How do we reverse this trend? Would petitions help?

[CVS Rph 1980]

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http://drugtopics.modernmedicine.co...-and-dandy-pharmacists-need-get-paid?page=0,1

$336 for 25 cases in MTM is a pretty good estimation of rates with my experience, I have seen some cases where that number crept up a little higher, but not significantly. Otherwise, this article reads as the nemesis of today's Maggie Jones.

Can anyone generate some good ideas on how to reverse this hatred against pharmacists? It is clear that most of us have built great relationships with our customers, some have even bought me Christmas presents. However, the big insurance companies and politicians don't value our importance. It is not helping us that we are easily disposable in today's market.

 

[PharFromNormal]

Tbh the fact that people think crying out to increase rates on fee for service healthcare activities is going to be effective makes me chuckle.

For all those living under a rock, everyone is looking to cut healthcare costs. Now let's show up begging for more money or purpose a new way to suck more dollars out of the healthcare system. The core of pharmacy is dispensing prescriptions. Make someone more adherent, everyone loves adherence, except payors when you get patients adherent to super costly meds that they tried to prevent the patient from being on with a PA. The pharmacy will make more profit in the additional refills (if their adherence problem is to a level it actually needs fixing) than in any fee for service activity you can think of.

 

[BenJammin]

This is exactly why I don't support provider status. Is $336 for 25 cases something we should be championing?

 

[MountainPharmD]

This quote sums the problem up nicely...

Will provider status get pharmacists better reimbursement? CVS is the same company that pays us $1.85 for a month’s supply of furosemide. That includes all possible cognitive services required by the state board. $1.85 per month. Let that sink in.

Not only is that $1.85 reimbursement supposed to cover all cognitive services legally required it's also supposed to cover the cost of the drug and the cost of dispensing the drug which averages anywhere from $7.50 to $12.50 per prescription. $1.85 is a joke and doesn't cover the cost of the drug plus the vial and label it goes in.

Do I think provider status is going to lead to some big windfall for pharmacists? Not a chance...

 

[Guilded_Age]

"Provider status"...

Look at the other health providers in America. They're all depressed, overworked, and jaded. We really want to get the same title as these workers? Oh boy. Who's even driving this ship anymore? Who thinks this is a good idea.

 

[BenJammin]

APhA is that man stuck in the desert who keeps walking in the blistering sun only to find paradise. He's surrounded by a huge lake, palm trees, and a field of fruits and vegetables where he lies down to sleep. Then authorities fly over the area only to find a man burned to a crisp lying down on the cracked surface surrounded by sand that doesn't end for miles.

Provider status is the paradise in the middle of the desert: it doesn't exist. It only leads to death.

 

[MountainPharmD]

APhA is that man stuck in the desert who keeps walking in the blistering sun only to find paradise. He's surrounded by a huge lake, palm trees, and a field of fruits and vegetables where he lies down to sleep. Then authorities fly over the area only to find a man burned to a crisp lying down on the cracked surface surrounded by sand that doesn't end for miles.

Provider status is the paradise in the middle of the desert: it doesn't exist. It only leads to death.

You are correct! The idiots running are so called professional organizations are fools. The profession of pharmacy is based on dispensing drugs. Obamacare has ushered in a new era of pay for performance. Fee for service will soon be a thing of the past and when it is so is the profession of pharmacy.

The million dollar question is this...can the profession reinvent itself and rise from the ashes to find a niche in the new healthcare model? My guess is it can albeit with a fraction of the pharmacists it has now.

 

[Gombrich12]

"Provider status is the paradise in the middle of the desert: it doesn't exist. It only leads to death."

A cynical person would say APhA either knows this or they refuse to do a thorough examination of the issue. Provider status is just the new buzzward for the 2010's instead of MTM/OBRA '90/whatever the old timers heard. The only way toward salvation for the profession is through the death of the PBMs. If we could sell scripts at a reasonable cash price we would do ok.

 

[RxStudentatUB]

Someone tried to start a petition on SDN a few months ago, but I have no idea where he went. I'll look for it, not sure how much petitions would help. I guess anything is welcome at this point?