CONGRESS: Senate bill includes $7 million for N.D.

North Dakota is in line to receive $7 million in federal funding for economic development and health care initiatives, according to North Dakota Sens. Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan.

The funding is included in the Fiscal Year 2008 Labor and Department of Health and Human Services Appropriations bill, according to Conrad and Dorgan.

The bill goes next to a House-Senate conference committee, which will iron out the differences between the two chambers.

The bill includes $1.5 million for UND's proposed Center for Forensic Research. The money will be used to build a multifunctional building at UND that would be used to conduct post-mortem examinations that would help solve crimes and identify unknown health problems and public health hazards.

The facility would help reduce the workload on the State Medical Examiner's Office and provide a valuable educational opportunity for students at UND's School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Other funding will support projects across the state - from an energy technology training program at Bismarck State College, to a Job Corps management program in Minot, to a new vocational education program in Belcourt.

“I'm proud of the work we were able to do in this bill both to continue support for some projects that have proven to be important, and to start some new initiatives that will help move our state forward,” said Dorgan, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “Bismarck State College has a world-class education program, and this will allow them to continue building their reputation as a training hub for power plant operators. And projects like the NDSU Telepharmacy Project help expand access to health care for small communities that struggle to maintain basic health care services.”

“The research conducted at our universities and colleges is resulting in significant advances, both in North Dakota and across the nation,” Conrad said. “By continuing to invest in technology and advanced sciences, we continue to enhance North Dakota's reputation as a hotbed for scientific research while growing our state's economy.”

Here is a list of the other projects included in the bill:

-- Bismarck State College National Energy Technology Training and Education Project, $1 million: This funding will be used to develop a new Instrumentation and Control component to BSC's electronics and telecommunications technology program. The program will enhance BSC's nationally known program to prepare students to run power plants.

-- Minot State University Job Corps Program, $750,000: The funding will be used to expand MSU's customized master's degree program for Job Corps management personnel. The school will add a multi-track program that allows students to earn a Master of Science in management or a Master of Science in information systems, and a graduate certificate in knowledge management.

-- North Dakota State University Telepharmacy Project, $1 million: The funding will be used to expand NDSU's groundbreaking program by providing remote rural hospitals access to 24/7 pharmacy service by connecting them to a central hub using videoconferencing technology. The telepharmacy project has provided pharmacy service to more than 50 rural communities in North Dakota and Minnesota, where residents would otherwise be forced to drive long distances to fill a prescription.

-- North Dakota State College of Science Center for Nanoscience Technology Training, $1 million: This funding will be used to support the North Dakota State College of Science Center for Nanoscience Technology Training in Wahpeton. The Center provides students training in advanced courses related to nanoscience. The program will graduate its first students in the spring of 2008.

-- Marketplace for Kids, $500,000: This funding will support a number of daylong regional events in North Dakota that helps students explore entrepreneurship and self-employment through the recognition and development of their inventive, critical thinking and problem-solving skills. This year, more than 16,000 students participated in Marketplace for Kids.

-- Great Plains Autism Project, $500,000: This funding will be used to establish a program at Minot State University that provides training, research, diagnostic and treatment services for North Dakota children and youth diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders.

-- Turtle Mountain Career and Tech Ed Program, $750,000: This funding will be used to develop and implement a Career and Technical Education Program at Turtle Mountain Community College in Belcourt. The program will provide vocational and technical training to tribal residents and help boost the economy of the Turtle Mountain Reservation.

Source

Pharmacy machine coming to Royal City

ROYAL CITY - Royal City residents may no longer need to travel out of town to fill a prescription.

A telepharmacy service is being planned for Royal City Clinic, said Moses Lake Clinic Administrator David Olson.

Olson said he hopes to have the service running by the beginning of 2008.

A room at Royal City Clinic would house two vending machines, holding a total of 128 kinds of prescription medicine.

"Those vending machines are connected via a computer to a pharmacist in Bellevue," Olson said.

After the clinic's physician assistant writes out a prescription, the patient takes it to the pharmacy room. A pharmacy technician takes the prescription and sends it electronically to the pharmacist. The vending machine dispenses the prescription and a label is printed.

People who have questions about the prescription can get their questions answered live by the pharmacist, Olson noted.

"The computer monitor has a live video of the pharmacist in Bellevue," he said.

Olson said the machines, made out of titanium and steel, are secure. They are going to hold certain types of medication, such as inhalers and antibiotics - medications of little interest to a thief, he said. Narcotics are not going to be available from the machine.

Olson said Royal City used to have a pharmacy in the 1980s, but it closed down due to lack of business.

"A little place like Royal City wouldn't be able to afford that, but what they can afford is this system where the pharmacist is in Bellevue," he said.

He said the service could be a model for small towns unable to afford a pharmacy.

Royal City Clinic Physician Assistant Bret Moore said the clinic is excited about the new service.

"It's going to save people gas and keep them safe off the road," Moore said.

Patients can get their medications faster and more conveniently than if they traveled out of town, he said. Patients can come in and be seen by him, receive their prescription and fill it in the same place. In addition, the clinic is less busy than others, Moore said.

"I think the patients here will actually have it easier than people in larger towns," he said.

Royal City residents said they would become patients of the clinic if a pharmacy was available, Olson said.

"We listened to the people in the community," he said.


