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Practice What We Preach
Message from Headquarters
AMERICAN
PHARMACY ®
Practice What We Preach
OffIcial Journal of the AmerIcan Pharmaceullcal ASSOCIatIon
December 1989, Vol. NS29, No. 12 ISSN 0160-3450
Publisher: The American Pharmaceutical Association, 2215 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20037. (202) 628-4410. Fax: 202-783-2351 Executive Vice-President: John A. Gans, PharmD Director of Publications Management: Laura C. Lawson Editor: Marlene Z. Bloom Assistant Editor: Joyce Leinberger Mitchell Contributing Editor: Vicki Meade Continuing Education Editor: Lynn Limon, PharmD Staff Writer: Sara Martin Editorial Assistant: Nicole S. Crawford Art Director: Jeffrey Ball Production Director: Jim McGinnis Production Coordinator: Susan Campbell Typographer: Tony Santora Cover Photo: Patricia Fisher Editorial Advisory Board: Sharyn R. Batey, PharmD, MSPH, Martin Beasley, PhD, Timothy R. Covington, PharmD, Joseph L. Fink III, JD, Steve C. Firman, Linda K. Garrelts, Philip P. Gerbino, PharmD, Metta Lou Henderson, PhD, Daniel A. Hussar, PhD, Kenneth W. Kirk, PhD, David A. Knapp, PhD, Katherine K. Knapp, PhD, Barbara H. Korberly, James R. Minor, PharmD, Martha M. Rumore, PhannD, Dorothy L. Smith, PharmD Advertising Representative: Nicholas Minicucci, Jr., Publishing Company, Inc., 45 Whitney Rd., Mahwah, NJ 07430 (201) 891-1055, fax: (201) 891-8010 The American Pharmaceutical Association Chairman of the Board: R. David Cobb, PharmD Honorary Chairman of the Board: Ewart A. Swinyard, PhD Chairman-elect of the Board: Philip P. Gerbino, PharmD Treasurer: August P. Lemberger, PhD Board of Trustees: J. Lyle Bootman, PhD, Robert E. Davis, PharmD, Thomas J. Garrison, Donald R. Gronewold, Lucinda L. Maine, PhD, Robert J. Osterhaus, Raymond W. Roberts, PhannD, Dennis A. Smith, Susan Torrico, Tim 1. Vordenbaumen House of Delegates Speaker: Lucinda L. Maine, PhD
Indexing: Articles in American Pharmacy are indexed in Biological Abstracts, Chemical Abstracts, Current Contents, Life Sciences, Excerpta Medica, FDA Clinical Experience Abstracts, Hospital Literature Index, Index Medic us ,International Pharmaceutical Abstracts, lowa Drug Information Service, and Medical Socio-economic Research Sources. Previous volumes are available on microfilm from University Microfilms, 300 N. Zeeb Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48106.
By Thomas E. Menighan Director of State Affairs he cornerstone of pharmacy T practice is service. Each day pharmacists answer a multitude of questions from patients, purchasers, suppliers, or distraught people who ask where they can turn next for help. You are a patient advocate. Each day you provide the best information possible to improve their health and work with them to minimize the impact of their illnesses on their daily lives. We in the profession take our patient service responsibility for granted, but sometimes we wonder if others outside the profession know and appreciate it. We especially feel that way about government officials. We ask, "Why don't they understand that pharmacists are not simply distributors of a commodity: prescription drug products?" Fortunately, there are signals that this uninformed view of pharmacy service is beginning to turn around. Speaking before a September meeting of state pharmacy association executives hosted by APhA, Inspector General Richard Kusserow pointed out that nearly 250,000 hospitalizations each year are caused by inappropriate use of drug products. "The elderly simply don't understand ,how to take their medications," he said. "Pharmacists have an excellent opportunity to perform the services for which they were trained." Kusserow's office was responsible for a study several years ago that pushed the Health Care Financing Administration to seek discounts in pharmacy reimbursement, but he is now taking another look. "We had been looking only at pharmacist reirp.bursement and acquisition cost when we should have been looking at all components of pharmaceutical costsincluding drug product," Kusserow said. "We can't look at any single component in isolation." Discussions among officials attending the meeting showed that changing perceptions of pharmacists will require a cooperative effort between state and national organizations. Every topic discussed - drug product selection, PharmD programs, public relations campaigns, mail-order pharmacy, reimbursement, hospital returns, the generic controversy, and others had both a state and a national element. No state today can address an issue or pass a law without drawing the scrutiny of federal officials. And, likewise, no federal bureaucracy or legislative body can act without ripples being felt throughout the states. Just as you are your patients' advocate, your state and national pharmacy associations are your advocates. It is encouraging that Kusserow said that pharmacists have an opportunity to perform valuable services. However, your state and national advocates must work together to show him - and other decision makers - that you already perform those services. The real proof will lie not in what our advocates say we do. Decision makers will be convinced only by evidence that we are actually doing it. We must practice what we preach! Infect your patients with your willingness to help. Offer to share your wealth of vital information. Communicate on their level. If you are out of sOlnething, help your patients find it. Don't send them away with frustration rather than answers. ®
