Life as a PA Pharmacist is Good!

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edwardmatt83

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I made the switch from retail to working for an insurance company as a PA pharmacist and I love it! I highly recommend it if you can find an opportunity. I work from 8:30-5pm 5 days a week (no weekends!). I currently review a lot of expensive medications for approval/denial - mostly specialty meds and a lot of Hep C meds. I was worried about moving to an office environment, but I requested a stand-up work station and got one. I make slightly less than I did in retail ($4k) - but more than make up for it in benefits. I get 4 weeks of vacation plus 10 paid holidays each year - vacation rolls over - I can cash it out too if I want. My insurance costs $250 less per month and my deductible dropped from $4k to $750. There is also 4% matching 401k within 1 month of hire. Did I mention I can work from home if I am sick - and not have to use vacation? It is awesome!
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Members don't see this ad :)
No residency for me - only had prior retail experience. I won't say the company name, but we do Medicare and Medicaid.
 
edwardmatt83 said:
I made the switch from retail to working for an insurance company as a PA pharmacist and I love it! I highly recommend it if you can find an opportunity. I work from 8:30-5pm 5 days a week (no weekends!). I currently review a lot of expensive medications for approval/denial - mostly specialty meds and a lot of Hep C meds. I was worried about moving to an office environment, but I requested a stand-up work station and got one. I make slightly less than I did in retail ($4k) - but more than make up for it in benefits. I get 4 weeks of vacation plus 10 paid holidays each year - vacation rolls over - I can cash it out too if I want. My insurance costs $250 less per month and my deductible dropped from $4k to $750. There is also 4% matching 401k within 1 month of hire. Did I mention I can work from home if I am sick - and not have to use vacation? It is awesome!
Click to expand...

FWIW. .. I had one of these jobs and quit it for retail .. overall ended up making about 60k more in pay and benefits, including 4 wks vacation .

Office politics is not all its cracked up to be!
 
type b pharmD said:
FWIW. .. I had one of these jobs and quit it for retail .. overall ended up making about 60k more in pay and benefits, including 4 wks vacation .

Office politics is not all its cracked up to be!
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The retail chain I worked for started at 2 weeks of vacation and you had to be employed for 5 years before you got to 3 weeks. Crappy insurance, no 401k match, long hours, this is a win-win for me. Guess it depends on your work environment.
 
edwardmatt83 said:
The retail chain I worked for started at 2 weeks of vacation and you had to be employed for 5 years before you got to 3 weeks. Crappy insurance, no 401k match, long hours, this is a win-win for me. Guess it depends on your work environment.
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Yeah definitely sounds like an upward move in your case !
 
I'm in the same boat! I just started as a PA Pharmacist about a month ago, and I absolutely love it!! Coming from retail, the job is a vacation compared to retail, or at least CVS. I'm lucky to have found a position so quickly out of school too.
 
I have a few classmates that work in this field and are very happy. Good work/life balance.
 
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I found it through a job posting either from a website like careerbuilder or my state pharmacy association website.
 
BenJammin said:
I know a guy in Houston who works as a PA pharmacist. Apparently angry docs are worse than angry patients lol
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The docs that don't understand the PA process are the worst. Nexium 40mg bid, no history of any generic PPI before. Reason for necessity? "I'm the doctor and I said so." Yeah, denied.
 
chinadolltiki said:
I'm in the same boat! I just started as a PA Pharmacist about a month ago, and I absolutely love it!! Coming from retail, the job is a vacation compared to retail, or at least CVS. I'm lucky to have found a position so quickly out of school too.
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What company? How do we search for these types of jobs?
 
starsweet said:
What company? How do we search for these types of jobs?
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Your best bet is to go directly to the company website to check for openings. Look into PBMs or insurance companies like Express Scripts, Catamaran, Caremark, Humana etc.
 
npage148 said:
On the first dat Did they hand you a big "DENIED" stamp, a red ink pad and tell you to have at it? /kidding

Seriously doctors are stupid with their prescribing habits
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I've seen lots of crazy stuff. I had a doc try and prescribe fentanyl 100 mcg patches for a patient that was only on tramadol for pain. I've also talked to doctors and gotten them to switch pricey medications - Sovaldi/Olysio x 12 weeks for Hep C costs about $150k. I got a few doctors to switch to Harvoni x 8 weeks, saving $90k in one phone call. The drug I hate the most though is Acthar gel. Never heard of it until I started this job. Super expensive drug with little to no benefit. No idea how it got FDA approval for 19 indications.
 