Source

University Of North Dakota: Blue Cross Blue Shield Grants Administered By UND Encourage Use Of Technology To Improve Rural Health Care Delivery

GRAND FORKS, N.D. - Nine grants have been awarded to facilities that have shown the initiative to utilize information and communication technology to improve health care delivery in rural communities. Nearly $425,000 was awarded through the Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota's (BCBSND) Rural Health Grant Program, which is administered by the Center for Rural Health at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

"We appreciate the diligent work done this year by all the provider organizations on many innovative and worthwhile projects," said Mike Unhjem, president and CEO of BCBSND. "I wish we could fund them all. The competition for available funds continues to be excellent and that shows us providers are achieving a high level of creativity in addressing cost-quality-access issues in rural areas. We're pleased to have supported this effort over the past six years."

Coal Country Community Health Center of Beulah will use the grant funds to purchase a digital radiology imaging system that will improve the quality of patient care, reduce errors, lower healthcare costs and boost productivity with rapid image availability.

Jacobson Memorial Hospital Care Center of Elgin will use the grant to purchase computed radiography equipment that will optimize patient care, reduce exam times, lower health care costs and boost productivity with rapid image availability.

Sakakawea Medical Center of Hazen will use the grant to implement an electronic medical records system that will include a picture archiving and communication system.

Hillsboro Medical Center and the Hillsboro Medical Center Foundation of Hillsboro will use the grant to implement an electronic medical records system that will be shared with other health care facilities, providers and patients by purchasing a picture archiving and communication system.

Kenmare Community Hospital of Kenmare will use the grant to implement a computerized radiography system that will coordinate with Trinity Health in Minot to network with the web-based picture archiving and communications system.

Linton Hospital of Linton will use the grant to purchase digital radiography equipment to enhance networking for the hospital and associated clinics, optimizing patient care, reducing exam times and reducing health care costs.

Northwood Deaconess Health Center of Northwood will use the grant to build a centralized data center to be shared between hospitals that will provide a cost-effective method to support implementation of telemedicine, telepharmacy and a picture archiving and communications system.

Turtle Lake Community Memorial Hospital of Turtle Lake will use the grant to purchase digital radiography equipment that will optimize patient care and boost productivity with rapid image availability.

Wishek Community Hospitals & Clinics of Wishek will use the grant to purchase digital radiography equipment that will optimize patient care, increase health information between facilities, lower health care costs and boost productivity.

"Many rural health care facilities are in the process of developing a plan to eventually implement electronic health records (EHR), per President Bush's vision that most Americans will have electronic health records by 2014," said Lynette Dickson, the program's director at the Center for Rural Health. "However, at $600,000 or more per facility, it is more realistic to build their systems one component at a time.

The funding that BCBSND provides through this grant program affords rural health care facilities the ability to get one step closer to a complete electronic system."

In an effort to strengthen the rural health delivery system in North Dakota, BCBSND initiated a new rural health grant program in 2001. Developed and administered by the Center for Rural Health, the purpose of the grant program is to support communities who demonstrate an effective plan to successfully transition to new models of rural health care delivery.

For more information about the BCBSND Rural Health Grand Program visit: http://www.med.und.nodak.edu/depts/rural/sorh/bcbs

CONTACT: Wendy Opsahl, Communications Coordinator, Center for Rural Health, UND Tel: +1 701 777 0871 e-mail: wopsahl@medicine.nodak.edu Lynette Dickson, Program Director, Center for Rural Health, UND Tel: +1 701 777 6049 e-mail: ldickson@medicine.nodak.edu Larry Gauper, Vice President, Corporate Communications, Noridian Mutual Insurance Co., Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota Tel: +1 701 282 1160 e-mail: larry.gauper@noridian.com Peter Johnson, Associate Director & UND Media Relations Coordinator Tel: +1 701 777 4317 e-mail: peter.johnson@mail.und.nodak.edu


Source

Two 24 Hour Augusta Pharmacies Slice Hours Due to Pharmacist Shortage

Filling prescriptions in Augusta is getting harder than it used to be. Two 24 hour Walgreens pharmacies have changed their hours and are no longer open 24 hours a day.

They say it's due to a shortage in pharmacists. And professors at the Medical College of Georgia say it's a problem all over the state.

"More diseases are known and treatments for the diseases have increased, so it reflects a real need." said Susan Fagan of The University of Georgia.

We did find two CVS pharmacies in Augusta that are open 24 hours a day.

The two Walgreens stores are open 24 hours a day, but the pharmacies are not. The pharmacy hours are 6:00am to 10:00pm Monday through Friday and 8:00am to 6:00pm Saturday and Sunday.

Source

Pharmacist shortage adds to risk of medication mistakes

Auckland City Hospital patients are at a higher level of risk of medication errors than usual because of an unprecedented shortage of pharmacists.

The scarcity of pharmacists is the latest in an unending series of health-worker shortages to afflict parts of Auckland or the whole country, some of the worst being among junior doctors, pathologists and anaesthetic technicians.

Auckland City Hospital budgets to employ the equivalent of 34 full-time pharmacists, but has only 22, leading to many wards having to do without one.

The basic role of pharmacists is to prepare medicines in the right doses, including cancer chemotherapy, to be administered to patients by nurses.

But to minimise medication errors, the hospital's pharmacists normally also work in 50 wards or other clinical areas such as mental health units.

"Unprecedented staff shortages in clinical pharmacy will result in services to 10 clinical areas being withdrawn in September," say Auckland District Health Board papers for October.

In his monthly report to the board, chief medical officer Dr David Sage says: " ... in the wards now functioning with a lower pharmacist presence there is acceptance of a higher level of risk.

"The created levels of vigilance requested of all the clinical staff in these wards pending replacement will have little impact because the role of the pharmacist is in part to pick up errors not detected by other clinical staff."

