From The Issue: September/October 2021

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.

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.

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

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.