Friday, October 29, 2010

Out with the old, in with the new!

Week 2 of my rotation at MPhA kicked off by relocating the office! This involved some hardcore organizing and “executive” decisions of what to throw out, what stays, and what comes with us! While moving never sounds “fun” it actually has been enjoyable since instead of being the “new” person – everyone is “new”! (Thus, one of the marvelous benefits of being a rotation student is being the new person 8 times in a row!) I have been able to help organize the MPhA office materials so I actually know where “stuff” is. Over the week I have been working with the amazing new staff here at the Ewald Consulting Firm. The new team really helps offer a bright future for MPhA!

Aside from dusting shelves and moving boxes, I was privileged to attend both a Technician Academy Meeting and a Board Meeting last Thursday. The Technician Academy meeting was a phone conference with 4 technicians from around Minnesota. During the meeting, we discussed the Board Rules Package changes that affect technicians – including minimum technician age, education training, and required pharmacist breaks meaning some rural pharmacies that don’t have the pharmacy separated from the rest of the store would have to close the entire store during that 30 minute lunch break. Goals for future pharmacy nights are to encourage all pharmacists to bring a technician with them. Last week was “Technician Recognition Week”. To any pharmacists reading this, make sure you thank your technicians for all that they do!

The Board meeting was a great time for me to meet and network the major players of MPhA (especially during the “beverage” reception after the meeting). The meeting allowed people to meet the new staff, discuss the transition and what it means for MPhA, review finances, re-cap pharmacy nights, and strategic planning. Some of the most “heated” topics included advocating for internet access for all pharmacists on the job. The argument was that there are vast amounts of valuable resources online that are required during the work day in order to provide optimal patient care, but some pharmacies still have restricted or no internet access at all. Also discussed were MPhA’s goals in looking at revising the “Pharmacy Practice Act” to be more patient-care oriented and allow pharmacy services outside the traditional pharmacy setting. We want to make sure evaluating this act is a valuable use of our resources, which the board seems to agree that it is. Along with this discussion, we further reviewed the Board Rules Package changes and discussed pro’s and con’s of each proposed change. I thought the discussion during this meeting was much more interactive than previous pharmacy nights.

Surprisingly, it was made clear to me at this meeting that MPhA represents only a minority of pharmacists in Minnesota. The million dollar question is, WHY? Why are pharmacists not getting involved in MPhA and advocating for their profession? There might be a potential project here for me. Perhaps trying to design an extremely short survey to query pharmacists about MPhA might help us understand this. Do they understand everything that MPhA advocates for? Pharmacists can do immunizations and have Collaborative Practice Agreements because of MPhA’s advocacy! Why are they not a member and what can MPhA do to aid in their involvement?

I must comment that I was very impressed with the student presence at the board meeting. Not only were 7 students present, but they actively gave their input on issues! Not only is the fore mentioned involvement issue a problem at the pharmacist level, but at the student level as well. If students can grasp the importance of professional involvement during their college years, imagine what mountains can be moved after graduation! MPhA helps direct our future! Let’s be involved!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Welcome Resident Smith

Greetings MPhA members! I am writing as the newest addition to the Resident Blog – another PharmD IV student from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities campus.  My name is Stephanie Smith, born and raised in Minnetonka, MN.  I completed 3 years of undergraduate coursework at the U of MN working towards a B.A. in Chemistry prior to entering pharmacy school.  My rotation journey thus far has included Cub Pharmacy, Fairview Riverside Psychiatry, Coborns Pharmacy, Walgreens Management, and now landing me with MPhA!  I’m so excited that I was assigned this rotation, because it provides a learning experience that is not realized throughout the pharmacy curriculum. 

My future plans in pharmacy absolutely lie within MTM.  I am currently interviewing for a position with Walgreens pharmacy (who currently has a big MTM initiative!), a company I have been dedicated to for the last 5 years.  Before I have faculty rolling their eyes, I am also working on a proposal to initiate MTM services at Ridgeview Medical Center Clinics in the western suburbs – or basically, creating my own “residency” if that pleases everyone!  Presently Stephanie Svoboda, the director of Pharmacy at Ridgeview, and I are working hard on the financial aspect of the proposal – so feel free to comment with feedback!