Chief pharmacist Sarah Fitt yesterday agreed. "Doctors are responsible for prescribing, nurses are responsible for administration and we put in an extra safety check.

"We've got so short we have had to put our focus back on our basic dispensing service."

Ms Fitt hoped to be down to four or five vacancies - from the present 12 - by the end of the year with the appointment of newly registered pharmacists and experienced staff.

Pharmacists would then be posted back to the 10 hospital wards - none had been withdrawn from the mental health units - at present without them.

"There is a national and international shortage of hospital pharmacists. Recruitment is always an issue for us," she said.

But it had become harder this year because of the ending of a reciprocal agreement between New Zealand and Britain covering pharmacist registration.

The agreement ended because of Britain's commitments to the European Union.

Before the changes coming into force on February 1, Ms Fitt said, it was relatively easy for pharmacists from either country to register in the other. Only a period of supervision and an interview were required.

But now New Zealanders had to have a lengthy period of extra study to work in Britain and Britons coming to New Zealand had to pass an exam.

"In the past, we've picked up people who were travelling. They work for six to nine months. People aren't going to bother doing an exam," said Ms Fitt, who came from Britain intending to stay one year and has been here for nearly nine.

Source

Las Cruces Deals With Nationwide Pharmacist Shortage

LAS CRUCES, N.M. -- Lines at a Las Cruces Walgreens pharmacy are stretched several customers long on a Sunday afternoon. Area pharmacists said this is the picture many pharmacies across the nation are seeing.

"It is a problem and it's probably very complicated," said Stan Muchnikoff, a pharmacist at a local Walgreens.

Muchnikoff said competitive pharmacy programs are part of the problem. The College of Pharmacy at University of New Mexico only accepts about 85 students a year, according to Doctor John Pieper, dean of the school.

Perhaps making the problem worse is that there are only 100 pharmacy schools across the nation.

Muchnikoff said the problem increases as more retirees move to Las Cruces, creating a need for more pharmacists.

While area pharmacies are learning to deal with the problem for customers everywhere, it boils down to patients waiting longer to have prescriptions filled.


Source

Pharmacy college in Kingsville doing well

KINGSVILLE — It may have taken years to build and fund the Texas A&M Health Science Center's Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy, but it has taken only one year for South Texas to begin seeing the impact of the region's first professional school.

The school's inaugural class is in its second year, and students have begun rotations with participating pharmacies and hospitals across South Texas.

College Dean Indra Reddy said all 76 students admitted into the first class in 2006 have progressed into their second year.

"There is a lot of pioneering spirit in this group," Reddy said. "We consider them to be trailblazers."

One of those trailblazers is 27-year-old Sergio Valdes -- one of the original students admitted into the school in 2005, a year before funding was secured.

Valdes, a Corpus Christi native, delayed the start of pharmacy school a full year until the Rangel College of Pharmacy opened its doors in 2006.

He didn't mind the wait.

"I always thought it was a great opportunity to be able to go to a pharmacy school so close to where I live," Valdes said.

In September, Valdes and his classmates received their white coats in a ceremony that marked the beginning of their professional lives.

Valdes plans to return to the city as a pharmacist upon graduation. He is the type of student the college's founders wanted to serve -- the type who would help to alleviate the growing pharmacist shortage across the country.

According to the American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education, there are about 8,000 pharmacist vacancies in the United States, with about 71 pharmacists per 100,000 people.

The shortage in Texas is even more striking.

Data from the Texas Department of State Health Services indicate the shortage is most dire along the U.S.-Mexico Border. Among border counties, the pharmacist per 100,000 population ratio is about 58. In rural border counties, the number drops to about 41 pharmacists per 100,000.

Corpus Christi pharmacist Ron Garza, an outspoken advocate for creating the Kingsville pharmacy school, said the college is doing everything to make a difference in the future of pharmacy.

One day a week, Garza mentors Valdes, providing him with real-world pharmacy experience at DeLeon's Clinic Pharmacy.

"It gives me a sense of satisfaction to know that the next generation of South Texas pharmacists are going to come from South Texas and that they are on their way to learning the discipline," Garza said.

Reddy said the college and its community partnerships are continuing to grow. The school's clinical rotation network -- pharmacies and hospitals willing to work with students -- now stands at about 160.

For fall 2007, the college admitted its second class of 77 students, 73 from Texas and four from out of state.

The college also now is in its second stage of accreditation and expects to enter the third once the inaugural class graduates in 2010.

"All of these advances mean the trust placed in us by the state is well-founded and our students will go on to serve their communities as pharmacists," Reddy said.

Source

Sullivan urges pharmacists to be IT compliant

Governor Sullivan Chime of Enugu State has urged Pharmacists in the country to be Information Technology compliant in line with changing trends.

Chime who made the call on Friday in Enugu, observed that IT compliance was in line with changing trends in their profession.

The governor spoke through his Health Commissioner, Dr Martin Chukwunweike during the state’s Annual Seminar of the Nigeria Association of Hospital and Administrative Pharmacists.

He noted that the time had come where each hospital must have a resident pharmacist before being registered by Nigeria Medical Council (NMC).

The governor called for regular interaction between the Pharmacists, Doctors and Nurses to improve the standard of health care delivery.

He said that the state government had disbursed money for the fencing of the state’s Pharmaceutical Store.

He gave the assurance that the Enugu State University Teaching Hospital (ESUTH) would also receive attention from the government.

Earlier, Prof Godfrey Obiaga, a fellow of Pharmaceutica1 Society of Nigeria (PSN), had enumerated some of the challenges of the profession in the 21st century.

