New Law Promotes Collaboration Between Pharmacists and Patients

In Pennsylvania, a new law, lets patients collaborate with pharmacists on their medication programs. The aim is to improve health and save money.

The law will allow for collaborative drug therapy management between physicians and pharmacists in the community will be better able to collaborate on drug therapy management. Before, this collaboration was only possible in institutional settings like hospitals and nursing homes.

The National Association of Chain Drug Stores had lobbied for the legislation and praised the Pennsylvania Association of Chain Drug Stores and the Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association for their work in creating this law.

Pharmacy: A Changing Profession

Pharmacist Schools

While some retail chains are closing their 24-hour pharmacies, hiring fewer pharmacists and using lower-cost technicians to fill the gaps, they are also driving many independent, family-owned community pharmacies out of business.

Meanwhile, pharmacy benefits managers such as Express Scripts Inc. are competing directly against retail chains, offering direct mail deliveries of prescription medicines to consumers.

However, new opportunities for pharmacists are available. Clinical pharmacists are becoming more accepted as key members of a patient's health care team, as experts in drug therapy who can help manage a patient's long-term care.

"It's a frightening time for pharmacists because the ones who are attempting to sustain themselves in the old way, focusing on distribution, are finding it tough to survive," said Wendy Duncan, the dean and vice president of academic affairs, St. Louis College of Pharmacy. "And the people who are trying to work in new ways in the clinical setting are having difficulty making a living."

Duncan said the college's new focus would help position pharmacy graduates to assume a highly valued, "hub" role in health care reform.

Read more about it at: http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/business/stories.nsf/0/0BF1D149152188B7862577230013E488?OpenDocument

Pharmacist Unions

In some cases, pharmacists are being overworked and treated badly by employers. As a result, pharmacists are turning to unions to represent them in the workplace.

The benefits of a union contract for employee pharmacists is a grievance procedure in place to make sure that employee pharmacists are treated fairly. For example, guaranteed break and lunch periodsand set job descriptions for pharmacists in the contract. Without union representation, some pharmacists are given tasks like cleaning the bathrooms and stocking non-pharmaceutical merchandise on the shelves.

Thomas Hanson, president of NPHA-USW Local 1969, which represents Walgreens pharmacists in the greater Chicago area, says, "Non-union pharmacists are always calling or e-mailing our office and wanting information about us and how to organize."

Read more at: http://www.modernmedicine.com/modernmedicine/Associations/Is-it-time-for-pharmacists-to-unionize/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/668529

Pharmacist Jobs and CA Court Ruling

Pharmacist Manpower Project's Latest Data on Available Jobs
(Last Update: 4/21/2010)

Pharmacists Job Demands by Region

5.0 - 6.0 means high demand
4.0 - 5.0 means moderate demand
3.0 - 4.0 means supply and demand are in balance.
2.0 - 3.0 means more pharmacists than available jobs

Regional and Divisional Demand Index

Region / Division States Demand Index
Northeast 3.26
New England CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT 3.09
Middle Atlantic NJ, NY, PA 3.33

South 3.52
South Atlantic DE, DC, FL, GA, MD, NC, SC, VA, WV 3.32
East South Central AL, KY, MS, TN 3.73
West South Central AR, LA, OK, TX 3.73

Midwest 3.41
East North Central IL, IN, MI, OH, WI 3.43
West North Central IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD 3.36

West 3.44
Mountain AZ, CO, ID, MT, NV, NM, UT, WY 2.92
Pacific AK, CA, HI, OR, WA 3.67


The California Pharmacists Association Applauds Court Ruling

SACRAMENTO, Calif.(BUSINESS WIRE) Federal Judge Christina A. Snyder, of the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, issued a preliminary injunction to stop two new reductions on payments to pharmacies in the state Medi-Cal program. The cuts were included as part of last year's State Budget and threatened to reduce access to prescription medications for Californians in the state Medi-Cal program. If implemented these cuts would have resulted in the demise of the entire Medi-Cal pharmacy program, states attorney of record, Lynn S. Carman.

The lawsuit was filed in 2009 on behalf of all pharmacies in California and the millions of Medi-Cal beneficiaries who are their patients. The legal effort was led by attorney Lynn S. Carman of the Medicaid Defense Fund and the California Pharmacists Association (CPhA). The pharmacies argued that the cuts would reduce pharmacy payments to a level that would force them to stop servicing Medi-Cal patients or drive them out of business, compromising patient care.

Drug Prices

Consumers are paying more for their prescription-drugs and insurance coverage co-payments even with more generics and discount programs being used this year.

That's because pharmacist costs and customer co-pays are rising fast, which continue the trend from 2009. Generic co-pays are now $10 - $15 rather than the $5 they had been. Meanwhile, branded prescription co-pays now go as high as $80.

The new health insurance reform law could lower prescription prices by expanding the number of insured as well as overall demand.

A Day in the Life of a Pharmacist

Being a pharmacist these days can be stressful and rewarding. Just ask Joey Mattingly. In his blog (http://www.pharmacistplace.com/2010/04/keeping-my-head-up.html), he tells us that:

"My morning started off very stressful with discussions with my store manager about my technician hours and personnel issues. There had been some miscommunication at my store that led me to believe I was able to hire one more part time employee and when this did not happen and my pharmacy was left with no help you could say I was a little upset."

