CEO Message February 29, 2008
Author: Lynn Rolston
Community pharmacy, both independents and chains, is expressing greater and greater concern over the 10 percent budget cut scheduled to go into effect on July 1, 2008. It will reduce Medi-Cal payments to pharmacy on both ingredient costs and dispensing fees. Considerable activity is underway to fight these cuts and to help the state find alternatives. This week, CPhA staff and leadership met with a number of concerned owner members to talk about specific strategies and directions. The plan and implementation timeline will be coming out shortly to outline our multi-pronged approach for fighting on behalf of community pharmacy and the many, many patients they serve, who could be seriously harmed by the Governor’s actions.
One of the strategies in the works is a statewide PR campaign, which will take place over the next five or six months. We’ve begun the process of finding a PR firm to conduct this campaign. We want to work with many of our strategic partners on this as well, including CRA, NACDS, individual chain management, and patient advocacy groups. As we develop more details on the plan, we will share them with you so that you can be prepared to participate in your local area. Additionally, we have an ambitious grassroots legislative plan in the works, which calls for you, our members, to visit your district legislators over the coming weeks. Stay tuned…
CPhA Legislative Day
Again, a reminder to all of you that CPhA’s Legislative Day on April 16 is a MUST attend event. We need YOU there. We need to make appointments with as many legislators as we can, especially republicans who are in opposition to finding other revenue sources. Register now by clicking here so that we can schedule your appointment quickly. By doing this, we will begin to raise the alarm with legislators and it will also allow us to continue to emphasize the value that pharmacists bring to patient care.
UOP School of Pharmacy Legislative Breakfast
Today, Kathy Lynch and Assembly Member Greg Aghazarian were guest speakers at the University of the Pacific School of Pharmacy’s legislative breakfast. Kathy said the UOP pharmacy students were very interested in the legislative process and the issues facing pharmacy in 2008 from both the state and federal level. Kathy welcomes the opportunity to speak with all students and very much appreciates their interest and all of their efforts on the legislative front.
Have you renewed your membership for 2008?
The time to renew your membership for 2008 is now. Beginning tomorrow, members who have not renewed their membership will no longer receive crucial information regarding their profession such as the CEO message and Legislative Updates as well as the many other benefits that CPhA offers. With the state budget cuts nearing, remaining a member in CPhA is extremely critical. We need your support, as a member, to help us fight and defeat the 10% budget cuts to pharmacy -- this cut will affect every single practicing pharmacist in the state! To renew, go to www.cpha.com/renew or contact Theresa Andrews at 916.337.8877 or tandrews@cpha.com to find out the status of your membership and to renew.
Paul Lofholm Addresses Rotary Club
Earlier this week Paul Lofholm addressed the Rotary Club of Terra Linda regarding the FDA and the politics of food and drug distribution. Specifically, he addressed quality control issues as they relate to the Heparin recall that occurred earlier this week (A New York Times article regarding the recall is currently featured In the News section of this message) along with other global issues such as the pet food melamine crisis last year.
Synergy Follow Up
On Wednesday, CPhA staff met to discuss the feedback, ideas and issues gathered at Synergy about the profession and the future direction of CPhA. Our goal is to incorporate as much of this information as possible into our 2008 operating plan. We will provide you with regular updates regarding our implementation progress.
CAPSLEAD Annual Meeting
The CAPSLEAD Annual Meeting for student leaders from each of the seven schools of pharmacy is being held this weekend in Sacramento. At this session, the schools will form their teams and begin work on their project for 2008. They produce posters each year describing their project, which is then displayed at CPhA’s Outlook and CSHP’s Seminar. President Paul Lofholm, Jerry Mazzucca and Cathi Lord will be in attendance for CPhA and will present the CAPSLEAD team with a $4,000 check that was raised during Outlook. I’m sure this will be an outstanding session as always! Special recognition goes to this year’s faculty organizer, Aglia Panos from Touro University.
PACE Program
Past President Jerry Mazzucca, and Veronica Van Orman, Vice President of Community Pharmacy Relations, met with representatives from Valley Wholesale in Stockton, CA to begin preparing for the roll out of the PACE program. This program is a secondary generic buying group that is owned by state pharmacy organizations. CPhA recently became a member of the PACE Alliance and we are now making preparations for the launch in California. During the visit, Stephen J. Shoneff, CEO/President, Joseph Shoneff, VP Sales Operations and Dan Matteoli, VP Operations, gave them a tour of their facility. It was a productive meeting and we are looking forward to the roll out of this great program with Valley Wholesale as well as other wholesalers in California.
REMINDER: National Provider Identifier March 1 Deadline!
On March 1, 2008, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will start rejecting claims submitted without a National Provider Identifier (NPI). CMS encourages Medicare providers who have submitted paid claims that contained both NPIs and legacy identifiers to send a small batch of claims now with only the NPI in the primary provider fields. Read more information about the NPI deadline.
CPhA Career Center
Are you frustrated with the time it takes you and your staff to fill an open position? Are you curious why you can’t find the “right job” with all the benefits the World Wide Web offers? Would you like more job postings and/or more resumes to choose from? Then CPhAs Career Center is the answer you’ve been waiting for. We are working hard to develop the number one rated website for employers and job seekers for California Pharmacy job postings and professional job seekers. CPhA uses the revenue from our Career Center to advocate on your behalf including developing legislative strategies and grassroots PR campaigns to help protect the profession. Log on today to secure staffing and career solutions and support your Association in these vital efforts. Contact Annette Todaro-Smith at ants@cpha.com or 916-779-1400 x318.
New Medication Guide for Avandia
FDA and GlaxoSmithKline notified pharmacists and physicians of a new Medication Guide for Avandia (rosiglitazone maleate). The FDA regulation 21CFR 208 requires a Medication Guide to be provided with each prescription that is dispensed for products that FDA determines pose a serious and significant public health concern. Click here for a list of currently approved Medication Guides. See the MedWatch 2008 safety summary, including links to the Medication Guide and the current Prescribing Information for Avandia, at:
http://www.fda.gov/medwatch/safety/2008/safety08.htm#Avandia
In the News:
Paul Lofholm, CPhA President, was interviewed by KTVU in Oakland regarding a new report that questions the effectiveness of anti-depressants. To watch the video, click here. WebMD also published an article about this report. You can read it by clicking here.
Baxter International expanded its recall to include all Heparin products. To read the full New York Times article about the recall, click here.
Question of the Week
Dear Lynn,
With the 10% budget cuts looming, which organizations are stepping up to the plate to assist Independent Owners in California?
Sincerely,
Andy Stout
Bakersfield, CA
Answer
Dear Andy,
Thank you for the question. We are working with a number of organizations in an all out effort to fight these cuts. Specifically, in answer to your question regarding independent pharmacy, we have recently gotten a very strong commitment of support from NCPA. Bruce Roberts pledged to help California pharmacists in any way they can. Their support, along with our other partners, will be invaluable in our fight against the budget cuts. We maintain strong ties with NACDS, CRA and other individual chains as well. Additionally, we are members in a number of coalitions that include provider and patient advocacy groups. So taken altogether, we are building a strong arsenal to bring to bear in the battle ahead. As we gain additional new pledges of support, I will get the word out to everyone.
Again, thank you for the question.