He said some of them included Telepharmacy, Pharmacovigilance, Herbal and Traditional Medicines and the detection of fake drugs.

Obiaga enjoined Pharmacists to put the integrity of their practices first and urged them to continue to work hard.

“We have to work hard to retain the enviable respect the profession has attained,” he said.

Source

Trade group says state among worst in pharmacist shortages

GREENSBORO, N.C. - A professional trade group says North Carolina has one of the nation's worst shortages of pharmacists.

The Association of Community Pharmacists says because the law requires a pharmacist to be on duty any time a pharmacy is open, the shortage can affect a pharmacy's hours.

And while the number of pharmacists in North Carolina is growing, it cannot keep up with increasing demand.

The Pharmacy Manpower Project tracks demand for and supply of licensed pharmacists and rates it on a scale from 1, meaning demand for licensed pharmacists is much less than the supply, to 5, which means great difficulty filling open positions. North Carolina has a rating of 4.57 as of June, trailing only Alabama.

The shortage extends to those who teach future pharmacists. A report this summer at a meeting of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy says there were more than 400 vacancies among a national market of 5,000 teaching positions in 2006.

Source

Paddock Laboratories Pharmacy Education Center at the University of Minnesota Duluth Now Open

MINNEAPOLIS, Sept. 24, 2007--UMD’s $15.2 million renovation to the Life Sciences Building is complete and the new Paddock Laboratories Pharmacy Education Center opened its doors Sept. 7, 2007.

The $15.2 million renovations to the 38 year-old University of Minnesota Duluth Life Science Building began Jan. 26, 2006 and were completed in less than two years. The fully-renovated building will house the UMD Department of Biology and the new Duluth College of Pharmacy in a state-of-the-art facility designed for science education and research.

Renovations to the Life Science Building were made possible due to the generous financial donation of Bruce Paddock, Duluth native and 1970 alumnus of the College of Pharmacy. The Paddock Laboratories Pharmacy Education Center will have five classrooms and two large laboratories for faculty laboratory research and student professional practice experience. In addition, there will be study space, computer laboratories and a student lounge. “We are thrilled with the new space,” said University of Minnesota Dean of Pharmacy, Marilyn Speedie, Ph.D.

The Duluth expansion is helping the College of Pharmacy to better address Minnesota’s rural pharmacist shortage and bringing quality health care to underserved areas of our state. “I’m pleased to hear 46% of the Duluth branch-campus graduates are working in rural settings,” said Chairman of Paddock Laboratories, Bruce Paddock, “The new Duluth program is working and our goals are being met and I am very proud to be a part of it.” Paddock will also support the Duluth College of Pharmacy commitment to expand pharmacy services to Greater Minnesota by continuing to provide the Paddock Laboratories Scholarships for undergraduate pharmacy students who demonstrate financial need.

Source

N.C. suffering shortage of pharmacists

GREENSBORO — North Carolina has one of the nation's worst shortages of pharmacists, a professional trade group says.

Because the law requires a pharmacist to be on duty any time a pharmacy is open, the shortage can affect a pharmacy's hours, said Mike James, vice president for government affairs for the Association of Community Pharmacists, which represents independent pharmacies.

The number of pharmacists in North Carolina is growing but cannot keep up with increasing demand.

The Pharmacy Manpower Project tracks demand for and supply of licensed pharmacists on a scale from 1 (demand for licensed pharmacists much less than the supply) to 5 (great difficulty filling open positions). North Carolina, with a rating of 4.57 as of June, trailed only Alabama in its need for pharmacists.

The shortage is no surprise to people in the profession.

"North Carolina has consistently been in the top five in the last four years since I've been here," said Robert A. Blouin, dean of the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Pharmacy.

And it doesn't matter whether you're looking at independent community pharmacies, chain-store pharmacies, teaching jobs or research jobs, Blouin said: "I think it has been pretty much across the board."

As a result, Blouin said, starting salaries for new pharmacists average $88,000 to $92,000, well above the state's median for all jobs. The exact amount can depend on type of job and whether the pharmacist is working in an urban area or a rural area where a lack of pharmacists creates higher demand.

The shortage extends to those who teach future pharmacists. There were more than 400 vacancies among a national market of 5,000 teaching positions in 2006, a report this summer at a meeting of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy said.

"Thirty years ago there were a little over 70 (pharmacy) schools (nationally)," Blouin said. "Today there are 101, and there's a high likelihood that number will grow another 10 to 15 over the next three to five years. All of that will place demands on a relatively limited (teaching) pool."

Jay Campbell, executive director of the N.C. Board of Pharmacy, notes that about a decade ago, the degree required to be licensed as a pharmacist changed from a five-year program to a six-year program, resulting in smaller class sizes.

He also notes that a new pharmacy school at Wingate University, which joins the schools at UNC-CH and Campbell University, will be graduating roughly 70 new pharmacists a year, most of whom are likely to remain in North Carolina. But he's unsure whether that number will help keep up with growing demand.

That demand is driven in part by a growing number of prescriptions as the population ages, said Mike DeAngelo, manager of corporate communications for the drug store chain CVS.

To attract and retain pharmacists, he said, CVS focuses on such internal issues as quality of life and adequate technology and resources. It also focuses on such external issues as developing relationships with pharmacy schools and trying to frame community pharmacy as an attractive career path for students.

Another chain, Walgreens, says it also has had little trouble recruiting in North Carolina, even as it has expanded from 75 stores in 2005 to 110 stores today.

"We're a big chain, so there's a lot of opportunity with Walgreens, a lot of positions," corporate spokeswoman Carol Hively said. "There's the opportunity for advancement or relocation."

