From The Issue: September/October 2021

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The 2021 Buyers Guide

In The September/October 2021 Issue

More From The Issue

The Pandemic Drives Price Consciousness, But Are Discount Cards the Answer?

Prescription costs are among the top issues in healthcare today. It is common for patients to ask about a discount plan. Will GoodRx and the proliferation of discount cards may finally be the disrupter to our complex, and often untransparent, pharmacy pricing system, not Amazon?

Interoperability

The Office Of The National Coordinator For Health Information Technology (ONC) has had interoperability as a top priority for healthcare data exchange for a number of years. However, with all the hype behind interoperability, it is still far from a widespread reality.

Lessons Learned from the COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout

The lesson from COVID-19 testing is that pharmacy has an opportunity to tap into the yet largely unexplored opportunity of test/treat. The looming round of booster shots will underscore this need in community pharmacies.

Changes for 340B Coming?

Pharmaceutical manufacturers have announced that they will no longer provide 340B discounted product to contract pharmacies or will do so only if covered entities meet certain data submission requirements, setting off a chain of events that ultimately may force legislation that provides more definitive 340B guidelines.

A Decade Strong: PMP InterConnect Serves as a Vital Tool to Protect Public Health

Enhancements to PMP InterConnect continue to be developed and implemented. These developments will continue to make it easier for users to monitor the system, get reports and other vital information when they need it, and enable stronger, secure connections between PMPs.

More From Pharmacy Experts

Lessons Learned: Opportunities in COVID-19 Vaccine Deployment

Michael Ganio, Pharm.D., M.S., BCPS, FASHP and senior director, pharmacy practice and quality at the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, talked about the progress in vaccine administration, the development of better communication between health departments and patients, and how all the bumps in the road of this vaccine rollout will make the process easier in the future.

Resilience and Innovation: RedSail Technologies’ Next-Gen Vision

Kraig McEwen, CEO of RedSail Technologies, LLC, spoke with ComputerTalk’s Maggie Lockwood about the company’s vision for the independent pharmacy market as its portfolio increases to include three major software players. With a long background in healthcare technology, McEwen sheds light on the importance of scale for independent pharmacy, as well as innovative technology platforms that respond to the healthcare trends toward value-based care.

The ROI of your Pharmacy Management Software During COVID-19

Stuck with clunky software, outdated technology, and limited integration? Is your pharmacy management system is simply holding you back at a time when your patients need you most? Learn how your pharmacy management solution should keep up during COVID-19 and that there is an ROI to switching to a better solution.

Pharmacies Have the Vaccines, But Do They Have the Time?

With a newfound focus and pressure on pharmacies and pharmacists as frontline healthcare providers, the industry needs to ensure these pharmacies are equipped to handle such demand. How can pharmacists streamline operations, reallocate their staff, and put a focus on immunization efforts? Pharmacy automation.

KL1Plus Automation Advances Community Hospital Pharmacy Programs

A major contributor to the success of Memorial Hospital’s outpatient pharmacy expansion is also the smallest and simplest: a Kirby Lester KL1Plus verification-plus-counting device for prescription verification and counting.

COVID-19 Vaccine 1st and 2nd Dose Scheduling

The Drive for Global Vaccination: Pharmacy’s Role in Ending the COVID-19 Pandemic

TRHC's Farah Madhat and Robert Alesiani on the tools community pharmacies are deploying to support the unprecedented efforts to roll out COVID-19 vaccines. From patient scheduling and intake to second-dose management, reporting, and community education, learn about how pharmacists are making it all work.

Micro Merchant Systems PrimeRx Pharmacy Software

Biden Administration Urged to Enlisted Retired Pharmacists for COVID-19 Vaccinations

Pharmacies' COVID-19 vaccination efforts would get a significant boost by enlisting the services of retired pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. A group of ten pharmacy associations wrote to HHS in early February, seeking permission for pharmacists and technicians who left the workforce within the past five years to be allowed to administer COVID-19 vaccines.

Cover Story | Long-term Care: The Trends To Watch

Long-term care (LTC) pharmacy has an increasingly important role in patient care, as the population in the United States continues to age. Here we’ll take a look at the current trends in the sector as the COVID-19 pandemic wears on, which may bring with them significant changes to pharmacy workflows, a need to emphasize and document LTC pharmacy services, and a movement to base LTC billing on the level of care rather than the patient’s status as a resident of an LTC facility.

Pharmacy Forward | Automation Drives Innovation, Scalable Home Delivery Programs

A Case Study Provided by Parata Systems

Grane Rx’s Meds2Home program is a shining example of how pharmacies, especially those using central-fill models, can produce positive patient outcomes simply by making compliance easy and accessible.

Back Page | Care Collaboration and Messaging Offer Next-Level Service

by Maggie Lockwood

Secure messaging is quickly becoming the preferred method of communicating in healthcare. With DrFirst’s Backline, Chris Antypas, Pharm.D., owner of three pharmacies in the Pittsburgh area, has watched the need to pick up the phone to solve a problem quickly disappear.

Exclusive Web Content | Case Study: Elevate Pharmacy Through Automation

In the last few years, Jana Bennett, Pharm.D., and her husband, Randy, owners of Medicine Shoppe Pharmacy in Sherman, Texas, have installed two RxSafe 1800 towers and RapidPakRx for adherence packaging. Both are proving their worth. Even better, the Bennetts have found RxSafe to be a strong partner beyond the install, joining a business transformation group of fellow pharmacists sponsored by the company to learn not only how to deploy the technology to achieve their ROI (return on investment) goals, but also how to elevate their pharmacy operations overall. It’s a textbook example of a rising tide lifting all boats.

Feature | Creating a Cult

by Bruce Kneeland

Creating a cult for your brand sounds like a provocative idea. The idea is simple though: Find ways to impress customers so much that they become fans. Focus on helping employees take better care of customers. The idea is that when employees take better care of customers, the customers will recommend the company’s products to their friends, all without increasing advertising budgets.

Feature | A Decade Strong: PMP InterConnect Serves as a Vital Tool to Protect Public Health

by Danna E. Droz, J.D., R.Ph.

Publisher’s Window | Interoperability

The office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) has had interoperability as a top priority for healthcare data exchange for a number of years. However, with all the hype behind interoperability, it is still far from a widespread reality.

Technology Corner | Lessons Learned from the COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout

The lesson from COVID-19 testing is that pharmacy has an opportunity to tap into the yet largely unexplored opportunity of test/treat.

Viewpoints | Changes for 340B Coming?

Within the last year, eight pharmaceutical manufacturers have announced that they will no longer provide 340B discounted product to contract pharmacies or will do so only if covered entities meet certain data submission requirements. These manufacturer announcements have set off a chain of events in the industry that have led to legal actions, and ultimately may force legislation that provides more definitive 340B guidelines.

Catalyst Corner | The Pandemic Drives Price Consciousness, But Are Discount Cards the Answer?

The pandemic is driving the need for greater interoperability, especially because of increased technology use during the past 18 months and increasing desire for price transparency to serve patients who were more anxious and price conscious than ever.