Technology in Health Care

The Nashville Business Journal reports on a talk that Steve Ballmer gave at the Nashville Health Care Council. The main point of his speech was the distance that health care has to go to catch-up to technology. Yet, it is an area which can benefit extensively from improvements in health care.

“I’m optimistic. The money is coming. The national debate has been engaged. And now is the time where our industry may be able to step up with some enabling factors and make an even bigger difference,” Ballmer said.

It is amazing that health care technology seems to lag so far behind other sectors, yet technology offers so much that can improve our profession to improve patient safety and health. It can even allow us more time to interact with patients. After all, that is what we went into practice for.

Ohio Prescription Database Fight

According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Buckeye State Sheriffs' Association is working with the Ohio State Board of Pharmacy to write a law requiring doctors, nurses, dentists and others who write prescriptions for narcotic pain killers to consult a database. This is meant to prevent patient drug abuse.

According to the paper, Ohio would be the second state after Nevada to have this requirement.

However, doctor groups are expected to oppose this law because it adds another requirement.

Jeff Smith, director of government relations at the Ohio State Medical Association, said the group would likely oppose any mandate on doctors forcing them to check a database for prescriptions.

"We're not ready to agree to that kind of administrative burden on the Ohio physicians," Smith said, adding that it would hit doctors at a time when they are seeing more patients and implementing their own electronic medical records.

Doctors receive training on what to look for and how to evaluate potential patients who are doctor shopping for dangerous pain medications, Smith said.

However, he said, the statewide doctor's association is willing to work with the pharmacy board to understand why physicians aren't already voluntarily participating.

What are your thoughts on this? It often is the pharmacist who is required to verify that patients are not doctor shopping and abusing prescriptions. This bill attacks the problem from another angle. Is it more effective this way or through pharmacies?

Medical Cost Database

A state representative in Colorado is pushing a bill to create a state medical cost database. Basically, this would allow for transparancy into medical costs at various locations across the state.

The database systems combine information from all patients, whether they paid through private health insurance, Medicaid or out of their pockets.

Kefalas said he'd like to see Colorado's system track the cost of various episodes of care and compare them to similar situations in other parts of the state.

This is a good idea to help illuminate some of our medical care costs and perhaps a step in the right direction to lower them.

Healthcare Reform Benefit

One of the greatest benefits that a true healthcare reform act can have is to prevent "job lock". This happens when employees fear leaving their employer to begin their own businesses because the employee fears losing health care.

But the opportunity cost of sticking around a larger company for the coverage can be steep. Job lock costs U.S. workers an estimated $3.7 billion every year in foregone wages, according to a 2009 report from the White House Council of Economic Advisers.

Imagine if we had true universal healthcare. The entrepreneurs in our society would have the freedom to pursue their dreams and reinvigorate business with new companies and ideas because they would not have to fear losing their healthcare.

FTC Ban on 'Pay to Delay'?

According to the USA Today, the FTC wants to ban drug companies from paying to delay generic alternatives.

Agency officials estimate the deals cost American consumers $3.5 billion per year in unnecessarily high drug prices.

The FTC advocates making this ban in the healthcare reform bills being negotiated.

Disturbing Quote

From the Seattle Post Intelligencer, this is a disturbing quote from a pharmacy robber:

A 14-time felon has been charged with robbing the Maple Leaf Pharmacy and the Ballard Walgreens with an illegally possessed handgun, and is suspected of robbing the Reckless Video in Maple Leaf last month.

Jacob Harley Shook, 29, was released from the Monroe prison about six weeks ago, and told a friend he met there "robbing pharmacies for OxyContin is the only way to go," according to court documents.

More Outsourcing

Walgreens and Genpact have reached agreement to have Genpact provide accounting service. Genpact is a business outsourcing company. Note where there company has centers. According to their website, "We strive to be the first mover in a location to corner talent and set industry standards. We eagerly adopt Tier-2 cities to expand the talent pool, while maintaining price advantage for our clients." In other words, they look to be "the first mover" to take advantage of cheap workers.

This is another sellout of jobs overseas when our economy needs it least.

South Dakota Database

South Dakota is taking steps to implement a database to prevent doctor shopping. With the economic problems, questions remain whether the project could receive long-term funding. Additionally, it remains to be seen which government agency would supervise the database. The Attorney General is a supporter-

Attorney General Marty Jackley doesn't see money as a problem. Federal grants are available for start-up, and a pool of money from legal settlements can pay the bills for as long as 10 years before the state would need to look for more federal money or increase fees or taxes to maintain the database.

What are your thoughts on these systems? Have you as a pharmacist been subjected to increased burdens and problems?

Asian Carp Invasion

I hope people have been following the ominous progress of Asian Carp towards the Great Lakes. We must do more to prevent invasive species from invading the Great Lakes. Not only do they ruin local ecosystems, but they cause BILLIONS of dollars in damages.

Zebra mussels and other invasive species have already taken hold, but we can still prevent the Asian Carp from ruining our precious resources.

FDA Scam

Multiple sources are reporting on a scam being run by individuals calling people posing as the FDA. The scammer tells individuals that they are violating law by purchasing their medicine from outside the country. If the individual doesn't pay, they will be punished. This leads to individuals paying thousands of dollars to the scammer out of fear.

Helping to prevent innocent people from being scammed is another reason for strong community pharmacists. A strong pharmacist-patient relationship is more valuable than a few dollars saved from buying questionable drugs from online.

Extortionists posing as federal agents have taken as much as $31,000 from frightened people who thought they would be prosecuted for purchasing their medications from outside the country, federal regulators say.

Nevada Supreme Court Case

I've discussed this case previously on the blog, but the Nevada Supreme Court rendered a decision in Walmart v. Sanchez. This decision has a positive outcome for pharmacists.

The Nevada Supreme Court has ruled that pharmacies are not liable for the actions of their customers when those medicated patients cause harm to third parties. The much-anticipated ruling comes in a case filed against Wal-Mart and other local pharmacies involving a Las Vegas woman who killed one person and injured another while driving under the influence of prescription drugs.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Years

I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays and had a wonderful New Year. Look for more activity on the blog now that the holidays are over.