But part of the demand for pharmacists also has been increased opportunities in business, particularly pharmaceutical companies, and in institutions such as hospitals, Blouin said.

Moses Cone Health System has had no problem retaining pharmacists, but it has had some trouble recruiting them, spokesman Doug Allred said.

"Many factors influence our ability to recruit, including time of the year, salaries, work schedules and specialization," he said.

"There are many options for pharmacists that (require them to work) no weekends, no holidays and no evenings. Hospitals obviously need support during these times of the day."

Source

Moncton hospital suffering over French pharmacist shortage: official

A manager with New Brunswick's French health authority says Georges Dumont hospital in Moncton is dealing with a chronic shortage of French-speaking pharmacists, cutting pharmacy hours and services.

Edith Peters, pharmacy manager for the Beausejour Regional Health Authority, said finding French-speaking pharmacists is her biggest challenge.

All pharmacists at the hospital must be able to speak and write in French, she said. While there are 14 pharmacists on the hospital's team, Peters said the hospital needs 16 to function.

For the past four years, there's been a chronic shortage at the Georges Dumont hospital, she said, and that means services and hours have to be cut back.

Peters said the pharmacy is able to do little more than dispense medication safely, with little time for individual patient care and education or teamwork with doctors on special medication cases.

Only two French language universities in Canada offer pharmacy programs, the University of Montreal and Laval University. New Brunswick buys three seats for students from the province at each school every year.

Peters said six seats are not a large pool to draw on.

"We see it in retail as well as in hospitals, but for us to recruit somebody that does speak French, [seat shortage] makes it harder," she said.

"If they could purchase more seats in Quebec, that I think could help."

Michele Roussel of the New Brunswick Department of Health said buying more university seats is something the province is considering, but she said that's not the biggest challenge.

"Within the pharmacies in the hospital, you need to understand that their salary range, their benefits, are all under collective agreement whereas in the private sector, it's basically meeting supply and demand so if they need to pay you the moon, they'll offer you the moon."

Roussel said the province is looking at making better use of pharmacy assistants and technicians.

The province also offers a scholarship for pharmacy students in exchange for them agreeing to work in hospital pharmacies for two years.

Source

MSU, state team up to curb shortage of pharmacists

Missouri State University wants to partner with another university to help fill the state's pharmacist shortage.

MSU President Mike Nietzel met Thursday with University of Missouri-Kansas City officials about forming a cooperative program to provide a doctorate in pharmacy. He was expected to brief the Board of Governors at its meeting today in Kansas City.

The satellite site at MSU would offer students a chance to earn their doctorate without having to study in Kansas City.

The pharmacy program would be similar to one started between MSU and the University of Missouri-Rolla, which allows students to earn an engineering degree without transferring to Rolla.

Robert Piepho, dean of UMKC's school of pharmacy, said starting salaries for pharmacists range from $90,000 to $120,000.

"We're going to see if it's a doable program," Piepho said. "I'm optimistic we can make something happen."

Nietzel said MSU's interest in pharmacology is part of a statewide effort on the part of 13 four-year universities to help fill shortages in various health care occupations. By 2012, Missouri is expected to be short nearly 1,000 pharmacists.

"We have all agreed to work together to increase production of health care professionals. In pharmacy, there is a profound shortage," he said.

Nietzel said it may take several years for classes to start but the program is expected to begin with about 30 students a year.

"There are a lot of details to work out," Nietzel said.

It will cost at least $2 million to operate the program but funding could come from the state, if approved next session.

The degree would be granted by UMKC and annual fees for the program are about $16,000, Piepho said. The degree requires six years of course and clinical work.

Piepho said additional faculty and clinical sites would have to be secured in Springfield for the program.

Frank Einhellig, associate provost and dean of MSU's graduate college, said the university already offers many of the required chemistry and biology courses. However, it lacks specialized pharmacy chemistry courses.

"Additional staff would have to be hired for teaching specialty subjects," he said.

Einhellig knows firsthand about the pharmacist shortage, which he says will hit 157,000 nationwide by 2020.

Einhellig's son, Richard, is a pharmacist in Colorado.

"He can get a job overnight, anywhere," he said.

Source

Pharmacy students in high demand due to shortage

Delane Cleveland's report

As many of the nation’s baby boomers become senior citizens, the number of prescriptions pharmacists need to fill grows.

That is just one reason for a growing demand for pharmacists nationwide.

Pharmacists tell Fox 11 News the shortage is so great, one Tucson Walgreens actually had to close their pharmacy five hours early last night because nobody could cover the shift.

It is an ongoing problem that has pharmacies working hard to meet the demand.

University of Arizona pharmacy student Matt Turley graduates in May and, unlike many other students who finish college without a career lined up, he is not worried about finding a job.

“There’s so many options for us right now and the demand right now is really high so we really don’t have the struggle at this moment,” Turley admits.

The number of prescriptions being written for patients is increasing and the number of pharmacists who have to fill those prescriptions has not. One reason for this is pharmacy schools cannot keep up with the demand.

Dr. Kevin Boesen, from the UA College of Pharmacy, explains, “We have a wealth of qualified applicants to choose from. The resources that allow us to educate enough students to fit that demand is where we fall short.”

Boesen says Arizona joins every other state in the nation that has difficulty filling pharmacist positions, which is why customers who showed up at a Walgreens after 5 p.m. last night could not get their prescriptions filled.