"Later that day I was pulled aside by one of the department heads from the store who wanted to tell me something. He said that my name has been coming up a lot among other employees around the store and that he wanted to pass along that I had been doing a great job. He said it was “so nice to have a pharmacist in our store that is friendly, willing to stop what he is doing, come out from behind the counter and answer any question that someone may have.” I had to go to the back of the store for a minute and pull it together because the quick turn around from being upset and stressed out to the feeling of actually being appreciated almost made me tear up."

Today's Clinical Pharmacist

The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists has created a 7-minute video profiling the job of today's clinical pharmacist. It talks about the evolving role of a pharmacist as a member of the healthcare team.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SANWMoTXY-k&feature=player_embedded#

To Relocate or Not...

The economy has affected everybody in one way or another. The good news for pharmacists is that you have job security at a time when so many others don't. But even so, things could be better job wise for a number of reasons thanks to our struggling economy.

Career Advancement Challenges

In many cases pharmacists must relocate to advance in their careers, especially now when positions that would have opened up at their workplaces are not opening up. One reason is that pharmacists who were planning to retire don't because their retirement funds have shrunk along with the slumping stock market. Another reason is that the new positions which would have been created at many workplaces are not being created because demand for all health care has dropped as general unemployment has risen nationwide.

Relocation Challenges

While some pharmacist employers are still hiring, most are not local. The big problem for pharmacists, who would normally relocate to pursue these jobs, is that declines in home values make it impossible for many to sell their existing homes without losing a lot of money. Family considerations also hold some back from making moves.

Existing Working Conditions

While it is good to be loved by employers, working longer hours and having less time off really is not an expression of love. Pharmacy staffs are being spread thin because many employers are reluctant to bring on additional staff right now. So, in these cases, the grass could definitely be a lot greener somewhere else.

A Great Time to Advance in Pharmacy

As a result of these conditions and factors, it is a great time for some to advance their pharmacist careers. Opportunities exist across the country, with the competition for them being relatively low. And, since many employers will pay for relocation, it is worth giving it a second thought if you are one of the few for whom it makes sense.

News Developments and Pharmacists

Pharmacists have a lot on their minds these days: the recession, long-term job prospects, healthcare reform, and the pending flu season to name a few concerns.

The Recession and Pharmacists

The demand for pharmacists throughout the U.S. has declined this year, especially in areas hit hard by unemployment. A report in Supermarket News says, “The Aggregate Demand Index for Pharmacists shows a fairly large drop in hiring demand for pharmacists when comparing March 2009 with March 2008.”

This is echoed by the dean of the College of Pharmacy at Touro University in Vallejo, CA. "Up until six months ago, pharmacy graduates faced great job opportunities and received multiple offers and sign-on bonuses," said Katherine K. Knapp, Ph.D. “The market for pharmacy jobs has since fallen off, with graduates in areas hard hit by the recession, such as Michigan, finding it difficult to find positions.”

Long-term Jobs Outlook

A pharmacist shortage is forecast for at least the next decade. According to some estimates, the U.S. will need more than 150,000 new pharmacists by 2020 to meet the expected demand. To address this, pharmacy schools are expanding, and at least a dozen new pharmacy schools will open their doors by the end of next year.

As a result of the pharmacist shortage, employers have been forced to do more with less. Automation is helping. Pharmacists are being trained on new systems and freed up to do more challenging work. Rather than being a threat to their jobs, automation is relieving pharmacists of time-consuming, manual tasks, which is increasing their overall value in the marketplace as highly skilled healthcare professionals.

Healthcare Reform and Pharmacists

The American Pharmacists Association wants pharmacists to become actively involved in the healthcare reform debate. It is advocating the following in connection with this:

“Do not assume that Congress, President Obama, or his Administration understand that you are the third-largest and most accessible health care profession; that pharmacists play a critical role in providing accessible, affordable and quality health care for patients; that more fully utilizing the pharmacists can further improve quality of care and decrease health care cost; or that they appreciate that by not addressing the nation's medication use problem we will miss a huge opportunity to improve the health of hundreds of thousands of patients.”

Pending Flu Season

Hospital pharmacy directors are making contingency plans to deal with potential staffing shortages if the flu prevents their employees from coming to work. Some plan to hire retirees and other part-time pharmacists as contract help when their staffers can’t work due to the flu. Some won’t be able to work because they are sick themselves, and others will have to stay home to care for children who have the flu. Another option being considered is to let their pharmacists work from home to verify orders remotely.

Retail vs Clinical

I talk with hundreds of pharmacists every week about their jobs; the things they like and the things they don't. One of the points they bring up again and again is that many retail pharmacy jobs no longer involve having close personal relationships with customers. The big retail chains emphasize volume and productivity over relationship building and counseling.

This is one of the big reasons why many retail pharmacists are now interested in becoming clinical pharmacists. But making this move is not so simple. In most cases it requires at least some recent clinical experience and/or training. Sometimes hospitals are willing to retrain a retail pharmacist, but these cases often involve unpopular shifts or small, rural facilities.

In an effort to increase job satisfaction, value-added customer service and reduce health care costs, some of the large retail chains are now introducing clinics in their facilities. These hybrid operations involve pharmacists, nurses and physicians to provide economical alternatives to emergency rooms for minor concerns.

Even hospitals, where pharmacists too often worked tangently, are integrating pharmacists in their patient-care teams to make sure everyone is always on the same page. Eliminating costly errors is a big driving force.

So, the trend in pharmacy is toward a smarter, integrated approach which involves more professional and patient counseling. As a result, the days of working in isolation and just pushing pills may be coming to an end. For some, that day can't come soon enough, but for others, who have thrived in that environment, there are always mail order pharmacies.

What do you think?