Pharmacists can prescribe birth control in new, game-changing legislation in California and Oregon

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Great. So we can't even schedule these things; they're just walk-ups?

You can schedule it, you just can't require scheduling.

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so increased liability without increase in pay. i'm all for expanding our scope of practice, but i feel this will leave the retail pharmacist with more work load than they can already handle.
 
so increased liability without increase in pay. i'm all for expanding our scope of practice, but i feel this will leave the retail pharmacist with more work load than they can already handle.
You get paid something like $34 for each assessment and repeat assessment.
 
You get paid something like $34 for each assessment and repeat assessment.

doesn't go into our pockets. I don't foresee an increase in salary i meant.
 
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As employees everything we do goes in the employer's pocket. Don't like it be self employed

And if you're self employed understand that you are not your business. You are an owner and employee of your business. Your business's resources are still limited and you likely want to pay yourself without bankrupting your business.
 
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And if you're self employed understand that you are not your business. You are an owner and employee of your business. Your business's resources are still limited and you likely want to pay yourself without bankrupting your business.

True. I just meant that in terms of being entitled to the sweat of your brow though, that's for the owner not the employee.
 
True. I just meant that in terms of being entitled to the sweat of your brow though, that's for the owner not the employee.

Amen brother that's why I have stock positions in various companies throughout the whole industry. Entitling myself to the sweat off all the brows. We in this together! Go team!
 
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Yet another free service for busy pharmacists to offer. I bet most pharmacists are against this.

They are teaching how to do physical exams in pharmacy school now. Annual exams will be the next free service pharmacists will offer. I don't understand how it benefits them.
 
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So the retail chains aren't even planning on offering pharmacists any sort of commission/bonus pay for performing a certain number of assessments?
 
Of course not. They'll point to dwindling reimbursements and say that's the reason why there's no salary increase. That's probably true, but it's annoying.
 
Yet another free service for busy pharmacists to offer. I bet most pharmacists are against this.

They are teaching how to do physical exams in pharmacy school now. Annual exams will be the next free service pharmacists will offer. I don't understand how it benefits them.

My pharmacy school had us do diabetic foot exams, listen to heart beats and lung sounds, and a couple of other physical exams on mock patients. I don't know in what world they think I would ever be doing anything like that as a pharmacist. The time I ever physically interacted with a patient was when I was on rotation at a retail store and some dude wanted his blood pressure checked because he hadn't been taking his medicine.
 
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Might as well just add one more task to do between the 1000 other things a retail pharmacist is responsible for without additional compensation. Seems legit. So glad i jumped that ship.
 
Might as well just add one more task to do between the 1000 other things a retail pharmacist is responsible for without additional compensation. Seems legit. So glad i jumped that ship.
I've considered a hospital position, but I honestly enjoy the fun and fast pace of my store. Of course, that can all go south in a heart beat if you have a bad team...
 
I've never seen a pharmacist do one in any setting

Clinical, ambulatory, in patient, retail, industry etc
Have you ever seen a pharmacist do anything besides check prescriptions? Have you ever looked?

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So ground breaking and game changing that I still don't know one pharmacy/pharmacist in CA who knows what the heck to do... Would like to hear from rph in oregon or Washington who has experience in this
 
So ground breaking and game changing that I still don't know one pharmacy/pharmacist in CA who knows what the heck to do... Would like to hear from rph in oregon or Washington who has experience in this

This is not a thing in Washington. (Pharmacists can only prescribe under collaborative agreements.)
 
I've never seen a pharmacist do one in any setting

Clinical, ambulatory, in patient, retail, industry etc

I work in an ED.

At least once a week we'll get a super interesting case where the attending will ask me to go do an exam on a patient and we discuss the findings.

Last week it was a serotonin syndrome (mild).

Do I do it every day? No. But the skills are there for when I want to.


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I work in an ED.
At least once a week we'll get a super interesting case where the attending will ask me to go do an exam on a patient and we discuss the findings.
Last week it was a serotonin syndrome (mild).
Do I do it every day? No. But the skills are there for when I want to.
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I'm wondering what is the point of having you do a physical exam. I can see the physical consulting with you about whether or not a drug reaction/interaction/overdose is causing the patient's problems, but why would you need to actually do the physical exam yourself? A nurse would have already done an initial examination, presumably the physician did a 2nd confirming/more indepth examination, why would a 3rd physical examination be needed? Why wouldn't the physician just go over the findings of the first 2 physical examinations to get your thoughts?
 
I'm wondering what is the point of having you do a physical exam. I can see the physical consulting with you about whether or not a drug reaction/interaction/overdose is causing the patient's problems, but why would you need to actually do the physical exam yourself? A nurse would have already done an initial examination, presumably the physician did a 2nd confirming/more indepth examination, why would a 3rd physical examination be needed? Why wouldn't the physician just go over the findings of the first 2 physical examinations to get your thoughts?

It's mostly when we're nerding out over stuff.

I am under no illusion that my exam adds anything to the equation.


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I haven't read it, but what if I'm just a free floating pharmacist without a physical pharmacy I can dispense from? Can I write a script for another pharmacy to actually fill?


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I haven't read it, but what if I'm just a free floating pharmacist without a physical pharmacy I can dispense from? Can I write a script for another pharmacy to actually fill?
The wording makes it seem like that's possible (I'm considering reaching out to a PCP to see if I can work in his office for this reason), but it seems like the intention is for this to be done at the site of dispensing.
 
Those are some interesting results. I'll have to look this up. Would be more interesting in knowing the details of the program and how it was carried out. It seems pharmacists stand to make a huge impact by getting involved in patient care after all (who knew?). It makes sense for pharmacists to have some degree of autonomy to perform medication management...perhaps targeting certain patients that meet specific criteria. It's not hard to guess which patients would benefit most from more intensive medication management services. Switching between medications in a class, titrating doses, adding on new medications for chronic conditions... much of that doesn't really require input from physicians other than that they have to authority to "O.K." it at this point. I've already seen so many cases of chronic medications being prescribed incorrectly, missing important medications (I mean, CHF patients with no beta blockers...? Come on!). I've often wondered how successful collaborative practices between pharmacists and physicians can be and whether outcome-based reimbursement be able to drive those practice models (probably not by itself, but still interesting to wonder)?

But anyways, back onto topic...oh right. Birth control. There really needs to be some kind of recognized competency in place. Not every pharmacist wants to do this, nor is every pharmacist qualified to do this. Those who are interested could obtain the required competency. It certainly would make themselves more marketable, especially if pharmacy employers want to advertise that they offer this service.
 
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