Boesen says that should not be the main concern. “I think the biggest concern for patients is the amount of attention that pharmacists are able to pay on the prescriptions that they have filled.” He also says that could potentially put the patients at risk if pharmacists cannot tell them how to properly use the medication.

Meanwhile, students like Turley have bright futures to look forward to.

“They’re all running short on pharmacists, so they are all trying to get pharmacy students to get with their companies and hoping that they’ll stay with their companies when they graduate,” Turley reveals.

Pharmacy is not an easy program at the UA, but the rewards can be high. Starting salaries right out of college are routinely over $100,000 a year.

Source

Concordia will offer pharmacy school

Wisconsin is about to gain some much-needed pharmacists.

Officials at Concordia University Wisconsin in Mequon announced today that the university's Board of Regents has approved funding to start a pharmacy school in the 2009-10 academic year.

The state currently has just one school of pharmacy, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. That school graduates about 130 pharmacists annually, but more than three applicants apply for every available seat in the school, said UW-Madison Pharmacy Dean Jeanette Roberts.

"There is a shortage in the state, and we could use more pharmacy graduates," Roberts said. "We can't expand on campus, but we are trying to be responsive by looking at creative distance learning options."

The health care industry is experiencing a near-crisis in recruiting pharmacists, because the rate of students coming in is not keeping up with the increasing number of retirees who will need medications, according to the AARP.

A study completed in 2006 by David Mott, a UW-Madison associate professor of pharmacy, found that 41 percent of male pharmacists were 55 or older, and 27 percent of female pharmacists worked part-time. Mott said previously in an Associated Press story that about 25 to 30 percent of community pharmacies in small towns and rural areas in Wisconsin had a vacancy in a pharmacist job in 2005.

Concordia will launch a nationwide search to hire a dean to oversee the new school. An additional 25 to 35 full-time and part-time pharmacy faculty and support staff also will be needed.

Plans are to accept from 50 to 75 students per class. Admission requirements and tuition rates are being finalized.

Nationally, there are about 100 accredited pharmacy schools.

Concordia has offered a nursing program since 1982 and programs in occupational therapy, physical therapy and graduate nursing since 1994. The university also established a doctorate of physical therapy program in 2001.

Concordia University Wisconsin was founded in 1881. The university and its 16 adult education centers and classroom locations instruct more than 5,500 undergraduate and graduate students from 38 states and 24 countries.

The university is affiliated with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and is a member of the Concordia University System, a nationwide network of colleges and universities.

Source

Namibia: Critical Shortage of Pharmacists

Namibia is facing a critical shortage of trained pharmacists. It turns out that while many local students are not interested in taking up this profession as a career, positions are being filled by foreigners.

Statistics from the Ministry of Health and Social Services show that in the public sector only 5 of the 48 posts for pharmacists in the health ministry are occupied by Namibians, while the rest are non-Namibians working on either contract or are funded by development partners.

The health ministry has so far taken in only five pharmacist interns this year.

At the same time the private sector is also experiencing a severe shortage of pharmacists, while many seek greener pastures in countries like Australia and Canada.

It is against this background that health authorities urge more students to seriously look into a career in pharmacy.

The call also comes well in line with the recently launched National Pharmacy Week 2007 geared towards creating more public awareness about the importance of this medical profession.

"I would like to take this opportunity to actively encourage students who are considering which career path to follow, to seriously look at pharmacy.

Pharmacy has a critical role to play in health care services and Namibia is suffering from a shortage of trained pharmacists," said Permanent Secretary of Health and Social Services, Kahijoro Kahuure, when he officially launched Pharmacy Week on Tuesday.

For many years the profession of pharmacy has been perceived as uninteresting, where a pharmacist is only seen as someone who gives medication to patients when they walk into a pharmacy.

However, Chief Pharmacist of National Medicines Policy Co-ordination at the Ministry of Health and Social Services Jennie Lates said there is much value in this medical profession.

"People don't really know what a pharmacist is and it's not only about standing behind the counter and handing over medicines. They also give counselling and make sure that the client gets the correct message and advice on how to use it," said Lates.

Yet when talking to young students it appears that pharmacy is seen as "a dying profession" and many of them get cold feet to even venture into this career pathway in the first place.

'Maths and science subjects are just too difficult, so I will rather go for an easy degree. Why should I go the hard way, I don't want to fail at the end of the day,' is a fair summary of some of the comments from students.

Furthermore the standard of science and mathematics in the country is said to be discouraging as many learners fail to excel in these subjects critical for a pharmacy profession.

It becomes apparent that since Namibia does not have its own pharmacy school those who are interested study at universities that offer a four-year degree course in South Africa.

Yet having to cough up N$60 000 a year can be painstaking for parents and students alike.

On its part the Pharmaceutical Society of Namibia is requesting private investors to help pay for students' fees.

"There is a critical shortage of financial assistance for these students. But a pharmacist is the first contact point for patients," said Secretary of the Pharmaceutical Society of Namibia Karin Brockmann in an interview with New Era.

Foreign pharmacists working in Namibia are mostly from all over the African continent like Nigeria, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Kenya. Tanzania, Zambia, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda.

However, in an effort to nurture the country's own crop of pharmacists the University of Namibia in consultation with the health ministry has for the past three to four years been running a Pre-Medical and Pre-Pharmacy Training degree programme through the Faculty of Medicine and Health.

Upon obtaining a certain level through this programme students are sent for further studies in South Africa.

General admission requirements at Unam are that candidates must have a Grade C in IGCSE or its equivalent in Mathematics, Biology and Physical Science.

The faculty is mandated to prepare professionals and nurses for the country's health sector.

