Automatic medicine: Vending machines for prescriptions sell convenience

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Less transfers! Sounds good if you work for CVS. ;)

Now all we need is a virtual doc-in-a-box, and the problems of healthcare will be solved! :smuggrin:
 
Those machines have been around in some shape or form for more than 20 years. They have gone absolutely no where. In Illinois, you could only use those machines for refills anyway.
 
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I think that they would only be allowed to be used for refills due to OBRA 90. Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't tht the legislation that said for every new prescription the offer to counsel must be made?

Also, I will be curious to see how BOPs w/ laws stating that the pharmacy can not be open unless a pharmacist is present are going to handle this. Are they going to change the rules to allow it or are they just not going to allow it?
 
firefighter9015 said:
I think that they would only be allowed to be used for refills due to OBRA 90. Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't it the legislation that said for every new prescription the offer to counsel must be made?

Also, I will be curious to see how BOPs w/ laws stating that the pharmacy can not be open unless a pharmacist is present are going to handle this. Are they going to change the rules to allow it or are they just not going to allow it?
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Yes. That's the law. If you're doubting yourself, stop. :p
 
Dont worry about Taurus. I got into an argument with him about nurses. I know he has worked hard but unfortunately, his profession has let him down and nurses are taking over primary care and he's going to make less money. I know he is bitter but I advised him not to let his bitterness turn into hatred. I dont think he's listening.
 
All4MyDaughter said:
*this is the sound of the pharmacy forums not taking the bait*

Yay! :)
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Yup, ya gotta try harder than that to get things stirred up around here. Now if he would have said CVS is using vending machines we would have been all over it. Of course that would have been solely to get Old Timers goat.:laugh:
 
Why is it that everyone on here wants to avoid the real threats facing our profession?

Automated dispensing kiosks are a MAJOR threat to our profession and will definitely have a VERY neagative impact on our profession.

I have reasearched this recently and knowing what I now know, I probably would not have gone into pharmacy. The technology is only 5-10 years away. The 2 major challenges this technology has faced is 1-ePrescribing. 2-state board of pharmacy. Both of which have been addressed. It has been said that technology/machines CAN and WILL replace human pharmacists. I am getting this from my own online reasearch and a fairly recent issue of pharmacy today.

I believe we can do something about this. If we can ensure this techology will be illegal, that a human pharmacist will ALWAYS have to be PHYSICALLY present when a medication is dispensed. We must stop the people working on developing this technology from going any further! If they know it will always be illegal, then they're just wasting there time. However, this technology is already being allowed!

Come on, face the facts! Our profession is in danger. If this and all of the other threats facing our profession become a reality, then there's no way we're going to be making $100k+ a year or anywhere even close to that in the future. :(
 
Members don't see this ad :)
firefighter9015 said:
I think that they would only be allowed to be used for refills due to OBRA 90. Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't tht the legislation that said for every new prescription the offer to counsel must be made?

Also, I will be curious to see how BOPs w/ laws stating that the pharmacy can not be open unless a pharmacist is present are going to handle this. Are they going to change the rules to allow it or are they just not going to allow it?
Click to expand...

They'll probably change the rules to allow it.
 
firefighter9015 said:
I think that they would only be allowed to be used for refills due to OBRA 90. Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't tht the legislation that said for every new prescription the offer to counsel must be made?

Also, I will be curious to see how BOPs w/ laws stating that the pharmacy can not be open unless a pharmacist is present are going to handle this. Are they going to change the rules to allow it or are they just not going to allow it?
Click to expand...

No, it's going to be used for new prescriptions too. The "offer to counsel" is provided through being able to call a pharmacist. How many people actualy accept counseling anyways???- like 1 in 10 if you're lucky. So they won't need very many pharmacists.
 
I don't see how the hell that machine isn't a violation of most state laws regarding dispensing of prescription drugs.

So much for the lobbying power of pharmacists.
 
Somatic said:
The technology is only 5-10 years away
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The technology has been used in California for the last 4 years. The pharmacists still check and verify every prescriptions before they are put into the vending machines. The only difference is that instead of patients picking up their prescriptions at the pharmacy, they pick up their prescriptions at the vending machines.

If anything, the technology has allowed the pharmacists more time to do other things which also means opportunity to make more money.
 
Somatic, if you're so panicked it's not too late to go to school for something else:smuggrin:
 
Somatic said:
No, it's going to be used for new prescriptions too. The "offer to counsel" is provided through being able to call a pharmacist. How many people actualy accept counseling anyways???- like 1 in 10 if you're lucky. So they won't need very many pharmacists.
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sniff sniff... I smell troll
 
They've been sounding the death knell of dispensing pharmacy since the 1970s according to some of the older pharmacists I have worked with.
 
