- Medicine Shoppe Canada to open store-within-a-store concept inside Quality Foods location (drugstorenews.com)
Medicine Shoppe Canada and its parent company, McKesson Canada, on Friday announced a partnership with Quality Foods, a Canadian grocery chain, to drive better patient experience in retail pharmacy...This partnership will see the opening of a new, state-of-the-art pharmacy within a leading grocery store – designed with evolving patient centric care models in mind. Long-time community pharmacist, Larry Johannessen...will operate the new location within the Port Alberni Quality Foods..."As pharmacists, patient and customer care is at the heart of what we do, each and every day", Johannessen said. "I’m excited to partner with Quality Foods to welcome patients into our new facility as we expand access to patient care."
- How Pharmacists Can Help Prepare Patients for Natural Disasters (pharmacytimes.com)
Jon Roth, CEO of the California Pharmacists Association, explains how pharmacists can help prepare their patients for natural disasters.
- PillDrill named ‘Best New Product’ at ECRM’s Home Health Care EPPS event (drugstorenews.com)
PillDrill won this year’s Drug Store News/ECRM Most Innovative Product Award...PillDrill was developed to be a smart, friendly medication tracking system that simplifies the task of everyday pill taking. It gives reminders when pills need to be taken, tracks what’s being taken with a quick scan and sends real-time adherence updates to those people involved in the patients' well-being...We learned early on that medication adherence is not a technology problem, it’s a human problem...So what makes PillDrill special is that it’s completely user-centric. It’s not some complicated piece of hardware, and it’s not an app; those things don’t really work for people in their everyday context…PillDrill is a light overlay onto an existing routine that provides all the benefits of a technology product without any of the hassles.
- What is the Status of Birth Control Prescribing Among California Pharmacists? (pharmacytimes.com)
Jon Roth, CEO of the California Pharmacists Association, discusses the status of birth control prescribing among pharmacists in California.
- Non-pharmacologic Treatment Options for Opioid-Induced Constipation (pharmacytimes.com)
Daniel T. Abazia, PharmD, BCPS, discusses some of the non-pharmacologic treatment options that pharmacists can recommend to patients experiencing opioid-induced constipation.
- Using a Mail Order Pharmacy Doesn’t Always Save You Money (news.yahoo.com)
Hoping to save a few bucks on your prescription, or just trying to avoid a trip to the drugstore?...While mail order can be a good option, it can also be a hassle, and savings aren’t guaranteed...using mail order can be easy, it could lead to communication errors or safety problems...The problem...is that medications may not arrive on time, which can be dangerous for people who rely on lifesaving drugs...The opposite problem can happen, too: Mail order pharmacies might auto-renew your prescriptions without confirming you’re still taking a drug or whether your dosage has changed. When possible, pick a service that will alert you before they ship out any medication...Medicare Part D drug plans require mail order pharmacies to get the okay from a patient or caregiver before shipping a new prescription or refill...Whether you shop in store or by mail order, once you find a pharmacy that fits your needs, our medical consultants strongly recommend you fill all your prescriptions there whenever possible. That way one pharmacy has a complete record of what you’re taking and can flag any potentially dangerous interactions. That might not be feasible, say, if you get your blood pressure drug through mail order and your doctor prescribes a post-surgery pain medicine that you need right away. When that happens, let each pharmacy know all the medications you're taking and update them regularly on any changes.
- FlavoRx unveils new FlavorMaster (drugstorenews.com)
FlavoRx debuted its newest piece of pharmacy equipment — the FlavorMaster — the reconstituting and flavoring device...The FlavorMaster uses FlavoRx’s Fillmaster water dispensing technology and its flavors, making reconstitution available with the press of a button...pharmacies have the power to boost pediatric adherence and improve a child’s health outcome...
- Pricing Power – Big pharmacies are dismantling the industry that keeps US drug costs even sort-of under control (qz.com)
When US lawmakers convened a hearing last month to discuss the pricing of prescription drugs, it was the testimony of Martin Shkreli...that garnered the headlines. But the hearing also looked at an issue that...could make drugs more expensive for far more people…The impetus was October’s announcement from Walgreens...that it was buying Rite Aid...Critics said that would create a drugstore duopoly with CVS, the market leader. They didn’t, however, look as hard at another effect of the deal, which likely will bring about the final collapse of the industry tasked with keeping prescription-drug costs under control...Buried inside Rite Aid is a bundle of pharmacy benefit managers...Walgreens says that acquiring Rite Aid’s PBMs would help it compete with arch-rival CVS, which controls a large and extremely profitable PBM called Caremark...combining pharmacies and PBMs under one roof creates a conflict of interest. It can restrict patients’ access to certain prescription drugs, and can prevent independent drugstores from competing fairly for new customers...As "competition decreases,"..."prices are going to increase. That’s what we’re finding now." If Walgreens successfully acquires Rite Aid and its PBMs, one of the industry’s last remaining constraints on drug prices will disappear.
- 3 Legislative and Regulatory Updates Pertinent to Pharmacists (pharmacytimes.com)
...at APhA’s 2016 Annual Meeting & Exposition...they discussed...the proposed nondiscrimination rule, pending pharmacist provider status legislation, and draft guidance on prescription drug abuse...
- Proposed Nondiscrimination Rule - Under this proposed rule, pharmacies would be required to offer language assistance services to patients with limited English, unless the pharmacy would face "undue financial burden," or if doing so would "result in a fundamental alternation in an entity’s health program or entity,"...also applies to the requirement that pharmacies provide auxiliary aids and services and the accessibility of programs through electronic and information technology...HHS does not expect compliance with the proposed rule to cost too much, and training employees on these new requirements is voluntary.
- Pharmacist Provider Status Legislation - legislation would allow pharmacists to be reimbursed for their services as long as the pharmacist serves in medically underserved areas, health professional shortage areas, or for medically underserved populations and follows the state’s scope of practice laws...there has been no opposition to the proposed legislation...cost will be a challenge...The next steps are getting a Congressional Budget Office score, meaning a cost estimate for the bill...they hope to see a score within a few weeks, and then a few weeks later, they can expect a House hearing.
- Draft Guidance on Prescription Drug Abuse - the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued draft guidance for prescribing opioids for chronic pain, which were fairly controversial...APhA’s comments on the guidelines included the fact that a team-based approach to care including pharmacists was needed. In addition, the guidelines should mention that the lowest-effective dose should be patient-specific, and more education is needed for health care professionals.
- APhA releases 2016 edition of the APhA Pharmacists’ Patient Care Services Digest (drugstorenews.com)Pharmacist's Patient Care Services Digest (media.pharmacist.com)
The American Pharmacists Association...released the 2016 edition of the APhA Pharmacists’ Patient Care Services Digest. The publication shows the continued growth of pharmacists’ patient care services and highlights the expanded roles pharmacists have in the health care system... Overall, findings from the survey indicate that there is a continued expansion of pharmacist-provided patient care; confidence in pharmacists as care providers continues to grow; pharmacists are reducing gaps in care and improving performance for health plans; and work systems and processes are being aligned with desired outcomes of care...