Source

Pharmacy school at UT opens doors

Wary of a projected national shortage of pharmacists and hopeful they can keep more graduates in the region, the University of Tennessee marked the opening of its College of Pharmacy campus on Tuesday in Knoxville.

“This will provide us — the citizens of East Tennessee — a great source of pharmacy students for years to come,” said Steve Ross, senior vice president of the University of Tennessee Medical Center.

UTMC operates independently of the university, but the new College of Pharmacy is on the hospital’s campus off Alcoa Highway.

The new 15,000-square-foot, $3 million building offers state-of-the-art distance education capabilities, according to Dick Gourley, dean of the College of Pharmacy at UT Health Sciences Center in Memphis.

The new building’s main auditorium and audio-visual capabilities make it possible for students to take part in lectures by faculty in Memphis.

Classes began Aug. 20, but Tuesday’s ribbon cutting officially opened the school for 125 second- and third-year students. Pharmacy students spend their first year in Memphis.

Sarah Eanes, a third-year student on the Knoxville campus, took part in an oncology therapeutics class recently at the new building and liked its distance education capabilities.

“Everybody — the students in Memphis and Knoxville — can hear your questions,” she said.

A native of Elizabethton, Eanes said that once she graduates she plans to stay in East Tennessee. UT officials estimated that 75 percent of its pharmacy graduates remain in the state after finishing their studies.

UT’s goal is to have 225 students at the College of Pharmacy’s Knoxville campus by 2009, with 25 full-time faculty.

The opening of the pharmacy campus also marks the return of the program to Knoxville. UT’s first College of Pharmacy campus was in Knoxville in 1898 and later moved to Memphis in 1909.

The progress of the college’s expansion “is marked both in growing numbers of students, and in today’s celebration,” said UT President John Petersen. “This progress is particularly important to the university, because it tangibly represents how we are fulfilling our commitment to statewide health care delivery.”

Source

Pharmacy moves into the telehealth world.

More and more pharmacists are practicing telepharmacy--that is, using technology to provide pharmacy services to patients from a distance.

"There is a larger vision, called telemedicine or telehealth, that ties technology to the delivery of health services," said pharmacist Christopher Keeys, president of MedNovations in Laurel Md. "There is a huge need out there and just not enough providers," he continued. "Telehealth is a global trend. It lets us close gaps in care. Used appropriately, telehealth and telepharmacy can enhance access to care."

The concept is simple, said Michael Coughlin, president of ScriptPro, a telepharmacy provider in Kansas City. A pharmacist at one location receives a prescription written in another location, reviews the script and the appropriate patient data, and approves dispensing.

A technician or a dispensing machine at the other end prepares the drug, which is visually checked by the pharmacist and released to the patient. If appropriate, the pharmacist counsels the patient or discusses the script with a provider at the remote site.

"Well-structured telepharmacy allows interactions among pharmacist, patient, and other healthcare professionals similar to those you would get in person," said Susan Winckler, VP for policy and communications for the American Pharmacists Association. "Telepharmacy allows more patients to access pharmacy and pharmacy services."

The only difference between traditional practice and telepharmacy is that the pharmacist and patient are far apart--sometimes thousands of miles apart. Texas may hold the distance record: A telepharmacist currently living in Italy is reviewing drug orders in Texas.

"I see an almost explosive interest in telepharmacy," Coughlin said. ScriptPro has provided remote dispensing systems for the U.S. military and other government agencies. "A couple of years ago, telepharmacy was intriguing. Now we see an outpouring of ideas."

The idea of using technology to extend health services is hardly new. As technology improves, so does telehealth. In the early 20th century, physicians in Australia used the highest technology of the time, radio, to provide advice and consultation to remote ranches and communities. By the early 1990s, radiologists were using digital imaging to read X-rays taken down the block or halfway around the world.

Today, hospitals across Massachusetts use video and computer links to give hospital emergency rooms immediate access to stroke neurologists, noted Joseph Kvedar, M.D., past president of the American Telemedicine Association and president of Partners TeleMedicine in Boston. The company helps physicians and patients worldwide connect electronically with Harvard Medical School specialists. State law requires ERs to provide stroke neurology services, he explained. There are not enough specialists for 24-hour coverage at every ER, so telemedicine fills the gap.

A survey by Spyglass Consulting Group in Menlo Park, Calif., earlier this year found that 65% of healthcare organizations have a strong interest in a piece of telemedicine called remote patient monitoring. Successful programs include virtual intensive care units, where a central intensivist monitors ICU patients across multiple hospitals, and remotely monitors patients with congestive heart failure, pediatric asthma, diabetes, obesity, and a variety of other conditions.

"Caregivers at the other end are the arms and legs for the knowledge person," Kvedar said. "The judgment piece of care doesn't necessarily require a personal presence."

Remote hospitals

In Spokane, Wash., Sacred Heart Medical Center pharmacy director Larry Bettesworth, Pharm.D., came to a similar conclusion. His 623-bed institution had enough pharmacists to provide 24-hour order entry and drug utilization review, but smaller institutions in the state needed help to cover night and weekend shifts. Some hospitals relied on a community pharmacist. Others had no R.Ph. services at all.

Bettesworth convinced Sacred Heart and the state pharmacy board to pilot a program using Internet technology to link his pharmacists with a remote hospital. The part-time experiment has grown into a self-supporting program with nine remote hospitals and seven full-time equivalent R.Ph.s who review 15,000 to 16,000 drug orders every month.

