Meet Ray F.

My name is Ray Funatsu and I've been a pharmacist since 1963. In '74 I started working as a manager with Sav-on until '94; that's when I stepped down because it got to be a little too much. I worked until 2000 and retired and now I'm on-call.

When I first started working as a manager it was nice because it was a nickel a script. Then after a while management said that everything was going to be off of sales, bottom line. They give you overhead and all those things and you were supposed to try and stay under the budget. The only trouble is that every time you stay under it, the next year that becomes the new standard and you get even less. It's kind of ridiculous. I just couldn't do it. Nowadays they're doing the same thing. It's all paperwork and trying to meet your budget. Management is trying to work it out so there's no overlap for pharmacists. Newer generations keep coming out really educated. They're going to have to do something more to use that education.

Pharmacist Care Helps Reduce Blood Pressure, Study Finds

A new study published in the Archives on Internal Medicine has found that talking with a pharmacist helped reduce patients' high blood pressure. Enhanced pharmacist care reduced patients' risk of stroke by 30% and risk of heart attack by 23%, the study found.

A major obstacle to heart health, says Dr. Ross Tsuyuki, the primary author of the study, is patients' failure to take medication properly. Counseling and follow-up care from pharmacists not only helps patients take their medication more accurately, but can also teach patients about lifestyle changes that can make their course of care more effective.

Pharmacists today feel pressured to fill company quotas and often cut patient care in order to work faster. As the Edmonton Journal explains:

Their wages come solely from dispensing drugs, so devoting time and energy to find the diabetic patients in their computer systems, phone them individually and invite them in for blood-pressure checks is challenging, he said. That payment system needs to change.

Pharmacists' care drops blood pressure: study [Edmonton Journal (Canada)]

New Hampshire Rules on Prescription Privacy

From the Associated Press via the New York Times:

A federal appeals court upheld the constitutionality of the state's first-in-the-nation law that restricts drug company access to some information about doctors' prescription-writing habits. The ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, in Boston, overturns a lower court decision that said the confidentiality law unconstitutionally infringed on free speech.

This ruling means that drug companies which use doctor and patient data to tailor their sales pitches will no longer have access to that sensitive information. A major victory for patient privacy!

New Hampshire: Ruling on Prescriptions [Associated Press via New York Times] 

Moving toward e-prescriptions

The eHealth Initiative has put out a new "how to" guide for clinicians about switching to e-presciption systems. All jokes about doctors' handwriting aside, the system could mean big improvements for how prescriptions are written and filled...but also poses some major problems.

The Journal of the American Medical Association quotes eHealth Initiative CEO Janet Marchibroda:

"We know e-prescribing is an efficient way to improve health care delivery, decrease medication errors, and prevent potentially dangerous drug interactions. However, the transition from paper to an electronic system is quite challenging."

Upfront costs of software, equipment and staff training are one major obstacle; state laws are another. Will the system overhaul ultimately be worth the trouble?
 

CVS To Lay Off 800 Longs Employees

After CVS completed its purchase of competitor Longs Drugs, the company announced it will eliminate 800 jobs within the newly-acquired chain. The jobs immediately affected will be at Longs' corporate offices. CVS chairman, president and CEO Thomas Ryan said in a conference call that retail store integration will start in the first quarter of 2009.

Longs employees discussed the layoffs with the San Jose Mercury News:

"The mood by many at the office is despondent," said one employee who expects to be laid off and who requested anonymity. "Many of the employees have worked for Longs for many years and feel a sense of loss as Longs has been a local and family-run organization for many years."

Another worker explained the layoffs come at a time when workers everywhere are already struggling:

"Compounding the normal sensitivity of job loss is the timing of this acquisition during very difficult economic times," the employee said. "We are all very concerned with the ability to find employment in this difficult market."

Have you or someone you know been affected by the CVS/Longs acquisition? Weigh in in the comments.

Read the full story: CVS pegs Longs layoffs at 800 [San Jose Mercury News (Calif.)]

Pharmacists' Role Expands In New Brunswick, Canada

New Brunswick Pharmacist Several stories out today in Canada show how valuable pharmacists are: an amendment to the province's Pharmacy Act gives pharmacists the ability to replace, extend and renew existing prescriptions, as well as fill new prescriptions in the case of an emergency.

The move acknowledges pharmacists' vital role in providing quality medical care, and is meant to give patients greater access to life-saving drugs. Similar measures are in the works across Canada.

Pharmacists can now renew prescriptions [Times and Transcript (Canada)]

Pharmacists OK'd to replace, extend and renew prescriptions [Daily Gleaner (Canada)] 

Independent Pharmacists Fight to Defend North Dakota Law

Debate is raging in North Dakota between independent pharmacists and a group called "North Dakotans for Affordable Health Care." The group - backed by major pharmacy players Wal-Mart and Walgreens, according to the article - argues that a North Dakota labor law is artificially raising prescription drug prices in the state. Big box retailers are currently unable to sell prescriptions in North Dakota because of the law in question.

Spencer Clairmont, a pharmacist at the Prescription Shop in Walhalla, N.D., disagrees with the corporations' assessment. "Their advertisement saying they're the cheapest doesn't square with reality," he says in the article. He cites several studies showing that, contrary to NDFAHC's statement, prescription prices in North Dakota are actually lower than the national average.

Clairmont goes on to explain that price isn't the only factor in the argument over North Dakota pharmacy law. He believes quality of patient care is often much lower at big box chains:

"If you have one pharmacist and a bunch of pharmacy techs, how are you doing patient counseling?" Clairmont said. "Can you spend three or four minutes with a patient, or one minute? People aren't taking their meds, or they're not taking them right. That leads to illness and emergency room visits."

Clairmont is working with the North Dakota Pharmacists Association to stand up for independent pharmacies across the state. For more information, visit http://www.nodakpharmacy.net.

Group lobbies to change N.D pharmacy law [Grand Forks Herald (N.D.)]

"Know Your Medicine, Know Your Pharmacist" with American Pharmacists Month

The American Pharmacists Association is celebrating American Pharmacists month throughout October, and encourages pharmacists to "celebrate the pharmacy profession, recognize your pharmacy staff, and to reach out to your patients." The APA hopes to enhance relationships between patients and their pharmacists, with the ultimate end of making pharamcists more effective and improving patient care.

The aims of American Pharmacists Month reinforce several of Put Pharmacy First's Principles for Retail Pharmacy Reform. Valuing quality of care over "fast food pharmacy" - the APA offers suggestions for how pharmacists can improve their relationships with patients - is something pharmacists and customers everywhere can agree on.

There's lots more information on the American Pharmacists Association website, or click on Take Action to sign our Principles for Reform. And enjoy American Pharmacists Month!

Meet Ray F.

My name is Ray Funatsu and I've been a pharmacist since 1963. In '74 I started working as a manager with Sav-on until '94; that's when I stepped down because it got to be a little too much. I worked until 2000 and retired and now I'm on-call.