I can’t say I am “back” in the office starting off week 2, since I was never in the office during week 1!  My rotation started out with Julie proclaiming, “pack your bags for the week!”   I was lucky enough to travel around rural Minnesota for MPhA 2010 Fall Pharmacy Nights/Mornings with Julie Johnson and Brent Thompson.  The week started off driving up to Thief River Falls to which President Brent Thompson chuckled when he learned I was staring out my window the whole time looking for moose. 

After listening to the same presentations repeatedly 6 times, one would think I would be bored.  However, I learned something new each time – perhaps meaning I should work on my listening skills for the first time around!  Molly Ekstrand, an MTM pharmacist at Fairview, provided a beautiful lecture on Asthma Updates.  The most valuable information I acquired from the presentation was CFC to HFA inhaler transitions and differences as well as the Minnesota Community Measurements for asthma care.  I also learned about new state and federal issues from 2010.  Being passionate about MTM, some of the most important issues for me to follow are MTM via Interactive video and MTM in Health Care Reform.  Health Care Reform offers pharmacists an exciting and expanded role in this new health care model.  The model includes a MTM grant program which would be instrumental in starting up practices like the one I am working on with Ridgeview!  Another hot topic of discussion was the State Board Rules Package changes.  I quickly realized that even I can be involved at this level and write a letter to the Board about any rule changes I don’t agree with!  One proposed rule change I am planning on writing a letter about is changing the minimum technician age to 18 years old.  I think working in this setting at a young age propels students to explore pharmacy as a career. 

The best part of the trip was getting to know Julie and Brent and networking with MPhA members including people from the Board of Pharmacy and pharmacists in various rural settings.  I was able to help with registration and got some “networking” in during social hour before and, of course, after the events!

Things I would like to see during the rest of my time here at MPhA include visiting the capitol (since last time I was there was in middle school), attending hearings, and researching MTM billing to provide a structured process to help pharmacists implement MTM in their setting. 

Friday, October 15, 2010

Thank You

I have finished my rotation with MPhA. I am sad to leave the organization since I have learned so much and had a great time here. I didn’t know what to expect when starting this rotation and was blown away by the variety of experiences I gained. Throughout my experience, I was able to meet a wide array of people who all shared an impressive background and a passion for their profession. I believe that it is this passion that has propelled our profession forward, allowing us to become involved in immunizations and medication therapy management.

This week, I was involved with a variety of things. I finished documenting my experience with the DEA take-back event, including entering all take-back data into an excel spreadsheet and sending it to the U of M for further analysis.  I was able to attend the weekly MPSA meeting to hear what was happening at the college level. At the meeting, they debated policies, determining which ones they supported and should bring to the MRM conference. I was also able to meet with representatives from a drug company and learn more about their positions.

On Wednesday, Julie and I traveled to Rochester, MN. There, we met with several people to discuss the AWARxE campaign. The AWARxE campaign was founded by MPF to provide individuals with the information they need to enable them to make the right decisions about prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) medications. We met with MarkIt,AWARxE’s marketing company, to go over the accomplishments of AWARxE and future goals. There are several middle schools that would like to have AWARxE presentations in their classes. We also met with members from the Sheriff’s Association to share the AWARxE campaign and discuss ways to collaborate and reach our common goal. All of the meetings were exciting and left me optimistic about the future of AWARxE. I believe that people are starting to notice the campaign and want to become involved with its success.

I was also able to attend a community pharmacy business committee meeting this week. A hot topic for debate was methods of Medicaid reimbursement. Since Medicaid is looking to change their reimbursement policy, it is necessary to become educated about alternate policies in order to having meaningful conversations with them. It became clear that there is no current plan that outshines the rest. Also discussed were auditing policies from different insurance companies. Some fear that the companies are overstepping their bounds and trying to secure money for prescriptions that were dispensed in good faith.

