BEYOND TRANSPARENCY: THE $4 DOLLAR EFFECT

Using the four dollar generic program in a transparent, Full Pass-through PBM Model to drive rapid reduction in cost to Payors & members
First, this case study will seek to highlight the impact of the $4 generic program, which has growing enthusiasm with payors, and has been applied to a Health Plan in the Midwest with [...]

4 Ways Pharmacists Will Make A BIG Impact In 2010

Medication therapy management (MTM) is becoming more and more important as many patients continue to participate in increasingly complex and difficult pharmacotherapeutic treatment regimens concurrently that target a variety of disease states. Pharmacists are experts at fine tuning treatment regimens to be effective and safe, sharing their expert advice with other healthcare professionals in order improve treatment outcomes and avoiding unnecessary healthcare cost. After years of observation, this concept has shown itself as quite valuable in the arena of healthcare. A study published by Barnett MJ, Frank J, Wehring H, et al. J Manag Care Pharm. 2009;15:18-31 found that “for every $8.44 reimbursed to community pharmacists for providing MTM, the average estimated cost avoided by the healthcare system was $93.78.” As time goes on pharmacists will be utilized more and more to become involved in MTM services as reimbursement has shown as a good investment in quality and cost efficient healthcare.

Over The Counter Chaos!!

While at work the other day, I received a phone call from one of our nurses. She was given a sample of a corticosteroid nasal spray from her physician, and was curious how to correctly use it. After resolving the issue, I asked her how she felt, since that cute voice on the phone [...]

The Future of Specialty Drugs

(Part of a series)
Molecular biology is the field that overlaps with other areas of biology and chemistry, particularly genetics and biochemistry. Molecular biology chiefly concerns itself with understanding the interactions between the various systems of a cell, including the interrelationship of DNA, RNA and protein synthesis and learning how these interactions are regulated. [...]

Specialty Pharmacy

While pharmaceuticals have always had a vital impact on patients’ outcomes and improved quality of life, they also have played a large role in the growing expenditures of healthcare. Increased spending on pharmaceuticals outpaced every other category of healthcare expenses throughout the 1990s. But in the past few years, managed care pharmacy executives have had [...]

Antibiotic Resistance: Who’s Fault is it Anyway?

I’ve been preaching about the misuse of antibiotics for years, and the public at large is finally getting the message. “Antibiotic resistance and superbugs such as MRSA,” I’d say with the utmost conviction, “is due to so many unnecessary prescriptions for viral colds and flu!” That sounds familiar right? That’s what they taught us to [...]

Flex Your Spending Muscle Before It’s Too Late!

As the end of the year fast approaches, it’s time to look at your flexible spending account (FSA). These accounts tend to be “use it or lose it”, as it is wise to determine if you have a surplus of funds and how to utilize them so they aren’t lost. Here is a list of [...]

Acute Pain Control in the Emergency Setting: Non-Narcotic Alternatives

“Ma’am I understand your situation. I know it hurts you every day. I know it keeps you from doing the things you love to do, and I know that you’re getting depressed from the constant agony and the inability, but my hands are tied because your doctor has placed a message in your file that [...]

Will OTCs Help Reduce Healthcare Debt?

With the focus on healthcare changing, everybody in pharmacy is scrambling to show value added services and improved healthcare at lower reimbursement rates.
It’s everyone’s guess where the potential health plan will land, but rest assured, there will be a need for patients to spend more time looking at ways to make their healthcare dollars stretch.
Many [...]

Is Central Fill Taking Away My Job?

Recently I was filling in a shift at a local retail pharmacy and was listening to a couple of technicians talk about Central Fill coming to their company.
As you can imagine, the first thought that came to their head was “Am I being replaced by a robot?”
Good question, but not likely. Although central fill and [...]

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