|
Message from Mike
The dollars are getting interesting
|
|
You've been doing this all along. It's part of why you're an
independent community pharmacist. You enjoy knowing your patients and
paying attention to potential medication conflicts. Or maybe you know
your patient well enough to recognize signs that all is not well
health-wise.
Your role in the health-care continuum is noted as more and more
health plans realize it's a good investment to pay you to spend some
quality time with your patients. But even without that reimbursement,
offering extra services is a good business model, according to two
excellent New York Times articles last week. And National Community
Pharmacists Association's growing data backs that up.
"Pharmacists take larger role on health team"
ran Aug. 14 and noted the value of adding nontraditional services,
especially in light of an anticipated shortage of primary care
physicians. The article used an NCPA member, Barney's Pharmacy in August, Ga., to
illustrate how extra services not only increase customer loyalty, but
increase the number of scripts filled. Barney's numbers shot up to
more than 1,000 a day!
Barney's provides an amazing array of services, including flu shots
and cholesterol tests. They also show customers how to properly use
their asthma inhalers, blood pressure cuffs, or glucose monitors.
"They fit customers for special diabetic shoes," the
article reports. "And they teach wellness classes for people
with chronic illnesses like heart disease."
Some Medicare Part D plans started paying for medication therapy
management in 2006. Health plans and employers are looking for ways
to save money while improving beneficiary health, and they're looking
at pharmacists. Till recently, there hasn't been a critical mass of
patient care activities, such as medication therapy management and
immunizations,to generate enough revenue to make the business case
for altering pharmacy work flow, according to NCPA's Douglas Hoey,
RPh, MBA.
"While it's true that pharmacies that can generate significant
revenue off one single patient care service are still in the
minority, for a rapidly growing number of pharmacies, when you sum
the revenue generated from several activities, the dollars are
getting interesting," Hoey said.
NCPA will release some surprising information in October at the NCPA Annual Convention Trade Exposition in
Philadelphia. They note that the average pharmacy offering
immunizations and injectable administration services generated
$10,000 in revenue. Not a huge sum, but certainly notable.
NCPA founded an MTM company, Mirixa, in 2006 to help pharmacies
provide these services through technology and remain competitive with
mail-order pharmacies. Mirixa now services more than 40,000
pharmacies nationwide.
Other services pharmacists are providing include participating in or
helping identify patients for clinical trials, long-term care
consulting, promoting niche OTC products or customized prescription
packaging, or focusing on improving medication adherence. All are
generating enough small dollars to add up to make it worth it to
reevaluate work flow, staffing, and promotional strategies
So if you're among those who believe spending valuable time on
anything other than your core business is a waste of time, you may
want to reconsider.
Continued success,
Mike Gohlke
President, American Pharmacies
|
|
Have
TRICARE generic reimbursements been cut?
|
|
The National Community Pharmacists Association understands that
Express Scripts may have significantly decreased the generic
reimbursement for some Department of Defense TRICARE prescriptions.
NCPA is interested in learning if pharmacies have seen a recent
sudden drop in generic reimbursement. We do not want specific
reimbursement rates, just information about whether rates have
changed.
NCPA will be pursuing a meeting with TRICARE to talk about this
issue, but would like to hear more evidence about what might be going
on in the field. Please send any relevant information to info@ncpanet.org.
|
|
Be a
featured speaker at NCPA annual meeting
|
How do you adapt the work flow to include MTM at your pharmacy?
National Community Pharmacists Association members are invited to
share their ideas and possibly be invited to be a featured speaker at
the NCPA annual meeting.
Common feedback from pharmacists has been that they are clinically
trained to provide patient care services, but need help factoring it
into their work flow. Think you've found the answer? Help out your
colleagues and share your tips on incorporating these services into
your everyday practice. What significant changes have you made in your
workflow to allow time for patient care services?
Submit your innovative solutions for a chance to be featured as a
speaker at the 112th Annual NCPA Convention and Trade Exposition Oct.
23-27 in Philadelphia. NCPA's Committee on Patient Care Services will
review and select the competition winners from among their peers. Fill out your entry today online.
|
|
Did
you tell your software provider or switch company about Vendor Drug
Claim System delay?
|
Migration of the pharmacy claims processing system planned for
yesterday is expected to go into effect later this year. But in the
meantime, be certain your software provider and/or switch company got
the message!
All changes and new functions mentioned on the HHSC Vendor Drug
Program website are delayed, including using the new Bank Information
Number (BIN) and the new Processor Control Numbers (PCN), submitting
the Prescriber National Provider Identifier (NPI), and any changes
involving pharmacy payment and remittance advices.
Pharmacies should continue to submit all pharmacy B1, B2, and E1
transactions as before, using the following information, where
applicable:
- For
all transactions, submit "Ø12338" in the "Bank
Information Number" (BIN) field (1Ø1-A1).
- For
all Medicaid, CHIP, and CSHCN claims, submit
"PØ28Ø12338" in the "Processor Control
Number" (PCN) field (1Ø4-A4).
- For
all KHC claims, submit "PØ26Ø12338" in the PCN field.
- For
all transactions, submit the 5-character State License Number in
the "Prescriber ID" field (411-DB).
- Ensure
you are also submitting "Ø8" in the "Provider ID
Qualifier" field (466-EZ).
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dividends & Rebates
|
|
If you would like to become an American
Pharmacies stockholder to receive extra $$$, contact an
APRx business development manager.
 Neal Head
ee
ee
Kaye Stroud
South Texas 512.623.9900
|
|
Members
only
|
|
 Expert business advice for APRx stockholders
- Medicaid
Integrity Program provider audits
- Complaints
made against you to the Texas State Board of Pharmacy
- The
independent pharmacist's duty to warn
- Auditing
loopholes in Medicare Part D
- Safeguard
your business from employee fraud
- Hiring
and firing tips
- The
pharmacist's guide to on-site audits
- Contracting
tips for independent pharmacists
APRx members, go to Contact us section
of APRx website. In the "comments" section, type in your
preferred password. Please allow 24 hours for us to confirm your
membership and enter your password.
|
|
Your APRx board
|
|
Vance
Oglesbee, RPh
Chairman
Robert Kinsey, RPh
Vice Chairman
Bruce Rogers, RPh
Secretary/Treasurer
Lynn Everett, RPh
Immediate Past Chairman
DIRECTORS
Ray Carvajal, RPh
Buddy de la Rosa, RPh
Alton Kanak, RPh
Michael Muecke, RPh
Dennis Song, RPh
|
|
Your APRx staff
|
|
Mike
Gohlke
President
mgohlke@aprx.org
Richard Beck, RPh
Vice President Government Relations
rbeck@aprx.org
Laird Leavoy
Vice President Sales & Operations
lleavoy@aprx.org
Neal Head
Business Development Manager/North
nhead@aprx.org
Kaye Stroud
Business Development Manager/South
kstroud@aprx.org
Paula Gray
Associate of Administrative Affairs
pgray@aprx.org
802 N Carancahua Street
Suite 1830
Corpus Christi, TX 78401
877.634.5445
www.aprx.org
|
|
|
