History of the status of Pharmacists as providers

[willrocks]

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Hello all,

To the pharmacists who kindly post on these boards that have been in the industry for a while, I am curious, what significant progress has been made towards pharmacists being recognized as health care providers in the last decade or two? Much of the speculative future demand for pharmacists is based on the assumption that by 2020 pharmacists will be recognized by the gov't and 3rd party payers as providers, but acknowledge that if this fails to happen the demand for pharmacists will decline as central-fill facilities expand. I am wondering how far we have come in provider-status recognition.

Best,
William

 

[type b pharmD]

Hello all,

To the pharmacists who kindly post on these boards that have been in the industry for a while, I am curious, what significant progress has been made towards pharmacists being recognized as health care providers in the last decade or two? Much of the speculative future demand for pharmacists is based on the assumption that by 2020 pharmacists will be recognized by the gov't and 3rd party payers as providers, but acknowledge that if this fails to happen the demand for pharmacists will decline as central-fill facilities expand. I am wondering how far we have come in provider-status recognition.

Best,
William

Can you prove that the speculative future demand is based on that assumption? Most reports i have read indicate the future demand increase is based on a per capita increase in drug consumption coupled with demographic changes

 

[willrocks]

Sure, I'll dig up the report when I get home.

 

[eightball]

someone will suggest you do your homework, but in my opinion, pharmacists have a lot to offer as providers but the progress has been slow and pain staking.

Clinical pharmacists at hospitals cannot bill for their pharmacotherapy consults, so, in essence, are just walking PDRs. They save money, help patients bla, bla, bla...but come on, get real.

Anticoag clinics? RNs run those, Discharge planning and med recs, RNs does those too as well. MTM? no mention of it in the current health care bill being tossed around. Dispensing and couselling, thats where its at for pharmacists.

 

[supertreat]

Where I work pharmacists ARE providers. We run anticoag clinic and prescribe warfarin, enoxaparin, vitamin K etc. We also run dyslipidemia and diabetes clinics where we prescribe medications. There are a lot of Veteran's Administration hospitals using pharmacists as providers. I know Madison WI VA center has a lot more specialized clinics run by pharmacists. So yeah it's coming along - just gotta know where to look.

 

[Mariachi]

Highly doubtful. Pharmacists as providers sounded like a good idea until the growth of the NP, PA and DO schools. Now even MD med schools are ramping up enrollment. When it comes to being a provider, the afforementioned initials are higher up on the totem poll. Counting pills is still a niche though😉

 

[Priapism321]

Where I work pharmacists ARE providers. We run anticoag clinic and prescribe warfarin, enoxaparin, vitamin K etc. We also run dyslipidemia and diabetes clinics where we prescribe medications.

Give me a break. Nurse aids and janitors can manage blood thinners, there is not much consequence. It is not impressive unless you are a..........Doctor (I just wet myself thinking about a doctor adjusting a warfarin dose, so precise).

 

[Priapism321]

Highly doubtful. Pharmacists as providers sounded like a good idea until the growth of the NP, PA and DO schools. Now even MD med schools are ramping up enrollment. When it comes to being a provider, the afforementioned initials are higher up on the totem poll. Counting pills is still a niche though😉

NP and PA are so high up on the totem pole that I get paged every day on how to dose levofloxacin (or how to spell it). I often sit up wishing to ascend to such a level.

 

[Mariachi]

NP and PA are so high up on the totem pole that I get paged every day on how to dose levofloxacin (or how to spell it). I often sit up wishing to ascend to such a level.

Ya, higher up on the 'prescriptive authority' totem pole. Don't misrepresent my figure of speech; I wasn't implying they were somehow superior in their abilities, although our legislators seem to think so. I'm sure they would appreciate the sarcasm a bit more.