I’m a guy who likes to plan his own way when going on a trip. Get out the map, look at the different possible routes, and pick one. In recent years I’ve used Mapquest or some of the other websites to confirm that the route I selected would be good. The websites come in really handy for the street level directions when I get near my destination.I guess it goes back to my days as a youngster, traveling around the country with my family. My father was a trucker in my early years, so he knew his way around the country. When we would travel, he would have me get out the map to figure out how to get where we wanted to go. Then he would tell me how he planned to go. Usually my routes would mirror his.When I changed cellular providers a year or so ago, my phone came with GPS. Now that has saved me a couple times when I’ve been forced off of the road in an unfamiliar area at night. It’s a very useful tool.Well this year at Christmas, my mother gave me a GPS for my truck. It’s a pretty cool toy. I’ve been checking out what the GPS recommends for dining in my area, as well as some of the other features. I like it.When you plug the destination into your GPS, you want it to take you where you want to go, as quickly as possible, without endangering you or the occupants of your car. If your GPS took you in the wrong direction, you wouldn’t be happy. If it directs you into the slums when you know it would be better to be on the interstate, you would think that your GPS was faulty. It needs fixed.Pharmacy God, why are you writing about maps and GPS on a pharmacy blog?I’m glad that you are wondering about that. Here’s why.Have you noticed that today’s pharmacists aren’t really concerned about the business side of our profession? That’s up to the corporate people. As long as they keep giving me my paycheck, I’m really not going to worry about that. All I want to do is put in my 40 hours, invest my earnings, take nice vacations, and retire. Have some fun along the way. But mostly I want it to be an easy ride.Kind of like letting the GPS guide you to where you want to go.Here’s the problem… over the last 15 years or so, the GPS that has been guiding pharmacy seems to have been designed by Clark W. Griswold from National Lampoon’s Vacation.Rather than sticking to our guns and buying the sport wagon, we’ve been talked into buying the Queen Family Truckster (aka Medicare D).Now we’re off in the slums of St. Louis with the $4 generic pricing.What’s next on our journey using Clark’s GPS?What’s going to be our moment when Cousin Eddie springs Aunt Edna on us? What will pharmacy’s reaction be when we get pulled over for dragging Dinky to his death?With the GPS that is guiding pharmacy right now, I don’t even see a chance of having that moment in the swimming pool with Christie Brinkley. The pharmacy GPS is going to keep us perpetually stuck in the back seat with Aunt Edna like Rusty and Audrey were.So what are we to do?Well, as I see it, there are only two choices:- Stay in the back with Rusty and Audrey (and Aunt Edna’s stink) and hope to get to the destination, or
- Stop following Clark W. Griswold’s direction and set your own course.
Pharmacists are notorious for keeping their mouths shut when it comes to matters of their profession. Rather than speak up and have a say in the direction that pharmacy in going, pharmacists sit in the back seat and follow the lead of whoever seems to be driving. Unfortunately the driver has been taking us down the road that is all clinical, all the time.Forgetting the retail pharmacist.Leaving them attached to the back bumper of the vehicle like Dinky the dog.I would love to see a lot of the ideas that have been proposed make it into the real world of pharmacy, but that’s not where the majority of pharmacists are needed. Getting certified as a specialist in ambulatory care pharmacy is neat and all, but that’s a detour to see the world’s fifth oldest wad of bubblegum. Making today’s students believe that they will be working out of a clinic, getting paid to share their knowledge is misleading.Our profession is tied directly to a product, and our reimbursements are tied to the products. Insurance companies aren’t beating down my doors to reimburse me for my pharmaceutical knowledge, as evidenced by the two, count them, two MTM opportunities that have been floated my way over the past three years. Even in settings where the ambulatory clinics are up and running, under half of the sessions are even being billed to insurers. Guess what people? If you give it away for nothing, that’s what your reimbursements are going to be. Need an example, look at the reimbursement amounts that are being sent to pharmacies as a result of the $4 generics. My U&C isn’t $4, but because it’s being given away at that price by others, that’s what I get paid.As long as you sit back and follow the lead of the APhA and academia, you’ll forever be running off to see the world’s second largest ball of twine.Or….You can take the wheel yourself and get to the destination of your choice.Take back your profession. Stop accepting mere pennies for the services you provide when you fill a prescription. Demand adequate reimbursements. Stop letting the corporate accountants dictate how little staffing they can get by with in your budgets. Speak up when they want to cut your tech hours. Speak up when they set quotas for prescriptions filled per hour.Raise a little hell when they want to change your hours of operation (for the customer’s convenience, you know). You are licensed medical professionals, yet you are letting yourselves be treated like clerks at the local 7-11. Wouldn’t it be cool if every pharmacy closed at 6:00 PM? An hour after the doctors’ offices closed. Sure, it would make for a hectic last hour, but wouldn’t you like to be able to see your husband/wife/kids in the evenings?Maybe the public would make getting to the pharmacy a priority, just like their doctor’s office visits. How many people have an appointment with their doctor but wait until 10 minutes before closing to actually go to the office. None. Because they respect the doctor. Why should pharmacists be treated differently? Remember, you are a medical professional and not an afterthought at 8:55 when Sally remembers that she needs her birth control pills by tomorrow morning.You, the pharmacists, are the ones who will decide the destination of pharmacy.Not the corporations.Not the insurers.Not the government.You.But only if you step up and take the wheel.I only hope that your choice destination is not Walley World.
