitoring
  • Monitoring of medications taken long-term for chronic disease
  • Monitoring of medications that have a “narrow therapeutic index”- which means that the blood levels have to be high enough to be effective, but not too high or the medication might have side effects (examples: Coumadin®, seizure medications, etc.)
• “Diabetes and You®” diabetes management / monitoring program
  • The Diabetes and You program is designed for those who are diagnosed with diabetes or pre-diabetes to educate and to help better manage their disease with the assistance of a pharmacist. Our pharmacists will work with your primary healthcare provider or diabetes specialist to ensure that you receive the best diabetes care possible. This program gives you the opportunity to meet with an AUPCC pharmacist for one-on-one consultation and personalized management to meet your needs. In addition, you will have the opportunity to participate in group diabetes education.
• “Pack It Up” smoking cessation program
  • If you are a smoker, dipper, or chewer, and you want to quit but are having trouble, the AUPCC can help. We can assist you in creating a tobacco cessation plan and offer you advice on ways to help you quit and stay quit. Successful completion of the AUPCC tobacco cessation program, you may be eligible for the AU monthly tobacco discount.
• “Healthy Habits” weight management and cardiovascular risk reduction program
  • The Healthy Habits program is designed to offer you advice on how to become a healthier you. You will receive personalized biweekly to monthly counseling to give you the information necessary to reach your health goals. Our pharmacists will provide you with weight management tools, nutrition and exercise tips, and other healthy habits necessary to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
• Pharmacist Driven Disease Management and Education
  • In addition to the many services offered at the AUPCC, our pharmacists can also help you with other chronic medical conditions, such as high blood pressure (hypertension), high cholesterol (dyslipidemia), asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (“Breathe Easy®” program), and many others. You will receive personalized counseling discussing the aspects of the disease and how to properly manage it with medication and lifestyle changes. We can also work with your primary healthcare provider in optimizing your care and management.
• Nutrition Services
  • Counseling for health, weight loss, weight maintenance, digestive problems, and chronic disease management.
• Point of Care Testing
  • Cholesterol, Blood Glucose, Hemoglobin A1c, Anticoagulation (INR)
• War Eagle Women’s Health Program®
  • This program includes contraception advice and counseling, menopause monitoring, hormone therapy consultations, osteoporosis screenings, cardiovascular risk reduction interventions, breast cancer risk assessment.
• Pharmacogenomics
  • The TigerMeds Personalized Prescriptions Program was created in 2020 to provide patients with the opportunity to receive pharmacogenomic testing. Pharmacogenomics is the study of how an individual’s genes affect their response to medications. This relatively new field helps to develop medication regimens that can be tailored to an individual’s genetic makeup. Depending on your genetic makeup, some drugs may work more or less effectively for you than they do in other people. Similarly, some drugs may produce more or fewer side effects in you than in someone else. Through this program, you will have the opportunity to meet with an ambulatory clinical pharmacist for an initial medical history and medication review followed by pharmacogenomics education. If appropriate and desired, a saliva swab will be collected for a pharmacogenomic gene panel to be obtained. Once results of that gene panel are received by the AUPCC, you will be scheduled for a follow up pharmacogenomic consultation to review your personal pharmacogenomic report as it relates to your current medications. From there, your pharmacist will work with you and your physicians to optimize your current pharmacotherapy as well as provide recommendations on medications you may receive in the future.

