Tips on staying out of trouble: Be Alert and Be Compliant!!! Another month of the pandemic has passed, and pharmacists continue to adapt to the new normal. Inspections by New York City Health Department teams are on the upswing for compliance with city and state COVID-19 regulations
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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on September 9 that state-licensed pharmacists and pharmacy technicians will be authorized to order and administer COVID-19 vaccinations to individuals ages 3 or older. The authorization was made via guidance issued under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP Act) as a way to expand access to approved COVID-19 vaccines when they become available.
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Today in the United States, there are almost 560,000 unique technology companies, with an estimated 55,000 startups/new businesses entering the market in the past two years alone. According to tech industry group CompTIA, roughly 1.6 million individuals are employed by those businesses as software and web developers. Imagine the brainpower and innovation taking place across these workplaces! Ideas that were unthinkable as recently as five or ten years ago are now brought to market on a regular basis. So frequently, it can be hard to keep pace.
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ARLINGTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Surescripts Real-Time Prescription Benefit for Pharmacy service is now available, enabling pharmacists to access information on out-of-pocket prescription costs and therapeutic alternatives at the point of dispensing. This new tool empowers pharmacists to seamlessly collaborate with patients and prescribers on choosing an alternative medication that is both clinically appropriate and affordable. With pricing, coverage and prior authorization information shared directly from the patient’s benefit plan, pharmacies now have insight into different days' supply and options on formulary that may be less expensive.
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According to the National Council on Aging, approximately 80 percent of older adults have at least one chronic disease, and 77 percent have at least two. This population is at high risk for high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, and mental disorders including dementia and depression. Further, U.S. Pharmacist reports 44 percent of men and 57 percent of women older than 65 years take five or more medications per week, with 12 percent taking ten or more medications per week. And the list goes on.
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Last year, an independent North Carolina pharmacy chain sought to take on the problem of prescription abandonment by adding a new workflow process to pharmacy operations. The pharmacy then launched a 60-day study to what, if any, impact the revised workflow would have on patient behavior. The result? Almost 80 percent of patients involved obtained their medications.
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PrimeRx™ is among a niche group of technology solutions helping to address the unique needs of compounding pharmacies. From medication safety, to patient management, recordkeeping, compliance, inventory control, and business operations, compounding pharmacies require special functionality.
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Washington was the first state to declare a state of emergency over the coronavirus pandemic, when Governor Jay Inslee announced statewide restrictions on February 29. At the time, infections in the state had risen from one to seven cases. New York, California and New Jersey were not far behind, with all four states essentially shut down by early March. By the time shut down orders were in place, the nation was already in the midst of a severe hand sanitizer shortage. Retail shelves were wiped clean as consumers heeded warnings to take steps to slow the spread of the virus. On March 11th, a report in The New York Times noted, "Where it isn't sold out, enterprising sellers are charging outrageously inflated prices simply because they can." "If you don't have any hand sanitizer," the paper continued, "you're not likely to get some while the manufacturers create enough supply to meet the frenzied demand caused by panic over coronavirus." Until, that is, compounding pharmacies became involved.
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Right now electronic signatures might seem like a distant memory for pharmacists, from a time, back in the pre-COVID-19 era, when things were "normal." For so long, the relatively simple practice of capturing a patient's signature to validate a pickup was just a routine, expected part of the point-of-sale process. That all changed though, in late March, when the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), followed by pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) issued guidance urging all states, including boards of pharmacies and Medicaid agencies, to temporarily waive proof-of-receipt and signature delivery requirements. As the CMS noted in its guidance, "requiring a patient signature for receipt of medication could undermine current public health efforts to combat the spread of coronavirus."
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As part of Micro Merchant Systems' commitment to developing solutions to meet pharmacies' specific needs, we are pleased to introduce the PrimeRxPAY™ contactless copay feature. PrimeRxPAY™ allows patients to seamlessly, securely, and safely settle copay balances without any person-to-person interaction. This addresses a significant problem for pharmacies, as they continue to serve patients amid the COVID-19 crisis. The highly contagious virus is known to linger on hard surfaces including, potentially, payment touch pads. PrimeRxPAY™ eliminates the need for patents to come in contact with any point-of-sale equipment.
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As all pharmacists are keenly aware, medication non-adherence is a critical issue in the United States, both in terms of patient health and an estimated $100-$289 billion in added healthcare costs.
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Several new features and functions have been added to existing PrimeRx™, PrimePOS™ and PrimeDELIVERY™ functionality that include: Long-term and Post-acute care (LTPAC) patient management. While PrimeRx™ has always included system capabilities unique to LTPAC facilities, new features have been added, including the ability to seamlessly process changes to active prescriptions, additional "action list" choices, and advanced capability for facilities to notify pharmacies about census events. Improved drug descriptions. Users now have the option to add customized identifying information for each drug.
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How is it possible the nation's pharmacies have a laser-like focus on a rating system that doesn't even apply to them? It's possible when the rating system involved is the Medicare Part C and Part D Star Ratings. Pharmacy performance affects a significant percentage of a prescription drug plan's overall score. Thus, as plans consider which pharmacies to list as "preferred partners" for its beneficiaries, they will naturally want to steer patients to pharmacies that excel in ratings-related criteria.
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For Dilworth Drug & Wellness Center pharmacy owner Josh Rimany, one of the most important steps his North Carolina pharmacy took to ensure patient safety during the COVID-19 pandemic, was to encrypt as many credit cards as possible, as a way to speed up transactions and minimize person-to-person contact. "We wanted to avoid having to ask for the credit card, and as this goes along further and further, we can do our transactions faster," he explained. Rimany, who was speaking as part of a late-April "pharmacist online townhall," sponsored by the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA), said this important capability was offered through the pharmacy's software system, and has been very beneficial in protecting both patients and staff.
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