American Pharmacy, Vol. NS29, No. 12 December 19891739
5
AMERICAN
PHARMACY ®
Practice What We Preach
OffIcial Journal of the AmerIcan Pharmaceullcal ASSOCIatIon
December 1989, Vol. NS29, No. 12 ISSN 0160-3450
Publisher: The American Pharmaceutical Association, 2215 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20037. (202) 628-4410. Fax: 202-783-2351 Executive Vice-President: John A. Gans, PharmD Director of Publications Management: Laura C. Lawson Editor: Marlene Z. Bloom Assistant Editor: Joyce Leinberger Mitchell Contributing Editor: Vicki Meade Continuing Education Editor: Lynn Limon, PharmD Staff Writer: Sara Martin Editorial Assistant: Nicole S. Crawford Art Director: Jeffrey Ball Production Director: Jim McGinnis Production Coordinator: Susan Campbell Typographer: Tony Santora Cover Photo: Patricia Fisher Editorial Advisory Board: Sharyn R. Batey, PharmD, MSPH, Martin Beasley, PhD, Timothy R. Covington, PharmD, Joseph L. Fink III, JD, Steve C. Firman, Linda K. Garrelts, Philip P. Gerbino, PharmD, Metta Lou Henderson, PhD, Daniel A. Hussar, PhD, Kenneth W. Kirk, PhD, David A. Knapp, PhD, Katherine K. Knapp, PhD, Barbara H. Korberly, James R. Minor, PharmD, Martha M. Rumore, PhannD, Dorothy L. Smith, PharmD Advertising Representative: Nicholas Minicucci, Jr., Publishing Company, Inc., 45 Whitney Rd., Mahwah, NJ 07430 (201) 891-1055, fax: (201) 891-8010 The American Pharmaceutical Association Chairman of the Board: R. David Cobb, PharmD Honorary Chairman of the Board: Ewart A. Swinyard, PhD Chairman-elect of the Board: Philip P. Gerbino, PharmD Treasurer: August P. Lemberger, PhD Board of Trustees: J. Lyle Bootman, PhD, Robert E. Davis, PharmD, Thomas J. Garrison, Donald R. Gronewold, Lucinda L. Maine, PhD, Robert J. Osterhaus, Raymond W. Roberts, PhannD, Dennis A. Smith, Susan Torrico, Tim 1. Vordenbaumen House of Delegates Speaker: Lucinda L. Maine, PhD
Indexing: Articles in American Pharmacy are indexed in Biological Abstracts, Chemical Abstracts, Current Contents, Life Sciences, Excerpta Medica, FDA Clinical Experience Abstracts, Hospital Literature Index, Index Medic us ,International Pharmaceutical Abstracts, lowa Drug Information Service, and Medical Socio-economic Research Sources. Previous volumes are available on microfilm from University Microfilms, 300 N. Zeeb Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48106.
By Thomas E. Menighan Director of State Affairs he cornerstone of pharmacy T practice is service. Each day pharmacists answer a multitude of questions from patients, purchasers, suppliers, or distraught people who ask where they can turn next for help. You are a patient advocate. Each day you provide the best information possible to improve their health and work with them to minimize the impact of their illnesses on their daily lives. We in the profession take our patient service responsibility for granted, but sometimes we wonder if others outside the profession know and appreciate it. We especially feel that way about government officials. We ask, "Why don't they understand that pharmacists are not simply distributors of a commodity: prescription drug products?" Fortunately, there are signals that this uninformed view of pharmacy service is beginning to turn around. Speaking before a September meeting of state pharmacy association executives hosted by APhA, Inspector General Richard Kusserow pointed out that nearly 250,000 hospitalizations each year are caused by inappropriate use of drug products. "The elderly simply don't understand ,how to take their medications," he said. "Pharmacists have an excellent opportunity to perform the services for which they were trained." Kusserow's office was responsible for a study several years ago that pushed the Health Care Financing Administration to seek discounts in pharmacy reimbursement, but he is now taking another look. "We had been looking only at pharmacist reirp.bursement and acquisition cost when we should have been looking at all components of pharmaceutical costsincluding drug product," Kusserow said. "We can't look at any single component in isolation." Discussions among officials attending the meeting showed that changing perceptions of pharmacists will require a cooperative effort between state and national organizations. Every topic discussed - drug product selection, PharmD programs, public relations campaigns, mail-order pharmacy, reimbursement, hospital returns, the generic controversy, and others had both a state and a national element. No state today can address an issue or pass a law without drawing the scrutiny of federal officials. And, likewise, no federal bureaucracy or legislative body can act without ripples being felt throughout the states. Just as you are your patients' advocate, your state and national pharmacy associations are your advocates. It is encouraging that Kusserow said that pharmacists have an opportunity to perform valuable services. However, your state and national advocates must work together to show him - and other decision makers - that you already perform those services. The real proof will lie not in what our advocates say we do. Decision makers will be convinced only by evidence that we are actually doing it. We must practice what we preach! Infect your patients with your willingness to help. Offer to share your wealth of vital information. Communicate on their level. If you are out of sOlnething, help your patients find it. Don't send them away with frustration rather than answers. ®
American Pharmacy, Vol. NS29, No. 12 December 19891739
5