MTM Marketing Symposium

Nate and I had a busy but short week due to PD4 class meeting and University Holiday! We attended "Marketing MTM Services," a seminar held at the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy and hosted by the UPlan University insurance benefit. The seminar covered new information specific to UPlan, covering topics such as changes to the Prior Authorization process via Prime Therapeutics, services and benefits of using Fairview Specialty Pharmacy and ensuring quality MTM services via the MTM Peer Advisory Panel.  During the afternoon session we had the opportunity to hear from Dr. Rajiv Vaidyanathan, marketing professor from the Labovitz School of Business and Economics, University of Minnesota Duluth. Dr. Rajiv discussed marketing concepts and strategies to advance the practice of Medication Therapy Management and reach a broader patient base. He focused on the idea of sustainable competitive advantage, asking the question, 'What can you do better than your competitors that they cannot copy?' (and that consumers care about?). This question is the foundation for MTM-- Pharmacists are the drug experts! Dr. Rajiv also presented current MTM practitioners with a set of questions to work through (after the session) which allows them to better define their market segment, which consumers they want to target and how they plan to position themselves. The afternoon session of the conference also allowed for experience sharing by current practitioners, discussing what tactics have been successful in recruiting new patients (and what has failed!). Look for further information and lessons learned from the Marketing MTM Services Seminar in the next issue of the MPhA Journal!


Additionally, as I mentioned in my last blog post, I am working on updating the MPhA website! If you have comments, suggestions or edits you would like to see to the website--please contact me!



Gina E. Rozinka

PharmD Candidate Class of 2011
University of Minnesota
College of Pharmacy
Rozi0007@umn.edu

Another Fun-Filled Week at MPhA!

This past week Nate and I had the opportunity to spend some more time at the capital and meet with legislators to discuss current issues in pharmacy! Everyone who we have spoken with has been very receptive and supportive of our proposed audit standardization bill.  I am hoping the bill is dropped soon, so that Nate and I can see how this process works firsthand! I was able to some research on US Senate Bill 296: Preserving Access to Life-Saving Medications Act proposed by Senators Amy Klouchar (D-Minn) and Bob Casey (D-Pa) for this months E-News. This bill mandates manufacturers to notify the FDA in instances where they believe their is the potential for manufacturing delay leading to a potential drug shortage. There are many more details to the bill but the basic idea behind the bill is better communication with the FDA to avoid drug shortages!

On Friday we were able to go on a field trip to Blomberg Pharmacy, a local independent pharmacy in St. Paul MN. It was great to see independent pharmacy in action-- the patients knew the employees by name, weren't afraid to ask questions and the pharmacist had time to provide individual attention to each patient.  This week we also completed many administrative tasks including sorting out CE certification, soliciting members for the Board of Directors, finalizing articles for the E-News and covering MPhA budget/finance basics. I am continuing to work on providing a list of updates needed to the MPhA website—I would appreciate any and all feedback about the MPhA website, as we start to update it. Is there anything you would like to see that is not on there? Things that need to be removed? I am here to help!

Please feel free to contact me or anyone at MPhA if you have questions about accessing your CE certification, if you are interested in becoming a Board Member for MPhA or if you have any feedback about the E-News! We love to hear from you!
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Gina E. Rozinka

PharmD Candidate Class of 2011
University of Minnesota
College of Pharmacy
Rozi0007@umn.edu
612-385-8167

Exciting Week at the Capitol!

 I am just wrapping another busy week at MPhA. We had several meeting with Minnesota state senators and representatives, as well as attended the House and Senate full session. The House session was very lively, with banter from both sides — similar to what you see in the movies! It was very exciting to see and hear them debate on omnibus House Bill number 1, containing controversial legislation regarding the environment. If you have never been to the State Capitol for a full session I strongly encourage you to attend.  It was so exciting to see democracy in action! While you are there, I also encourage you to meet with your legislators. This past week I had the opportunity to meet with my state representative Sarah Anderson (R) 43A to discuss matters concerning pharmacy, the proposed pharmacy audit bill and expanding MTM eligibility. Representative Anderson was interested to hear from me as a constituent and was very welcoming to the proposed audit bill! 

In addition to spending time at the capital, we had a chance to attend the Board of Pharmacy Rules Package Hearing with the Administrative law judge. The hearing allowed members of the public to provide verbal (and written) comment to the administrative law judge regarding the proposed rule change. After attending the ad-hoc meeting last week, the hearing with the administrative law judge was uniquely different, allowed interested parties to verbalize their concerns, as well as provide background information and context or reasoning for the objection to the proposed changes. I had anticipated the hearing would be "heated," with representation from every area of pharmacy (Community, Institution, Long-Term Care, Industry, etc), however individuals were respectful, eloquent and provided thoughtful insight on the rules package. The next step is a 20-day comment period, where the administrative law judge will accept comments regarding the rule package. If you have any concerns or would like more information on how to contact the administrative law judge, please do not hesitate to contact MPhA for help!

Learning about advocacy, legislation and the administrative side of MPhA

Hello MPhA Members!  I am so excited to spend my next 5 weeks learning about advocacy, legislation and the administrative side of MPhA— in order to meet the needs of the changing pharmacy environment!  My name is Gina Rozinka and I am a 4th year student from the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy. I grew up in Plymouth Minnesota and attended the University of Minnesota College of Biological Sciences, receiving a Bachelor of Science in Genetics, Cell Biology & Development with a minor in Leadership. During my time at the College of Pharmacy, I was actively involved with Phi Delta Chi professional fraternity, Phi Lambda Sigma Honor Society and College Board, serving in various leadership roles. These organizations allowed me to meet many wonderful faculty and staff, as well as my colleagues on the Duluth Campus!

During my first week, I had the opportunity to meet with several State Senators and Representatives to discuss the proposed audit standardization bill, expanding MTM eligibility and pharmaceutical waste. I also toured the state capital, learned some fun trivia about the building (did you know we have the 2nd largest marble dome in the world?) and experienced democracy first hand! Nate and I also attended the Board of Pharmacy proposed rule change comment session. The session allowed Board of Pharmacy members to interpret, evaluate and alter the existing proposed rule packet based on the comments received from the public.  It was very interesting to see how the new rules affect each area of practice!  We will be attending the Board of Pharmacy hearing with the administrative law judge next Thursday so check back next week for an update!

Gina E. Rozinka

PharmD Candidate Class of 2011
University of Minnesota
College of Pharmacy