Thank You From Tobey!

I want to thank you for putting this site together. You have done a wonderful job.

I also would like to express how humbling it is to receive the thank you's from everyone. I feel that everyone is doing important things in their work and home environment.

I feel that I was just fortunate that Senator Baucus and his staff had the confidence in me to be able to tell the story of my patients and pharmacy during this Medicare Part D adventure. I am sure that all of you would have done the same had the opportunity come along.

I encourage everyone to get active and give productive suggestions how to improve our profession. I feel that we are at a very critical point in our profession and everyone must come together and speak as one.

Thank you again for providing this site.

My best to you,

Tobey Schule

Special Thanks to Tobey Schule and Timothy Tucker

Thanks to Tobey Schule, RPh, co-owner of Sykes Drug in Kalispell, and Timothy Tucker, PharmD, American Pharmacy Association President-Elect, the voice of pharmacy was heard in Congress on May 2nd before the Committee on Finance, United States Senate. Tobey did a wonderful job of speaking first hand on the impact that Medicare D has had on Sykes Drug, as well as the impact it has had on his patients. Tobey shared his concerns for his patient’s welfare if Medicare were to continue on the course it has with slow reimbursement, PBM formulary mandates and changes, donut-hole catastrophes, forcing of mail order by PBMs, and the overwhelming control of the PBMs on patient care. In addition, Tobey also gave statements for Medication Therapy Management (MTM) to be done face to face through pharmacist-patient pharmaceutical care and the need to recognize pharmacists as providers. Please read Tobey’s very compelling and very heart felt testimony. Thank you Tobey…we couldn’t have had a better representative. Please read Tobey’s May 2, 2007 testimony, which is also posted on the Montana Pharmacy Association Website along with Timothy Tucker's testimony.

In addition, you may read for your enjoyment Tobey’s February 2006 statement to Congress, as well as the Missoula Independent Record’s comments on the May 2nd hearing posted May 17, 2007.

Second, please read through Timothy Tuckers testimony to the Senate Committee on Finance on May 2nd about the impact on pharmacy as a whole with the results from several surveys conducted by the American Pharmacy Association in 2006. Timothy discusses a multitude of important topics with corrective suggestions including: unfair “negotiations” pertaining to the antitrust law, slow and low reimbursement from PBMs, electronic funds transfers, Plan-to-Plan Claim Reconciliation, formulary management, importance of patient pharmacist MTM, enrollment and eligibility, as well as operational issues. Thank you Timothy and APhA for addressing these issues and providing solutions…strong work!!!

Thanks to both Tobey and Timothy, the voice of pharmacy was heard collectively about the same issues and its dramatic effects on pharmacy today. Let’s show our appreciation by simply telling them Thank You!!! I will post your thank you and comments on GrizRPh.com so they may see them. I will post the letter in “In The Spotlight” section of GrizRPh.com. CLICK HERE to sign or leave your message. Thank You!!!


Sincerely,

Eric Shields, PharmD
GrizRPh.com

Montana PharmAssist is Coming!!!

Just a quick Memo to remind everyone that if you haven’t already received your PharmAssist Training Program materials from the University of Montana, to please sign up now for the upcoming programs on: June 24th in Kalispell, August 19th in Great Falls, and October 14th in Missoula. Missoula is already receiving the “Green Cards” in the mail that have email contact information in which to receive a pdf form via email that you must fill out and fax in. To save everyone some extra work and time, just CLICK HERE to download the form in pdf format (get adobe acrobat reader, if needed), quickly fill it out and fax it in right from work…it will just take a few minutes. Hurry spots are filling quickly! Please fax signed form to:

ACPE Program Assistant, 406-243-4353 (Fax #)
Please e-mail any questions to:
pharmacy.ce@umontana.edu
or call 406-243-2453 (Phone #)

.
Answers to some posing questions:
1. Yes, you get 6 Free CE credits for the program
2. Yes, the program itself is Free!!!
3. No, you do not have to have proof of Personal Liability Insurance to attend the CE or get certification. You will need Personal Liability Insurance before meeting your first patient.
4. No, pharmacies are not reimbursed through the Program; Only Pharmacists are personally reimbursed.
5. Yes, the program is very educational and fulfilling!!!

.

The Following letter is from Roger Citron, RPh at DPHHS, that I found lying around, explaining the Montana Pharmacist Program:

February 13, 2007
Dear Montana Pharmacist,

The Montana PharmAssist is coming! The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) is offering all Montana pharmacists the opportunity to become credentialed to participate in this new program. Based upon the Wyoming PharmAssist (see website below), DPHHS developed the program framework tailored to meet the needs of our Montana residents.

The University of Montana Skaggs School of Pharmacy will offer six hours of free continuing education (CE) to train pharmacists intent on participating in the program. Only credentialed pharmacists may provide and be paid for these cognitive services through the Montana PharmAssist.

Once our credentialed provider base is trained the program will be advertised to the public, with the intent to begin processing requests in July, 2007. Any Montana resident will be eligible to request a consultation through the PharmAssist. The Mountain-Pacific Quality Health Foundation will review these patient applications and then coordinate a one-to-one counseling session to be performed by one of the credentialed pharmacists.

The final rules for this new program are still in work, but DPHHS is planning to utilize personal service contracts for credentialed pharmacists (not pharmacies) to get reimbursed when they provide these services.

As a profession, we must look for innovative ways to get reimbursed for our clinical skills and knowledge.

The Montana PharmAssist is a start. I urge you to consider registering for one of the training sessions to be able to participate in this exciting, innovative program.

Sincerely,
Roger A. Citron, R.Ph.
Montana Medicaid Pharmacist
Montana Department of Public Health & Human Services
(406)444-5951
rcitron@mt.gov

Here is the example of the Wyoming PharmAssist Program Roger had mentioned that the Montana PharmAssist program is modeled after: Wyoming PharmAssist Program