I encourage you to check out the Pharmacy Alliance. It’s still in its infancy, but the people here are looking out for your profession and want to keep you from smelling like Aunt Edna.
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I guess it goes back to my days as a youngster, traveling around the country with my family. My father was a trucker in my early years, so he knew his way around the country. When we would travel, he would have me get out the map to figure out how to get where we wanted to go. Then he would tell me how he planned to go. Usually my routes would mirror his.
When I changed cellular providers a year or so ago, my phone came with GPS. Now that has saved me a couple times when I’ve been forced off of the road in an unfamiliar area at night. It’s a very useful tool.
Well this year at Christmas, my mother gave me a GPS for my truck. It’s a pretty cool toy. I’ve been checking out what the GPS recommends for dining in my area, as well as some of the other features. I like it.
When you plug the destination into your GPS, you want it to take you where you want to go, as quickly as possible, without endangering you or the occupants of your car. If your GPS took you in the wrong direction, you wouldn’t be happy. If it directs you into the slums when you know it would be better to be on the interstate, you would think that your GPS was faulty. It needs fixed.
Pharmacy God, why are you writing about maps and GPS on a pharmacy blog?
I’m glad that you are wondering about that. Here’s why.
Have you noticed that today’s pharmacists aren’t really concerned about the business side of our profession? That’s up to the corporate people. As long as they keep giving me my paycheck, I’m really not going to worry about that. All I want to do is put in my 40 hours, invest my earnings, take nice vacations, and retire. Have some fun along the way. But mostly I want it to be an easy ride.
Kind of like letting the GPS guide you to where you want to go.
Here’s the problem… over the last 15 years or so, the GPS that has been guiding pharmacy seems to have been designed by Clark W. Griswold from National Lampoon’s Vacation.
Rather than sticking to our guns and buying the sport wagon, we’ve been talked into buying the Queen Family Truckster (aka Medicare D).
Now we’re off in the slums of St. Louis with the $4 generic pricing.
What’s next on our journey using Clark’s GPS?
What’s going to be our moment when Cousin Eddie springs Aunt Edna on us? What will pharmacy’s reaction be when we get pulled over for dragging Dinky to his death?
With the GPS that is guiding pharmacy right now, I don’t even see a chance of having that moment in the swimming pool with Christie Brinkley. The pharmacy GPS is going to keep us perpetually stuck in the back seat with Aunt Edna like Rusty and Audrey were.
So what are we to do?
Well, as I see it, there are only two choices:
Pharmacists are notorious for keeping their mouths shut when it comes to matters of their profession. Rather than speak up and have a say in the direction that pharmacy in going, pharmacists sit in the back seat and follow the lead of whoever seems to be driving. Unfortunately the driver has been taking us down the road that is all clinical, all the time.
Forgetting the retail pharmacist.
Leaving them attached to the back bumper of the vehicle like Dinky the dog.
I would love to see a lot of the ideas that have been proposed make it into the real world of pharmacy, but that’s not where the majority of pharmacists are needed. Getting certified as a specialist in ambulatory care pharmacy is neat and all, but that’s a detour to see the world’s fifth oldest wad of bubblegum. Making today’s students believe that they will be working out of a clinic, getting paid to share their knowledge is misleading.
Our profession is tied directly to a product, and our reimbursements are tied to the products. Insurance companies aren’t beating down my doors to reimburse me for my pharmaceutical knowledge, as evidenced by the two, count them, two MTM opportunities that have been floated my way over the past three years. Even in settings where the ambulatory clinics are up and running, under half of the sessions are even being billed to insurers. Guess what people? If you give it away for nothing, that’s what your reimbursements are going to be. Need an example, look at the reimbursement amounts that are being sent to pharmacies as a result of the $4 generics. My U&C isn’t $4, but because it’s being given away at that price by others, that’s what I get paid.
As long as you sit back and follow the lead of the APhA and academia, you’ll forever be running off to see the world’s second largest ball of twine.
Or….
You can take the wheel yourself and get to the destination of your choice.
Take back your profession. Stop accepting mere pennies for the services you provide when you fill a prescription. Demand adequate reimbursements. Stop letting the corporate accountants dictate how little staffing they can get by with in your budgets. Speak up when they want to cut your tech hours. Speak up when they set quotas for prescriptions filled per hour.
Raise a little hell when they want to change your hours of operation (for the customer’s convenience, you know). You are licensed medical professionals, yet you are letting yourselves be treated like clerks at the local 7-11. Wouldn’t it be cool if every pharmacy closed at 6:00 PM? An hour after the doctors’ offices closed. Sure, it would make for a hectic last hour, but wouldn’t you like to be able to see your husband/wife/kids in the evenings?
Maybe the public would make getting to the pharmacy a priority, just like their doctor’s office visits. How many people have an appointment with their doctor but wait until 10 minutes before closing to actually go to the office. None. Because they respect the doctor. Why should pharmacists be treated differently? Remember, you are a medical professional and not an afterthought at 8:55 when Sally remembers that she needs her birth control pills by tomorrow morning.
You, the pharmacists, are the ones who will decide the destination of pharmacy.
Not the corporations.
Not the insurers.
Not the government.
You.
But only if you step up and take the wheel.
I only hope that your choice destination is not Walley World.
I encourage you to check out the Pharmacy Alliance. It’s still in its infancy, but the people here are looking out for your profession and want to keep you from smelling like Aunt Edna.