This needs to be said- all of you who did a Residency were scammed

[lane one]

If only there were state-imposed pharmacist-prescription ratios and "show up" bonuses we could all waive our W-2's around...

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[PharmDBro2017]

If only there were state-imposed pharmacist-prescription ratios and "show up" bonuses we could all waive our W-2's around...

Why don't we have/create a pharmacist union to provide this type of thing?

 

[confettiflyer]

Why don't we have/create a pharmacist union to provide this type of thing?

Because it took one of the most powerful unions/organizations in the state three attempts during the 90's to get legislation passed/signed into law.

So not only do you need a union/org that is strong (not gonna happen), you need one with the sophistication to pass major legislation that would survive the onslaught of opposition from deep pocketed chains.

The best we've been able to do is being able to prescribe birth control and bill medicaid.


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[lord999]

Because it took one of the most powerful unions/organizations in the state three attempts during the 90's to get legislation passed/signed into law.

So not only do you need a union/org that is strong (not gonna happen), you need one with the sophistication to pass major legislation that would survive the onslaught of opposition from deep pocketed chains.

The best we've been able to do is being able to prescribe birth control and bill medicaid.


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On the other hand, there were periods where everything did come together. CAPhA (not the national) under the old ED Johnson's tenure was the reason that entering CA used to be really, really difficult and there was a cap on licenses from out of state, period (which actually survived interstate commerce lawsuit issues as CA's license only applied to the state). It was that way because Johnson was first a UAW scion and second a graduate of the third rate school in Michigan at the time where he couldn't get a job in state for oversupply reasons. IL had similar issues and got into a strong union situation which is why Walgreens has always been real afraid of that territory as the union did bust up the pay cartel which is where we started to get those decent pay raises. It wasn't as much the shortage (that came before) than basically enough pharmacists walking away from the conditions that set up the late 1990s and the nice period of the 00s. The hospital pharmacists in MN are largely unionized (except for Mayo which is an oddball for other reasons).

Now with an oversupply of not terribly good labor, it's back to business for the chains. Except one problem, the chains have no domestic opportunities for growth without M&A. The big three have more or less occupied any major real estate that unless they sell to each other or expand into county seat and rural territory, the only way to profit is cost control. So, the chains don't have it good either, and the business model is very risky with the consolidation of insurance companies.

I am worried for us pharmacists in a nominal sense, but I'm very worried that the way the industry does business might be going through some real changes when the cost containment attitude starts becoming dominant again. That doesn't bode well for any of us in any one of the medical professions.