The remote hospitals pay for pharmacy services based on drug order volume. Most are designated as critical access institutions, Bettesworth said, which entitles them to additional payments from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The additional federal funding helps cover telepharmacy and other services. "It is more economical to contract with us than to hire multiple pharmacists for after-hours service," he said. "Telepharmacy has been very effective in encouraging and assisting these smaller hospitals. There is a real push to ensure patient safety, and hospitals are looking for these kinds of alternatives."

Some of Bettesworth's telepharmacists work in a typical hospital setting and some work out of their homes. Either way, he said, Sacred Heart helps the remote hospital design a complete medication management system that includes 24-hour order entry review, drug utilization review, and automated dispensing.

Pharmacists in Spokane or in neighboring Montana use computer links to review and approve drug orders before dispensing. Real-time video links also allow telepharmacists to supervise tasks such as refilling dispensing devices or talking with pharmacy technicians, nurses, physicians, and patients.

"If the hospital can recruit pharmacists to work on site, that is obviously better than remote services," Bettesworth said. "But it is impossible to recruit and keep pharmacists in some of these communities. That's where telepharmacy comes in."

Into the community

Telepharmacy, like other forms of telehealth, offers three distinct benefits, according to Kvedar. Programs can provide improved quality of care, improved access to care, or improved efficiency of care.

Programs are most effective in physical locations or types of care that have a shortage of providers. That makes pharmacy a prime candidate. "We see a lot of interest in telepharmacy as a way to improve access to pharmacists," said Douglas Scheckelhoff, director of pharmacy practice sections for ASHP. "The data are pretty compelling that these arrangements can be effective." About 12.2% of hospitals nationwide are using telepharmacy, according to ASHP data. Among smaller hospitals, that percentage rises to 17%.

Large institutions also use remote pharmacists. Most use telepharmacy to cover night and weekend shifts. Some use it to speed order review during peak hours.

One of the fastest growing models is shared pharmacist services, Scheckelhoff said. A group of small hospitals that can't afford 24-hour pharmacy services join forces to create a central approval and review center with 24-hour service.

There are similar moves on the community side. Thrifty White Pharmacy, a regional chain concentrated in Minnesota and North Dakota, is reportedly considering a central telepharmacist who would oversee multiple satellite pharmacies staffed by technicians.

Independent R.Ph.s are already using telepharmacy to cover for one another during lunch, breaks, weekends, and vacations. "These pharmacists can actually have a life now, thanks to telepharmacy," said Ann Rathke, telepharmacy coordinator at the North Dakota State University College of Pharmacy. "That's a positive change from what has generally been a downward trend in pharmacies here."

Eight to 10 states have recently revised regulations or are in the process of revising them to ease the way for telepharmacy. Many states already mention telepharmacy in their regulations, said Carmen Carlzone, executive director of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, though not all have active programs. "We are supportive of progressive changes," he said. "But we also want to be sure the safety and security aspects are there. We are working with telepharmacy, not trying to slow things down."

Most state boards want to prevent telepharmacy competition with existing pharmacies. Texas, for example, requires telepharmacies to be at least 10 miles from the nearest brick-and-mortar pharmacy.

"We are aware that you don't want to drive pharmacists out," said Marilyn Kelly-Clark, program manager for the Montana state pharmacy board. "There aren't enough of them as it is."

The Montana Pharmacy Association is trying a different tack. At its recent annual meeting, the group solidly supported policy calling for telepharmacy as part of a larger solution to meet the medication needs of the community.

In addition to prescription drug access, said Minnesota Pharmacists Association president Todd Sorensen, pharmacy providers and the state pharmacy board should ensure access to nonprescription medications, consultation, medication therapy management, and collaboration with other community providers and leaders. "Telepharmacy always comes up as a potential solution in communities at risk of losing their local pharmacy," he said. "A pharmacist is more than a point for dispensing drugs and healthcare information. There is more to medication therapy and management than just filling scripts."

Source

Tech's telepharmacy ventures see mixed results

Media Credit: Courtesy Photo

When the telepharmacy in Earth, Texas, was launched in April of last year, the Center for Telemedicine at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center had hopes of success.

After more than one year in operation, reality has set in.

"Earth is not progressing as we had hoped," said Vicki Cecalupo, director of Internal Medicine at the HSC.

Cecalupo said she believes there could be several reasons for the telepharmacy's performance thus far.

"Earth is just so close to other areas with pharmacies," she said. "I think one of the things we need to look at when we pick a new site is its proximity to other locations with pharmacies."

There are currently two telepharmacies operated by the HSC in Texas. One is located in Turkey, Texas, and the other is in Earth.

According to the center's Web site, telepharmacy is essentially "a system that monitors the dispensing of prescription drugs and provides for related drug-use review and patient counseling services by an electronic method."

Using this technology allows residents in rural areas to obtain prescription drugs more conveniently.

Cecalupo said she believes there are no more than four telepharmacies set up in Texas.

Though things for the telepharmacy in Earth are not going as planned, there are still individuals who are working toward success.

"We haven't given up complete hope yet," Cecalupo said. "In the near future we are going to try and keep it open. We're going to work on educating people that it's there and that it is an option."

However, the other telepharmacy location in Turkey is being viewed by the center as a success.

Diane Kretschmer, pharmacist in charge and operations service chief for the HSC School of Pharmacy, said she believes the telepharmacy in Turkey is being well utilized.

"Even though we don't fill that many prescriptions a month, the people there really need us," she said.

If the telepharmacy in Turkey were not there, the residents of Quitaque, Turkey and surrounding areas would have to travel up to 60 miles to receive medicine.

As previously reported by The Daily Toreador, the HSC and the Merck Foundation fund the project in Earth.

Source