Good Press

The New York Times has a good article on the expanded role and opportunity for pharmacists to take in patients' health care. Not only is this good press for the pharmacy profession, but it can serve to inspire you to start or expand new areas in your practice. For example,

The idea of using pharmacists in this way began to gain popularity in 2006 when someMedicare plans started covering medication therapy management programs, paying $1 to $2 a minute to pharmacists to review patients’ medicines with them; this year, about one in four people covered by Medicare Part D prescription drug plans will be eligible, according to agency estimates. For example, a Medicare Part D plan covered Ms. Gelinas’s medication management session at Barney’s pharmacy.

More employers and insurers also pay for pharmacists to advise patients, a role that the new health care law encourages with potential grants for such programs. In Wisconsin, for example, community pharmacists and some health plans have banded together to create a joint program, the Wisconsin Pharmacy Quality Collaborative, to standardize medication therapy management and ensure quality care.

Meanwhile Humana, which first paid for pharmacists to work with Medicare patients, expanded its coverage a few years ago. About a third of the 62,000 pharmacies in its network offer these services, and the insurer says it is studying whether a pharmacist seeing a patient in person has more impact than a phone call.

Wisconsin Prescription Drug Law

Wisconsin lawmakers are attempting to rid a 1939 law requiring a minimum mark-up on wholesale prescription drug prices. If passed, this will allow large companies like Wal-Mart and Target to sell prescriptions at a steep discount.

Community pharmacists are fighting this law hard.

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.

Crime Prevention

The National Community Pharmacists Association and RxPatrol have released a short video to train pharmacy staff about "some of the pharmacy crimes occurring across the country. It also details low-cost measures to protect pharmacies and explains the steps to take if a robbery or other crime occurs."

The video is on RxPatrol's website and can be directly accessed here.

HPRP Provider

I recently had lunch with Dr. Bruce Baker of West Brook Recovery Center in Grand Rapids—an HPRP provider. Dr. Baker is a fascinating person and genuinely cares about the best results for his patients and health professionals.

Dr. Baker told me about the increased usage of prescription drugs among high school students. Although illicit drug usage has fallen among high school students across the country, 15.4% of 12th graders have abused prescription drugs within the past year. The most popular drugs are Vicodin, amphetamines, tranquilizers and sedatives. The majority admit to obtaining the drugs from a friend or relative and only 20% admit to purchasing from a dealer or stranger.

Perhaps reminding patients to secure their prescription drugs at home as a routine part of your counseling may decrease availability of drugs to youth.

Lucrative Business Plan?

Veterinary drug filling could be a lucrative opportunity for pharmacies. If you wish to research this opportunity further, I would be happy to work with you.

Must Read from the Washington Post

As mentioned in my newsletter, this article is from the October 29, 2009 edition of the Washington Post. It is entitled, "DEA Crackdown Hurts Nursing Home Residents Who Need Pain Drugs".

Heightened efforts by the Drug Enforcement Administration to crack down on narcotics abuse are producing a troubling side effect by denying some hospice and elderly patients needed pain medication, according to two Senate Democrats and a coalition of pharmacists and geriatric experts.

Tougher enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act, which tightly restricts the distribution of pain medicines such as morphine and Percocet, is causing pharmacies to balk and is leading to delays in pain relief for those patients and seniors in long-term-care facilities, wrote Sens. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).

The lawmakers wrote to Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. this month, urging that the Obama administration issue new directives to the DEA and support a possible legislative fix for the problem, which has bothered nursing home administrators and geriatric experts for years.

A Bill Threatening Wisconsin's Pharmacists

Here is another example of "big box pharmacies" driving independent pharmacists out of business. Obviously the "big box pharmacies" receive more income from other sales and can afford to sell prescriptions for lower prices.

A Fine Editorial

From the Hartford Courant, comes this editorial by Pharmacist Robert Bradley.

"Anyone who values having the option of going to a local independent pharmacy and dealing with a pharmacist who knows you personally and has the time to discuss your prescription needs should contact their state legislators and the governor's office and ask them to support small pharmacies by reconsidering this new state law on self-insurance."

New Posting Soon

A quick note- I will post a new article shortly.

It will address some of my thoughts on the current health care debate.

Newsletter Ideas

I am preparing a new newsletter to be ready in July.

Are there any topics that readers would like to see covered? Any new developments in pharmacy which you would like to see addressed?

If you have any ideas, please send me an email with it at cpencak@pharmacylawpro.com