Editorial

From the desk of the editor

Welcome to the May 2012 homepage edition of i2P-Information to Pharmacists. Rollo Manning has been having some time out having staples removed from the site of his open heart surgery.He is now at home recuperating in Darwin, having arrived home last Friday, beating a cold and hasty retreat from Canberra.We all wish him a speedy recovery and hopefully, he will be fit enough to contribute by next month.
This month, Pharmedia discusses the toll that is taken when someone complains about you to an authority without good cause. Well, the good news is that you can now take action to protect yourself if such a complaint is made, and that may even include action for defamation. Read about a recent case involving two doctors, with Mark Coleman drawing on personal experience to illustrate.

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US ‘Renaissance’ in pharmacy’s role as a vital health resource

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Editing and Researching news and stories about global and local Pharmacy Issues

Pharmacists in Australia may be forgiven for feeling invisible as they search for roles and activities that gainfully utilise their experience and skills.
New projects and programs often mention "allied health" and nurses, but not pharmacists.
There are probably two major reasons for this problem:
* The Pharmacy Guild of Australia (PGA) has allocated resources exclusively to PBS-centric activities.
This has led to a reduction in jobs for new pharmacists and a surplus human resource. This is in stark contrast to all other health professions that seek to increase their practitioner numbers.
* GP lobby groups have promoted the use of practice nurses in key areas normally in the pharmacy domain. This has had the effect of increasing the number of "short" consultations, with the GP providing evaluation and the practice nurse to complete the work.
GP lobby groups have also been active in suppressing pharmacy initiatives particularly in the concept area of medication continuance.

In the US the opposite is occurring, mainly because of the fractured health service that exists in that country. However, while it can be said that Australia's health system may be better, it seems to be dysfunctional for the moment.
This may represent an opportunity for pharmacy if it can be properly articulated to politicians.
It appears that governments only turn to pharmacy when they need bailing out.
The end result always sees pharmacy disadvantaged as policies and promises are inevitably changed.
The following story recently appeared in Drug Store News

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"Policy-makers, health plans, other health professionals and patients themselves increasingly are turning to community pharmacies as a critical frontline resource in the nation’s continuing struggle to cap healthcare costs and overhaul a broken health delivery system.

That was the message advanced by the National Association of Chain Drug Stores in a new report on the fast-evolving role of pharmacists in the era of health reform and unsustainable healthcare cost hikes. And the pharmacy profession, NACDS pointed out, “stands ready to deliver in bigger and even more powerful ways.”

In its report released Monday, "Pharmacies: Improving Health, Reducing Costs," the chain pharmacy group described the increasing focus among policy-makers and health opinion leaders on the important role of pharmacy in healthcare delivery -- and, in particular, the ability of pharmacists to help boost medication adherence. Indeed, noted the report, “patient care that is delivered in pharmacies, as well as a growing awareness of its value, are creating a pharmacy renaissance.”

One result, NACDS said, will be “a time when more patients take their medications correctly, with the help of their pharmacists.” The elevation of frontline pharmacist interventions with patients also will usher in an era of healthier patients and will curb wasteful spending on improper or poorly administered medicines.

With health reform now taking shape, Congress considering additional health legislation and the private sector grappling for new solutions to the health crisis, NACDS urged decision-makers to “rely on pharmacy as a health-improving, quality-boosting and cost-containing force.”

One clear source of pharmacy’s increasing value as a health resource, the report pointed out, is its ability to provide MTM. NACDS cited one study that found a return on investment of $12.15 per $1 of MTM services provided.

Pharmacy’s contribution to patient health will become all the more acute, the group added, as the number of primary-care physicians in the United States continues an inexorable decline. Citing a 2009 report from the American Academy of Family Physicians, NACDS noted “the number of U.S. medical students entering primacy care has dropped by more than 50% over the past decade. Increasingly, policy needs to reflect the important role of nonphysician providers, including pharmacists.”

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