Preventative Services

Health and Wellness Screenings

• Auburn's Healthy Tigers Program
  • The Healthy Tigers Wellness Program provides an opportunity for employees to "earn" an insurance premium discount by completing a voluntary health and wellness screening. This screening will include evaluation of several health risk factors including blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose (or blood sugar), weight, and BMI.
  • The results of the screenings will be available immediately during the appointment, and the employee will receive personalized counseling from one of our pharmacists.
  • For more information on the program, visit the Healthy Tigers website.
• SEIB’s Wellness Screening Program
  • The Wellness Screening Program provides an opportunity for state employees to "earn" an insurance premium discount by completing a voluntary health and wellness screening. This screening will include evaluation of several health risk factors including blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose (or blood sugar), weight, and BMI.
  • The results of the screenings will be available immediately during the appointment, and the employee will receive personalized counseling from one of our pharmacists.
  • For more information on the program, visit the SWC website.
• Be Wise and Get Immunized®
  • For adults and children (12 years or older for certain immunizations)
• Annual Flu Vaccine
  • Each year, beginning in the fall, we offer vaccination against the flu. This vaccination is recommended yearly in all people over the age of 6 months who are able to take it. We currently are able to offer flu shots to patients aged 12 and older.
  • Influenza virus causes fever, headache, cough, chills, fatigue, and muscle soreness. It can also lead to serious complications, especially in children, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems. Vaccination protects both you and those around you from the spread of the virus.
• Pneumococcal Vaccine
  • A series of these vaccinations are recommended for all individuals age 65 and older or individuals 19-64 with certain medical conditions.
  • Pneumonia mainly affects the lungs and can range from mild to life-threatening infections. Anyone can get pneumococcal disease, but some people are at greater risk for disease than others. Being a certain age or having the above medical conditions can put you at increased risk for pneumococcal disease. The best way to prevent pneumonia is by getting vaccinated.
• Tetanus (Td)
  • Vaccination against tetanus is recommended once every 10 years in people of all ages.
  • Tetanus (also known as “lockjaw”) is a bacterial disease that causes painful muscle contractions that can interfere with breathing and lead to death.
• Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis (TDaP)
  • A one-time immunization is recommended for all patients over 10 years old and for women between weeks 27 through 36 of each pregnancy. This vaccine is especially important for anyone who will be in contact with children less than two years of age. TDaP takes the place of one tetanus (Td) vaccination, which is recommended for one dose every 10 years.
  • Tetanus (also known as “lockjaw”) is a bacterial disease that causes painful muscle contractions that can interfere with breathing and lead to death.
  • Diphtheria causes a thick covering in the back of the throat leading to breathing problems, paralysis, heart failure, and even death. Diphtheria is spread from person to person, usually through respiratory droplets from coughing or sneezing, or by touching any object contaminated with the bacteria that cause diphtheria. Even with treatment, about 1 in 10 people with diphtheria die.
  • Whooping Cough (pertussis) is a highly contagious respiratory tract infection that can become a very serious infection, particularly in infants. People with whooping cough usually spread the disease by coughing or sneezing while in close contact with others, who then breathe in the bacteria that can cause the disease. When babies catch whooping cough, the symptoms can be very serious. Young babies could get pneumonia (lung infection), and many have trouble breathing. About half of babies younger than 1-year-old who get whooping cough end up hospitalized. This infection can cause babies to stop breathing, and a few have even died from the disease.
• Herpes Zoster
  • This vaccine is recommended for patients aged 50 years and older to protect against the virus that causes shingles and the related complications. The vaccine is a 2 dose serious separated by 2 to 6 months in most patients.
  • Patients previously infected with chickenpox are at risk of developing shingles. Shingles appears as a blistering rash that develops on one side of the face or body, typically scabbing over in 7 to 10 days, and clearing up within 2 to 4 weeks. About 1 to 5 days before the rash appears, people will often have pain, itching, or tingling in the area where the rash will develop. The most common complication is severe pain where the shingles rash was located. Shingles can also involve the eye, possibly leading to a loss of vision.
• Hepatitis B
  • Hepatitis B vaccination is a 2- or 3- dose series and is recommended for all people who may be exposed to bodily fluids, including people who work in a healthcare setting. Additionally, those who are increased risk of developing hepatitis B infection through social or environmental exposure should receive the vaccine.
  • Hepatitis B is a contagious and serious disease caused by a virus that attacks the liver. The hepatitis B virus (HBV) can cause lifelong infection, cirrhosis (scarring) of the liver, liver cancer, liver failure, and death. HBV spreads through blood or other body fluids that contain small amounts of blood from an infected person. People can spread the virus even when they have no symptoms. The best way to protect against hepatitis B is by getting the hepatitis B vaccine.
• Meningococcal
  • The quadrivalent meningococcal conjugate vaccine (Menactra® or Menveo®) should be given to adolescents aged 11 or 12 years old with a booster given at age 16 years. Adults at an increased risk of developing meningococcal disease are recommended to receive the vaccine as well.
  • Meningococcal disease is caused by a bacterium called Neisseria meningitidis and is spread from person to person, mainly during close contact with the exchange of respiratory or throat secretions (eg. coughing or kissing), or lengthy contact. Certain people are at increased risk for meningococcal disease, including children, adolescents, and young adults, and other certain environmental conditions. Keeping up to date with recommended vaccinations is the best defense against meningococcal disease.
• Human Papillomavirus (HPV)
  • The HPV vaccine is recommended for patients between the ages of 9 and 26 years and is given as a 2- or 3- shot series, depending on the age at which you are first vaccinated.
  • HPV is a group of more than 150 related viruses, with some types causing genital warts and cancer, especially cervical cancer. HPV is a very common virus that is transmitted through intimate skin-to-skin contact, with it being the most common sexually transmitted infection. Symptoms can develop years after you have been infected. Though most HPV infections go away on their own, some HPV infections persist. HPV infections that do not go away can cause changes in the cells of the infected area that can lead to genital warts or cancer, which may not have signs or symptoms until it is quite advanced and hard to treat.
• Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR)
  • MMR vaccine is typically given in childhood as a 2 dose series, with one dose given between 12 and 15 months, and the second dose given between 4 and 6 years. Adults with no evidence of immunity to measles, mumps, or rubella are recommended to receive one dose of the MMR vaccine, with certain special populations requiring 2 doses.
  • Measles is a very contagious respiratory (lung) disease spread through the air by cough, sneezing, or breathing respiratory droplets. In addition, a rash starting at the head and spreading to the rest of the body may occur. About 1 in 5 people who develop the measles will be hospitalized, and in serious cases, may result in death.
  • Mumps are spread through respiratory droplets and present with symptoms for roughly 7 to 10 days. Symptoms of mumps can be swollen glands under the jaw or ears, muscle ache, fever, and tiredness.
  • Rubella is spread through respiratory droplets and can present as a low grade fever, rash, aching joints, swollen glands, cough, and runny nose. Though rubella is typically mild in children, it can cause brain infections in rare cases.
• Rabies
  • The AUPCC provides pre- and post-exposure rabies vaccine for eligible patients.
• Tuberculosis Screenings (TB skin tests)