This rotation was a fantastic experience and I feel lucky that I was placed here. This rotation exposes you to things that cannot be learned in a text book. I am now more informed about political issues and have been moved to become more involved in the profession of pharmacy.My advice to other students is to try to become involved with as many things as possible. It is not often that you will have an opportunity to experience as many things as you can here. I’d like to say thank you to MPhA and everyone I met through this experience. This was a tremendous experience that wouldn’t have been possible without you.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Pharmacy Nights and DEA Surveys

This week, I had the opportunity to travel to Duluth for MPhA’s pharmacy nights. Pharmacy nights occur in the fall and the spring across the state. It provides the opportunity to meet up with friends, learn about current pharmacy topics, and receive continuing education credit. For the Duluth pharmacy night, I was responsible for bring the materials from the MPhA office, helping to set up the event, and register people when they arrived. While at the registration table, I was joined by a pharmacy technician. Between greeting people, she was able to share with me issues that are currently affecting technicians. In particular, people are interested to see what changes will come from the Board of Pharmacy’s proposed new rules package. Once everyone arrived, Dr. Uden presented current information about asthma management. Then, the president of MPhA, Brent Thompson, provided an update on current legislative issues in pharmacy.

I have also spent time this week compiling information from the DEA Take-Back event that occurred on September 25th. At the site I attended in Clear Lake, there was a total of 177 pounds of drugs collected. The top medications turned in were Arthrotec, alprazolam, metformin, gemfibrozil, and omeprazole.Overall, there were over 4,240 pounds of non-controlled medications collected and 435 pounds of controlled medications in the Twin Cities. The busiest take-back sites in the Twin Cities were St. Louis Park, the State Fairgrounds, and Burnsville. At the State Fairgrounds, there were approximately 3759 generic Vicodin tablets, 2333 generic Percocet tablets, and 1204 generic Tylenol with Codeine No. 3 collected.

Surveys were sent to volunteers to learn how things went at each of the sites. Hopefully the results from the survey will help future take-back events run even better. Respondents replied that things that went well included work flow and the relationship between the participating organizations. Many people commented that it was interesting to be able to talk to the DEA and law enforcement. Things to improve for next time include learning more about the site before the event and creating more advertisements to inform the public about the event.  Unfortunately, some of the sites held the event outdoors and volunteers were unprepared for the weather.  All volunteers are happy that they participated in the event and would like to help out again in the future. It seems like the take-back was a success!

DEA Take Back Event

[September 29, 2010]

My time at MPhA seems to be flying by! Last Thursday I was able to attend the Legislative Commission on Health Care Access. This was an interesting meeting that focused on the balance between the federal and the state government. It was surprising to me to hear such a struggle to maintain independence from the federal government. During the session, there was an update on Obama’s health care reform, which had just gone into effect that day. New health insurance plans will contain the updated policies, but existing plans won’t change until they are renewed, most likely on January 1st.

The majority of my time last week was spent preparing for the DEA takeback event that happened on Saturday, September 25th. Luckily, there were enough pharmacist, student, and technician volunteers to help at every site. After finding volunteers for all of the sites, I was able to pass along the details I knew and distribute materials. Everything had been planned last minute with no time to spare, so there wasn’t much time for conversations between pharmacy, the DEA, waste management, and the law enforcement. There was no plan for how each site would run, since the DEA preferred to leave these details up to the individual counties. I was also nervous that the public wouldn’t attend the event since I hadn’t seen any advertisements. Luckily, everything worked out and the take back was a huge success!

On Saturday, Julie Johnson and I volunteered at the Clear Lake take back site. Clear Lake is a small town northwest of the twin cities, about an hour drive away. At the site, we were joined by a police officer, a waste disposal representative, and two DEA officers. As we were walking into the site, a car pulled up and the first members of the public had arrived! Julie and I sorted all of the drugs, separating the controls for the non-controlled. We also recorded every drug that we received, including an approximation of the quantity. If we were unsure of a medication, we used reference materials to identify it. We received medications from approximately 5 to 8 individuals, a law enforcement evidence room, a dispensing physician’s office, and three assisted living homes. We received a lot of medications and were busy during the entire event.

I think this event was extremely beneficial, allowing people to dispose of medications that they have been holding on to for many years. I am excited to see what legislative changes might occur that would make a take back event more feasible.  This week, I am focusing on compiling the data the sites collected and getting feedback from the other volunteers. I am interested to hear how things went at the different sites, since they were all run independently and had varying public attendance. Hopefully, the information that I collect will help us to improve and conduct an even more effective take back in the future.