A worthwhile experiment or more smoke and mirrors ?

Rx for reform: NC pharmacists try to boost health and cut costs

The federal government has invested $15 million in a North Carolina experiment that gives community pharmacists a new role in patient care.

Community Care already works with 1,800 medical practices and asked those offices to identify pharmacies that would be good partners. Trygstad says he was pleasantly surprised by how readily the doctors embraced the idea of letting pharmacists help manage care for the most challenging patients – people with such conditions as heart disease, diabetes, behavioral health issues, asthma and chronic pain.

3 Responses

  1. We used those multipaks in LTC, sure they’re great until there’s a dose change in the middle of the cycle, then somebody has to manually cut open the package, know which med to remove and reseal the package and the pharmacy had to resend out new packaged medications….In our findings…that type of packaging ended up costing more in the long run in both dispensing and employee time and they tended to break down frequently

  2. I don’t get it… The patient was unable to afford her meds, so she stopped taking them. How was she now able to afford her meds? Did the pharmacy give her a credit card that adds interest to her costs? If it includes a federal subsidy, what happens when that subsidy goes away?

    I’m sure she was already taking the cheapest generics, so how did adding a layer of care turn out to save her money on her meds?

Leave a Reply

Discover more from PHARMACIST STEVE

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading