By RON BARTIZEK
More people taking more drugs means more need for pharmacists. But despite increases in the number of pharmacy schools and graduates, projections show there will not be enough in coming years.
“Nationally and regionally there is a big shortage of pharmacists,” said Dr. Edward Foote, associate professor and chair of Pharmacy Practice at Wilkes University. “We’re just not making enough.”
The nation’s 37,000 chain pharmacies reported about 4,000 job openings recently. That was down from a peak of 7,700 in 2001, but the improving trend could turn around as the baby boom generation ages and more seniors sign up for the Medicare prescription drug program.
Wilkes has stepped in with its Doctor of Pharmacy program, which graduated its first class in 2000. Now averaging 65-70 graduates yearly, Foote says there’s more interest in the program than Wilkes can accommodate.
“If we wanted we could have a class of 300,” he said. And the quality of applicants is rising along with applications. He says the reasons are easy to understand.
“It’s because it’s a solid job market with good pay that can start easily in six figures.” Many employers also are paying sign-on bonuses, and the profession looks to be secure, with a consortium of pharmacy groups projecting a shortage of 157,000 pharmacists nationwide by 2020.
Nationally, the number of pharmacy schools has grown in the past two decades by 20 to 92, producing about 8,200 graduates in 2005.
One way chain pharmacies find qualified help is by enticing owners of local stores to come to work for them. “We do approach the local pharmacies,” said Walgreens spokesperson Carol Hively, to see if they might be interested in trading their independence for job security.
Some individual store owners may be ready to slow down or may not have family members who want to take over, she said. Chains then pay for customer lists and the pharmacist comes to work for them.
That continuity can help the new store get off to a good start, said Mitchell Corwin, an equity analyst for Morningstar.com, because people in small communities know and trust the pharmacist. “That’s an important relationship.”
Foote does not see competition here driving established pharmacists to the chains. “They all have thriving businesses to my knowledge,” he said. “There is a lot of loyalty to these small businesses.”
At the moment, Foote says there is no shortage of pharmacists in Northeastern Pennsylvania, but his brother, a pharmacist in Delaware, has told him about stores that have cut back hours because staff was lacking.
In addition to the job security provided by the growing demand for prescription drugs, Foote looks forward to passage of legislation that will expand pharmacists’ responsibilities.
“Hopefully they’ll expand the area where pharmacists can do more advanced practice stuff,” he said, such as immunizations, counseling and simple clinical operations such as taking and analyzing blood samples.
“It’s really a tenuous but exciting time for pharmacy.”
Ron Bartizek, Times Leader business editor, may be reached at 970-7157.
Source
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Thursday, May 18, 2006
A dose of safety
Business finds success overseeing prescriptions
Thursday, May 18, 2006
by Steve Earley
Staff Writer
In a 1999 Institute of Medicine report that revealed more than 7,000 people die each year from medication errors, Christopher Keeys saw an opportunity. A well-known risk factor for medication errors at hospitals – the absence of a pharmacist to double check physician drug orders during the overnight shift – could be eliminated, the Laurel pharmacist reasoned, by giving medical centers remote access to a pharmacist through phone or Internet lines.
While the field of telemedicine is nothing new – it has been widely adopted among radiologists and used extensively by the military – Keeys said he and business partner Kenneth Dandurand were the first to adapt it for pharmacy services.
The two, who 20 years ago founded Clinical Pharmacy Associates, a pharmacy management and consulting firm in Greenbelt and Beltsville, launched MedNovations in 2001.
Under the business model, MedNovations checks a physician’s drug order against a patient’s history and the hospital's recommended practices. Patient allergies, potentially dangerous drug interactions and unusually high dosage levels, perhaps the result of a smudged decimal point, are among the items MedNovations pharmacists reviews. While telepharmacy is possible with as a little as a telephone and fax line, higher-tech systems allow MedNovations to remotely control the dispensing of medicine, Keeys said.
‘‘The machine will not release the product to the nurse until the pharmacist has checked that the dose is right,” he said.
Smaller hospitals, whose limited resources and low patient volume can make having a pharmacist on staff at night prohibitive, can especially benefit from telepharmacy, Keeys said.
The firm aims to turnaround orders within one hour or less – a goal Keeys said it achieves at least 80 percent of the time – but in emergencies complete a review in as little as 15 minutes, he said.
MedNovations can also act as an emergency backup for a pharmacy’s daytime operations, ready to take over in the event of a major snowstorm or other disaster, Keeys added.
MedNovations, which along with Clinical Pharmacy Associates relocated to Laurel in 2003, is among less than 10 known telepharmacy companies, according to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.
‘‘It’s fairly new,” said Doug Scheckelhoff, the director of Pharmacy Practice Sections for the 30,000-member Bethesda-based trade group. In fall 2005, the most recent data available, 12.2 percent of the nation’s hospitals used an off-site pharmacy service, he said.
Keeys, 48, said MedNovations is a ‘‘multi-million-dollar company,” but, citing competitors, declined to provide specifics about the company’s finances.
With 28 employees at its Talbott Avenue, Laurel, headquarters and a six-employee staff in Westfield, Mass., MedNovations has contracted to provide remote pharmacy services to just under 30 medical institutions in 10 states, including Laurel Regional Hospital and four other hospitals in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, Keeys said.
‘‘I see this being a significant model for bridging the gap that’s going to be here for a long time,” he said of a national pharmacist shortage that, as baby boomers being to retire, he expects to only worsen.
E-mail Steve Earley at searley@gazette.net.
Copyright © 2006 The Gazette - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Source
Thursday, May 18, 2006
by Steve Earley
Staff Writer
In a 1999 Institute of Medicine report that revealed more than 7,000 people die each year from medication errors, Christopher Keeys saw an opportunity. A well-known risk factor for medication errors at hospitals – the absence of a pharmacist to double check physician drug orders during the overnight shift – could be eliminated, the Laurel pharmacist reasoned, by giving medical centers remote access to a pharmacist through phone or Internet lines.
While the field of telemedicine is nothing new – it has been widely adopted among radiologists and used extensively by the military – Keeys said he and business partner Kenneth Dandurand were the first to adapt it for pharmacy services.
The two, who 20 years ago founded Clinical Pharmacy Associates, a pharmacy management and consulting firm in Greenbelt and Beltsville, launched MedNovations in 2001.
Under the business model, MedNovations checks a physician’s drug order against a patient’s history and the hospital's recommended practices. Patient allergies, potentially dangerous drug interactions and unusually high dosage levels, perhaps the result of a smudged decimal point, are among the items MedNovations pharmacists reviews. While telepharmacy is possible with as a little as a telephone and fax line, higher-tech systems allow MedNovations to remotely control the dispensing of medicine, Keeys said.
‘‘The machine will not release the product to the nurse until the pharmacist has checked that the dose is right,” he said.
Smaller hospitals, whose limited resources and low patient volume can make having a pharmacist on staff at night prohibitive, can especially benefit from telepharmacy, Keeys said.
The firm aims to turnaround orders within one hour or less – a goal Keeys said it achieves at least 80 percent of the time – but in emergencies complete a review in as little as 15 minutes, he said.
MedNovations can also act as an emergency backup for a pharmacy’s daytime operations, ready to take over in the event of a major snowstorm or other disaster, Keeys added.
MedNovations, which along with Clinical Pharmacy Associates relocated to Laurel in 2003, is among less than 10 known telepharmacy companies, according to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.
‘‘It’s fairly new,” said Doug Scheckelhoff, the director of Pharmacy Practice Sections for the 30,000-member Bethesda-based trade group. In fall 2005, the most recent data available, 12.2 percent of the nation’s hospitals used an off-site pharmacy service, he said.
Keeys, 48, said MedNovations is a ‘‘multi-million-dollar company,” but, citing competitors, declined to provide specifics about the company’s finances.
With 28 employees at its Talbott Avenue, Laurel, headquarters and a six-employee staff in Westfield, Mass., MedNovations has contracted to provide remote pharmacy services to just under 30 medical institutions in 10 states, including Laurel Regional Hospital and four other hospitals in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, Keeys said.
‘‘I see this being a significant model for bridging the gap that’s going to be here for a long time,” he said of a national pharmacist shortage that, as baby boomers being to retire, he expects to only worsen.
E-mail Steve Earley at searley@gazette.net.
Copyright © 2006 The Gazette - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Source
Monday, April 24, 2006
Funding to benefit rural pharmacies
The Minnesota Department of Health's Office of Rural Health and Primary Care announced it awarded grants totaling $180,000 to preserve access to prescription medications and pharmacy services in several communities in greater Minnesota.
Funding comes from the Rural Pharmacy Planning and Transition Grant Program, which was enacted by the 2005 Minnesota Legislature as par of the Rural Pharmacy Preservation Act.
Grants awarded in the area went to:
¥ Cass Lake Indian Hospital, Cass Lake, $10,000 for a telepharmacy project serving remote areas of the Leech Lake Reservation.
¥ Cuyuna Regional Medical Center, Crosby, $35,000 for a multi-site telepharmacy project to provide after-hours access to a pharmacist for participating hospitals.
The state reported maintaining access to pharmacy services is particularly important because the rural population tens to be older and have more chronic health conditions.
The Office of Rural Health and Primary Care will begin accepting applications for 2007 grants early next year. For more information, go online to www.health.state.mn.us.
Source
Funding comes from the Rural Pharmacy Planning and Transition Grant Program, which was enacted by the 2005 Minnesota Legislature as par of the Rural Pharmacy Preservation Act.
Grants awarded in the area went to:
¥ Cass Lake Indian Hospital, Cass Lake, $10,000 for a telepharmacy project serving remote areas of the Leech Lake Reservation.
¥ Cuyuna Regional Medical Center, Crosby, $35,000 for a multi-site telepharmacy project to provide after-hours access to a pharmacist for participating hospitals.
The state reported maintaining access to pharmacy services is particularly important because the rural population tens to be older and have more chronic health conditions.
The Office of Rural Health and Primary Care will begin accepting applications for 2007 grants early next year. For more information, go online to www.health.state.mn.us.
Source
Saturday, April 22, 2006
Funding to improve pharmacy services
The Minnesota Department of Health's Office of Rural Health and Primary Care have awarded grants totaling $180,000 to preserve access to prescription medications and pharmacy services in several communities in greater Minnesota.
The funding comes from the Rural Pharmacy Planning and Transition Grant Program, which was enacted by the 2005 Minnesota Legislature as part of the Rural Pharmacy Preservation Act.
The grants are being awarded as follows: Cass Lake Indian Hospital, Cass Lake, will receive $10,000 for a telepharmacy project serving remote areas of the Leech Lake Reservation; and Cuyuna Regional Medical Center, Crosby, will use their $35,500 grant for a multi-site telepharmacy project, to provide after-hours access to a pharmacist, for participating hospitals.
The Office of Rural Health and Primary Care will begin accepting applications for 2007 grants early next year.
For more information, visit the Web site of the Minnesota Department of Health - Office of Rural Health and Primary Care.
Source
The funding comes from the Rural Pharmacy Planning and Transition Grant Program, which was enacted by the 2005 Minnesota Legislature as part of the Rural Pharmacy Preservation Act.
The grants are being awarded as follows: Cass Lake Indian Hospital, Cass Lake, will receive $10,000 for a telepharmacy project serving remote areas of the Leech Lake Reservation; and Cuyuna Regional Medical Center, Crosby, will use their $35,500 grant for a multi-site telepharmacy project, to provide after-hours access to a pharmacist, for participating hospitals.
The Office of Rural Health and Primary Care will begin accepting applications for 2007 grants early next year.
For more information, visit the Web site of the Minnesota Department of Health - Office of Rural Health and Primary Care.
Source
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Grants awarded for rural pharmacists
Anne Polta
West Central Tribune - 04/20/2006
Johnson Memorial Health Services of Dawson has received a $46,500 state grant to develop a rural pharmacy residency program.
The program, a partnership with the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy, will give future pharmacists a chance to train in a rural setting. It’s a strategy that’s designed not only to help improve rural access to pharmacy services but also to encourage these students to choose rural practice when they finish their training.
The grant is one of six to be awarded through a new rural pharmacy planning and transition grant program. The grant awards — $180,000 in all — were announced Wednesday by the Minnesota Department of Health’s Office of Rural Health and Primary Care.
There were 13 applications for the funds, said Mark Schoenbaum, director of the Office of Rural Health and Primary Care.
“The interest in the program confirms that there is both interest and need for this,” he said.
Pharmacy services are particularly important in rural Minnesota, where there’s a higher proportion of elderly residents who are more likely to need prescription drugs.
Pharmacists often play a significant role in educating customers and helping ensure access to prescription drugs in rural Minnesota towns. They also provide critical services to local hospitals and nursing homes.
It’s getting harder for many towns, however, to maintain pharmacy services.
Johnson Memorial, for instance, no longer has its own pharmacist; instead it relies on pharmacists who commute from 40 to 50 miles away.
It’s hoped that the pharmacy transition grant program will help bridge gaps such as this.
Other grants that were awarded will help support projects ranging from telepharmacy services to a community needs assessment.
Schoenbaum said each of the grant recipients will be reporting their progress and results to the Office of Rural Health and Primary Care.
“We will be keeping track,” he said. “Part of our goal then is to make the success stories and the lessons learned available around the state.”
Source
West Central Tribune - 04/20/2006
Johnson Memorial Health Services of Dawson has received a $46,500 state grant to develop a rural pharmacy residency program.
The program, a partnership with the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy, will give future pharmacists a chance to train in a rural setting. It’s a strategy that’s designed not only to help improve rural access to pharmacy services but also to encourage these students to choose rural practice when they finish their training.
The grant is one of six to be awarded through a new rural pharmacy planning and transition grant program. The grant awards — $180,000 in all — were announced Wednesday by the Minnesota Department of Health’s Office of Rural Health and Primary Care.
There were 13 applications for the funds, said Mark Schoenbaum, director of the Office of Rural Health and Primary Care.
“The interest in the program confirms that there is both interest and need for this,” he said.
Pharmacy services are particularly important in rural Minnesota, where there’s a higher proportion of elderly residents who are more likely to need prescription drugs.
Pharmacists often play a significant role in educating customers and helping ensure access to prescription drugs in rural Minnesota towns. They also provide critical services to local hospitals and nursing homes.
It’s getting harder for many towns, however, to maintain pharmacy services.
Johnson Memorial, for instance, no longer has its own pharmacist; instead it relies on pharmacists who commute from 40 to 50 miles away.
It’s hoped that the pharmacy transition grant program will help bridge gaps such as this.
Other grants that were awarded will help support projects ranging from telepharmacy services to a community needs assessment.
Schoenbaum said each of the grant recipients will be reporting their progress and results to the Office of Rural Health and Primary Care.
“We will be keeping track,” he said. “Part of our goal then is to make the success stories and the lessons learned available around the state.”
Source
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Addressing pharmacist shortage through innovation
Anne Polta
West Central Tribune - 04/15/2006
MONTEVIDEO — For Jill Reinhardt and her husband, the decision to open a pharmacy in Gaylord has been a good thing.
They lease space in the Sibley Medical Center — a location that’s affordable for them and convenient for patients, physicians and the public. Their presence in Gaylord also means access to pharmacy services for the local nursing home.
Three months ago, the Reinhardts’ First Choice Pharmacy also established a telepharmacy to bring prescription-drug dispensing to the neighboring town of Henderson.
A new regional initiative is under way to help develop and foster innovative approaches such as these to southwestern Minnesota’s growing shortage of pharmacists.
“We know that we can do things better together than we can individually,” said Tom Richter, administrator of the Madison Lutheran Home and project director of the newly formed Southwest Minnesota Rural Pharmacy Network.
Organizers described the initiative and led a town meeting-style discussion with about 20 people Thursday night in Montevideo. The meeting was the final one in a series of four forums designed to launch a dialogue on the need for rural pharmacists.