RxWildcat said:
sniff sniff... I smell troll
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Maybe Taurus has 2 acounts? I wonder what he thinks of pharmacists going on rotations with physicians and making drug/therapy choices. Or pharmacists actually prescribing! :eek:


Edit: and this issue was already debated earlier this year, feel free to use search next time Taurus.
 
Knipps said:
Somatic, if you're so panicked it's not too late to go to school for something else:smuggrin:
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Yeah I am looking into other options. I plan on finishing my pharmD, but I am considering going to medical school, PA school, or maybe law school. I regret not going into one of these programs instead of pharmacy in the first place though. However, I think having a pharmD will give me an advantage. Pharmacy is at a turning point, it's either going to die or continue on. It just seem like there's so many problems facing the profession in the near future and everyone in the profession is doing their best to ignore these problems. Our profession is in a state of commodity hell and no one cares about pharmacy except pharmacists. I wish the lobbying power of pharmacists was stronger, but it has always sucked and always will, which is why we've fallen behind professions such as nursing.
 
azPharmD2B said:
Maybe Taurus has 2 acounts? I wonder what he thinks of pharmacists going on rotations with physicians and making drug/therapy choices. Or pharmacists actually prescribing! :eek:


Edit: and this issue was already debated earlier this year, feel free to use search next time Taurus.
Click to expand...

I think that (usually) pharmacists (depending on the pharmacist) are better qualified to prescribe than doctors or other clinicians who can prescribe. Unfortunately pharmacists are not being utilized to their full capabilities (greed and waste in our current health care system). Technology is hurting clinical pharmacy with the use of PDAs and other drug information systems readily accessible by physicians
 
Somatic said:
Yeah I am looking into other options. I plan on finishing my pharmD, but I am considering going to medical school, PA school, or maybe law school. I regret not going into one of these programs instead of pharmacy in the first place though. However, I think having a pharmD will give me an advantage. Pharmacy is at a turning point, it's either going to die or continue on. It just seem like there's so many problems facing the profession in the near future and everyone in the profession is doing their best to ignore these problems. Our profession is in a state of commodity hell and no one cares about pharmacy except pharmacists. I wish the lobbying power of pharmacists was stronger, but it has always sucked and always will, which is why we've fallen behind professions such as nursing.
Click to expand...

Why do you think there is a big push for pharmacy to move from a product centered model to a patient centered model? The profession of pharmacy is going to continue on. There a pharmacist that never dispense a prescription and the roles in these positions are growing every day.
 
MTM is a great idea, but it seems to be going nowhere and I doubt it will ever really take off as much as it needs to for us to survive if we loose our dispensing tasks. This last semester we did a brown bag session at a senior center and I can see how seniors don't really understand what medications they're taking. It was very frustrating because I could see where changing a medication or adding one was needed, but we don't have the authority to prescribe and what not and if we called the doctor about it, they would want the patient to make an appointment. We keep hearing about collaboration between health professionals which is happening in some situations, but I doubt it will ever become the norm because that will eat into physicians salaries.
 
Heh, I was Googling for 'day life pharmacist' and reading about what a typical day is like for some pharmacists and this is one of the top results. Credibility aside, it lists Pharmacy as one of the best careers this year while listing Physicians as one of the most over-rated careers.

Oh well.
 
http://dinosaurmusings.blogspot.com/2008/05/rant-alert-attention-pharmacists.html


This is a good read. A fine example of all the idiots we have to deal with everyday. Untill Doctors like this retire or die we will have an uphill battle.

Read the comments as well they are more entertaining this Docs mindless drivel........

****CAUTON***** the above link takes you to a post with colorful language probably not work safe.
 
MountainPharmD said:
http://dinosaurmusings.blogspot.com/2008/05/rant-alert-attention-pharmacists.htmlThis is a good read. A fine example of all the idiots we have to deal with everyday. Untill Doctors like this retire or die we will have an uphill battle.
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Most of the physicians I work with are pretty good. I am sure that physician is just a small minority. To be honest, it is a tough work to be a physician nowadays. Not only are they expected to see more patients but they have to spend hours each day with paperwork. The reality is that physicians are not as respected and are working more with less pay. So, I don't particularly blame them for trying to protect their earning potential. It doesn't help either that other healthcare professionals are doing what was once exclusive to physicians.
 
Most physicians do respect pharmacists. There are always the odd ones out. We all have the same problems and issues with reimbursement. The goal for all of us is the same, and that is to help out the patient as best we can.
 
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