My issue with working PA pharmacy is that *inevitably* questions of equality and questions of fairness will arise ... If you aren't ready to tow the company line PRECISELY , and if you allow your own clinical judgment to creep in either on the conservative OR liberal side , you could be in hot water.

At a big PBM you are likely gonna slide under the radar if you stay conservative ... But at the place I worked, I got in trouble for both being too leniant AND for being too strict ... They told me "it's just not how we do things" .... I have too much education in health economics to be able make my own judgment calls .. which they asked me to be able to do when I was hired ...

Just sayin ... PA pharmacist can be a narrower job box than it seems. Yes 99% of PAs will fit nicely in the little criteria / auth flowsheet but you are gonna have to make your own call relatively often.
 
I work for Medicare - so we are pretty strict on the initial request and more lenient on the appeal. We won't deny a med on appeal as long as it is supported in Micromedex. We get dinged in our stars rating when we deny stuff on appeal and the independent review approves the request.
 
PA = Prior Authorization

I'm rotating here right now. I'm sharing some insights with you. I am helping one of the pharmacists in PA claims.

Basically, the PA that is initiated, fax documentations (e.g. there are about one hundred something questions for the approval of Sovaldi) to the MD office. And then evaluate it after you get all these stuff back. Like, Yes on Q4, go to Q10... etc. At the end, just give denied/approved!!! You don't have to meet with MDs or angry pts if you denied PA. 😛

Not a stressful environment, and you can take break/lunch anytime you want. And of course you can work from home (if the weather makes you stay in your comfy blanket), since you will be given smartphone, and laptop to link with your work desk computer.

You don't need residency for this position. Some pharmacists here are direct hired after they grad and pass licensing exams.

Normally Medicare/Medicaid, and insurance companies offer such positions. Maybe there are more others which I don't know at this time.
 
marscole said:
PA = Prior Authorization

I'm rotating here right now. I'm sharing some insights with you. I am helping one of the pharmacists in PA claims.

Basically, the PA that is initiated, fax documentations (e.g. there are about one hundred something questions for the approval of Sovaldi) to the MD office. And then evaluate it after you get all these stuff back. Like, Yes on Q4, go to Q10... etc. At the end, just give denied/approved!!! You don't have to meet with MDs or angry pts if you denied PA. 😛

Not a stressful environment, and you can take break/lunch anytime you want. And of course you can work from home (if the weather makes you stay in your comfy blanket), since you will be given smartphone, and laptop to link with your work desk computer.

You don't need residency for this position. Some pharmacists here are direct hired after they grad and pass licensing exams.

Normally Medicare/Medicaid, and insurance companies offer such positions. Maybe there are more others which I don't know at this time.
Click to expand...
Exactly - for example: my son is in a Christmas program tonight at school. It starts at 6pm. If I was in retail I would have to miss it! I worked every Thursday and we couldn't take any time off in November or December because those months were blacked out for vacation.
 
hows the pay compare to retail and hospital? Do you have an advantage if you done a residency?
 
edwardmatt83 said:
I've seen lots of crazy stuff. I had a doc try and prescribe fentanyl 100 mcg patches for a patient that was only on tramadol for pain. I've also talked to doctors and gotten them to switch pricey medications - Sovaldi/Olysio x 12 weeks for Hep C costs about $150k. I got a few doctors to switch to Harvoni x 8 weeks, saving $90k in one phone call. The drug I hate the most though is Acthar gel. Never heard of it until I started this job. Super expensive drug with little to no benefit. No idea how it got FDA approval for 19 indications.
Click to expand...

Well I know Acthar gel is last line in some indications that are pretty serious. probably how it got approved, there's no alternative. You wouldn't be on it unless you tried literally everything else. I heard the price went from 20K to 110K simply because they realized "oh hey, we're the only ones making this, people need it bad, and they'll pay for it!" criminal yeah but helps the economy.

congrats on the job! sounds a lot better than previous.
 
I did PA work for 4 years before buying my own store. To be honest, I didn't leave the PA career field on my own volition.. Big bad ESRX bought out my employer's PBM business unit and closed our "office" in 3 months. It was a great job too as I worked from home M-F and took time off when I wanted. I made about $10k less than my retail counterparts but the quality of life was 100x better.

Anyhow, I thank ESRX for giving me the severance I used as a downpayment on the store that I own. Although I don't work from home anymore, I make 3-4x what I did as a PA pharmacist and I do only work 5-8 days per month. It can be boring so I'm opening up a new store in 2015 with ( you guessed it) another pharmacist who was laid off by express scripts ( although he worked in the mail order operation and was laid off 6 mos ago)
 
So all the recent retail cutting led me to research more on PA pharmacist jobs, which seem to have more job positions open than any other pharmacy settings nowadays.

