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Walgreens retail clinic business has been floundering. Last week, Walgreens announced that it would shut the last of its in-house retail clinics and in favor of outsourcing clinic operations to hospitals and health systems...Other retailers are investing in more expansive healthcare services to realize the promise of store-based healthcare. That’s one reason why CVS Health is rolling out its HealthHUBs, while Walmart is phasing out its traditional retail clinics in favor of a more comprehensive Walmart Health offering...Many large retail chains operate clinics, but their strategies and growth rates differ. I expect the traditional retail clinic model to fade in favor of locations with broader healthcare services. This new direction will put pharmacies in more direct competition with urgent care clinics and primary care providers...READ MORE

Walgreens and VillageMD...announced a collaboration focused on providing...primary care...VillageMD will operate...clinics next to five Walgreens stores in the Houston area...branded ‘Village Medical at Walgreens,’ will provide comprehensive primary care services, integrated tightly with pharmacists, nurses and social workers to meet the full suite of patient needs...READ MORE

...Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc and health insurer Humana Inc are in preliminary discussions to take equity stakes in each other...Humana said it would partner with Walgreens, with its unit operating senior-focused primary care clinics inside two Walgreens stores in Kansas...The companies are discussing the possibility of expanding that venture, among other options...

CVS Health is now planning to treat kidney failure patients, as the national drugstore chain continues to branch deeper into monitoring and providing care...it will offer home dialysis for patients through its Coram business, and it is working with another unspecified company to develop a new device for that...The companies will start a clinical trial of their device this year...CVS Health will begin its expansion into kidney care with a program that helps identify chronic kidney disease early. It will then connect those patients with nurses for training and nutritional counseling to help delay the need for dialysis...CVS Health Corp. has been broadening its reach beyond drugstores for years. It also runs a pharmacy benefit management business and is spending $69 billion to buy the insurer Aetna. It also has been expanding care offered through its more than 9,800 locations (1,100 clinics).

With eight months of data under their belts, CVS Health is seeing strong performance out of its early HealthHUB retail stores in the Houston area...CEO Larry Merlo said on the company's earnings call...that these concept stores, which dedicate more than 20% of retail space to health services, outperform control retail pharmacies in script volume, MinuteClinic visits, front store sales, foot traffic and store margin..."rapid rollout" of the HealthHUB stores is proceeding on track, he said, with the healthcare giant expanding into three additional metro areas by the end of this year. CVS plans to transform 1,500 of its stores into HealthHUBs by 2021...READ MORE

Board Members
Leo Basch, PharmD, RPh, Las Vegas
Robert Sullivan, Reno
Jason Penrod, PharmD, RPh, Reno
Kevin Desmond, RPh, Reno
Wayne Mitchell, PharmD, RPh, Carson City
Melissa Shake, PharmD, RPh, Las Vegas
Jade Jacobo, PharmD, JD, RPh, Las Vegas

Retirement of the Executive Secretary
- Larry L. Pinson, PharmD, RPh

New Reno Office -
985 Damonte Ranch Parkway, Suite 206, Reno, NV 89521.

Board Member Update

Nevada Medicaid Initiates Antibiotics Prior Authorization Criteria - Nevada Department of Health and Human Services

National Pharmacy Compliance News

Final Guidance Documents Address FDA Policies Related to DSCSA

First FDA-Approved Drug Containing Extract From Cannabis Plant to Be Placed in Schedule V

ASHP Guidelines Provide Recommendations for Preventing Patient Harm From Medication Errors

FDA’s Final Guidance Documents Address Compounding and Repackaging of Radiopharmaceuticals

Pharmacy Toolkit Encourages Conversations With Patients About Prescription Opioids

Biosimilars Added to FIP’s Policy on Pharmacists’ Right to Substitute a Medication

FDA Offers CE Course on Reducing Hypoglycemic Events in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes - Leveraging Health Literacy and Patient Preferences to Reduce Hypoglycemic Events in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

What I’m(Michael Hogue, president-elect of the American Pharmacists Association) hearing from these recent graduates, as well as from seasoned pharmacists, is:

• Public and private payers are looking to pay the lowest price for prescription drugs;
• The community pharmacy business model no longer supports sufficient staffing, leaving little time for patient care, and in some cases jeopardizing patient safety;
• Pharmacists, now largely employed by a corporate entity rather than through private practice, feel they have little control over their practice environment and professional judgment;
• The number of pharmacists in many markets is leading to fear among some of losing their jobs or experiencing lower wages if they do not meet productivity metrics as more technical tasks are delegated to technicians;
• Full-time employment is sometimes hard to come by as a pharmacist; and
• Young pharmacists have tremendous personal debt from college.

The American Pharmacists Association...adopted a policy on the pharmacist workplace environment and patient safety. The policies serve not only as guiding statements and principles for the profession, but are frequently referenced when key policy and legal decisions are at play. In addition...APhA board of trustees has incorporated pharmacist well-being initiatives as core to our strategic plan. Among other efforts, we are building tangible resources to assist individual pharmacists with practice challenges, professional satisfaction, recognition and personal well-being...APhA is working with other professional organizations and employers to seek legislative changes at the state and national levels that will result in recognition of pharmacists as providers of care. Coupled with changes that remove unnecessary barriers to the use of technologies and technicians, this will lead to new opportunities for the patient care we are capable of providing, allowing the business model to shift.

Saint Mary’s Medical Group will open its new North Valleys Urgent Care Clinic...“Saint Mary’s believes in the importance of providing excellent care throughout the community,” Dr. Bayo Curry-Winchell, Urgent Care Medical Director for Saint Mary’s Medical Group, said in a statement. “As the North Valleys continue to grow in population, providing care close to home is essential.”...READ MORE

Walgreens has undertaken a partnership to bring Aspen Dental-branded dental offices to two of its locations in Florida. The companies said the collaboration is aimed at helping transform Walgreens’ stores into health destinations that improve healthcare access in convenient settings...The companies held a “floss-cutting” ceremony at a location in Palatka, Fla. On Dec. 13, with the second Aspen Dental at Walgreens location set to open in the second quarter of 2019. The Aspen Dental office will offer free new patient exams and X-rays for patients without insurance and will feature an onsite denture lab to quickly turnaround custom dentures, repairs, relines or adjustments...

With the recent deaths of Spade and Bourdain, health care professionals are also concerned about suicide contagion, a phenomenon in which high-profile suicides influence patients to attempt or committ suicide themselves...pharmacists can play a key role in preventing suicide...pharmacists are ideally situated to assist those in need because of their frequent interactions with patients and access to medical records...However, pharmacists are often unprepared to properly respond to signs of suicide risk, as very few pharmacy schools incorporate suicide prevention courses into their curricula...here are 5 ways pharmacists can help patients who are contemplating suicide...

1. Identify at-risk patients.
2. Monitor medication use and mental health.
3. Collaborate with the health care team.
4. Refer to suicide prevention resources.
5. Be encouraging and empathetic.