This Month in Pharmacy – July 2009

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	From the desk of the editor articles by this author...
Introducing current ideas, perspectives and issues, to the profession of pharmacy

Welcome to the July edition of i2P, and of course, the first week of the new financial year.

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In his latest edition he is advocating for a change for the way in which prescription benefits are managed and the treatment that pharmacy receives in the US.

When you make the comparison with the situation here in Australia you can well believe that the Australian equivalent, while definitely not perfect, is well ahead of its US counterpart.

The other interesting news is that New Zealand is about to fund a range of unspecified clinical programs and separating the cost out of prescription prices.

This is good news and bad news because it will be a cause for major adjustment for individual pharmacists.

We have five of our opinion writers in this edition (located in the tripartite column in the centre of the page). Don’t forget to click on the other links (Recent News and Pharmedia).

Our Pharmedia commentary concerns the Terry White group and the strong moves they are flagging to our industry. This is a group worth following.

There is good and bad news in the IT segment of i2P this month.

Pat Gallagher and David More highlight some of the “bad” elements while we found some “good” elements in a press release from the HealthConnect SA program.

All worth reading before you rush out and invest in software that may not see the distance.

Aged Care is a new category for i2P, but given the number of Dose Administration Aids handled by pharmacists, it is worth following any newsworthy events.

Last month we reported that investment in aged care facilities had fallen significantly, hastening the inevitable move to service patients in their home.

If you don’t have a “pharmacy in the home” project of your own, now is the time to get really involved.

Expensive at first to establish the infrastructure and trained staff, but represents an opportunity to establish a presence uncluttered by supermarkets and at a highly personal level.

I would also point you to the article by James Ellerson concerning independent pharmacist practitioners. If you are one of the 65% silent majority and you feel unrepresented and disoriented I suggest you follow this writer.

Also new to this edition is the comment panel at the foot of each article.

Please feel free to join in the discussion around any article.

Your comments may remain anonymous simply by request, but we must have your valid details before we can publish any comment.

Enjoy this month’s i2P and we will be bringing you new features each month for your consideration

Neil Johnston

July 2009