I noticed there hasn't been much recent discussions about this particular job setting and was hoping PA pharmacists on the forum could share/update anything about their experience with the job.

Has the work climate changed for worse or better since 2014?

Why are there positions open so relatively frequently (through staffing companies)? Due to turnover? Or is there really an increased demand?

Would you still recommend PA/appeals/pbm?

Thanks in advance!
 
rxwhatnow said:
So all the recent retail cutting led me to research more on PA pharmacist jobs, which seem to have more job positions open than any other pharmacy settings nowadays.

I noticed there hasn't been much recent discussions about this particular job setting and was hoping PA pharmacists on the forum could share/update anything about their experience with the job.

Has the work climate changed for worse or better since 2014?

Why are there positions open so relatively frequently (through staffing companies)? Due to turnover? Or is there really an increased demand?

Would you still recommend PA/appeals/pbm?

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

So... this thread is several years old. You are about to experience a whole bunch responses that will go something like this:

Op is now laid off and has a massive amount of student loans. He/she/chosen pronoun is likely in default of all debts and is working at JC Penny due to skills not transferring to any other job. Furthrrmore, jc penny is about to go out of business also which will further add to ops woes. It’s a harrowing story where positive outcomes are impossible.

Op definitely should have gone to trucking school..

Sorry...
 
Do PA pharmacists work in care groups? like this group review antibiotics, this group review oncology, such and such?
 
rxwhatnow said:
So all the recent retail cutting led me to research more on PA pharmacist jobs, which seem to have more job positions open than any other pharmacy settings nowadays.

I noticed there hasn't been much recent discussions about this particular job setting and was hoping PA pharmacists on the forum could share/update anything about their experience with the job.

Has the work climate changed for worse or better since 2014?

Why are there positions open so relatively frequently (through staffing companies)? Due to turnover? Or is there really an increased demand?

Would you still recommend PA/appeals/pbm?

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
I would refer here for more info: career change suggestions for current pharmacist?

Bottom line is that the grass ain’t greener.
 
edwardmatt83 said:
I made the switch from retail to working for an insurance company as a PA pharmacist and I love it! I highly recommend it if you can find an opportunity. I work from 8:30-5pm 5 days a week (no weekends!). I currently review a lot of expensive medications for approval/denial - mostly specialty meds and a lot of Hep C meds. I was worried about moving to an office environment, but I requested a stand-up work station and got one. I make slightly less than I did in retail ($4k) - but more than make up for it in benefits. I get 4 weeks of vacation plus 10 paid holidays each year - vacation rolls over - I can cash it out too if I want. My insurance costs $250 less per month and my deductible dropped from $4k to $750. There is also 4% matching 401k within 1 month of hire. Did I mention I can work from home if I am sick - and not have to use vacation? It is awesome!
Click to expand...

The last PA pharmacist I spoke to didn't know what an F4 score meant.
I facepalmed so hard
 
edwardmatt83 said:
I made the switch from retail to working for an insurance company as a PA pharmacist and I love it! I highly recommend it if you can find an opportunity. I work from 8:30-5pm 5 days a week (no weekends!). I currently review a lot of expensive medications for approval/denial - mostly specialty meds and a lot of Hep C meds. I was worried about moving to an office environment, but I requested a stand-up work station and got one. I make slightly less than I did in retail ($4k) - but more than make up for it in benefits. I get 4 weeks of vacation plus 10 paid holidays each year - vacation rolls over - I can cash it out too if I want. My insurance costs $250 less per month and my deductible dropped from $4k to $750. There is also 4% matching 401k within 1 month of hire. Did I mention I can work from home if I am sick - and not have to use vacation? It is awesome!
Click to expand...

Sounds awesome. Just be careful. Had a friend working for Humana but got laid off in 6 months.
 
CetiAlphaFive said:
The last PA pharmacist I spoke to didn't know what an F4 score meant.
I facepalmed so hard
Click to expand...
Who cares? It’s just a job at this point. And, only a handful of companies to work for with all the mergers.
 
Mambo#5 said:
Newsflash: They can lay you off when the volume of work goes down. That’s the benefit of highering contract workers. They don’t want to higher you full time.
Click to expand...
*hire and hiring
 
mentos said:
Physicians Assistant Pharmacist sounds great. People can finally call you Doctor because you can now diagnose and prescribe!
Click to expand...

I actually know several pa/pharmacist.. i was told that pa school is super easy especially after pharmacy school
 
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