It’s a critical issue across the state but especially so in southwestern Minnesota, said Todd Sorensen, project coordinator and associate professor in the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy.
This region of the state has a disproportionate share of the elderly — a population that tends to have a greater reliance on prescription drugs, Sorensen said. It also has the highest number of single-pharmacy towns, leaving these communities at risk of losing local pharmacy services if a pharmacy shuts down or if pharmacists can’t be recruited and retained.
People who are elderly and low-income are especially vulnerable, Richter said. “If they can’t go to the local drugstore to get their prescription filled, they aren’t going to be able to go somewhere else.”
The pharmacist shortage not only affects customers but also hits small-town hospitals and nursing homes who often must rely on community pharmacies for services.
The challenges are many. The growth of prescription benefit plans and mail-order drugs is undercutting the ability of small pharmacies to remain financially viable.
Rural pharmacists themselves often are spread thin, commuting long distances to provide coverage. It can be an uphill battle to attract young pharmacists to rural practice. Those who are approaching retirement can have a tough time finding someone to replace them.
Organizers of the regional pharmacy network hope to find ways of maintaining the vital services that rural pharmacists provide.
The network’s board of directors will meet for a planning session next month to begin identifying specific projects to tackle.
“Each community may have to look at creative ways to try to keep their pharmacy operating. It may be with the local health care providers. It may be with the community,” Richter said.
A handful of independent initiatives are already being tried.
For instance, the Lac qui Parle Health Network, which consists of the hospitals in Appleton, Dawson and Madison, is working together to plan for the future of pharmacy services. The group has applied for a grant to establish a pharmacy residency program.
In Tyler, population 1,250, the presence of full-time pharmacist April Hanson has helped the hospital pharmacy make the leap from pencil and paper to computer-based inventory and ordering — all in the space of one year.
Hanson has implemented central dispensing of drugs and helped the hospital staff update its medication policies and procedures.
Pharmacists play an important role in patient safety and can be one of the leaders in helping rural providers improve their overall level of care, she said. “A full-time pharmacist is justifiable.”
From the town meetings, organizers also have gained several ideas.
One is to create a resource network of all the region’s pharmacists. Another is to develop an on-call system that allows pharmacists to better share coverage on nights, weekends, holidays and during illnesses or time off.
There have been suggestions to develop internships that bring pharmacy students to rural Minnesota in hopes they will decide to return when they complete their training.
“We’d like to get as many ideas as possible,” Sorensen said. “A lot of ideas have been already brought up — some really good ones that we wouldn’t have thought of on our own.”
Organizers also said it’ll be critical to educate communities about the role of rural pharmacies and enlist their involvement.
In most cases, once a pharmacy closes in a rural town, it’s very difficult to gain it back, Richter said.
“That’s when people finally wake up and say, ‘We have to do something.’ If they don’t all come together, they will lose their pharmacy,” he said.
Source.
West Central Tribune - 04/15/2006
MONTEVIDEO — For Jill Reinhardt and her husband, the decision to open a pharmacy in Gaylord has been a good thing.
They lease space in the Sibley Medical Center — a location that’s affordable for them and convenient for patients, physicians and the public. Their presence in Gaylord also means access to pharmacy services for the local nursing home.
Three months ago, the Reinhardts’ First Choice Pharmacy also established a telepharmacy to bring prescription-drug dispensing to the neighboring town of Henderson.
A new regional initiative is under way to help develop and foster innovative approaches such as these to southwestern Minnesota’s growing shortage of pharmacists.
“We know that we can do things better together than we can individually,” said Tom Richter, administrator of the Madison Lutheran Home and project director of the newly formed Southwest Minnesota Rural Pharmacy Network.
Organizers described the initiative and led a town meeting-style discussion with about 20 people Thursday night in Montevideo. The meeting was the final one in a series of four forums designed to launch a dialogue on the need for rural pharmacists.
It’s a critical issue across the state but especially so in southwestern Minnesota, said Todd Sorensen, project coordinator and associate professor in the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy.
This region of the state has a disproportionate share of the elderly — a population that tends to have a greater reliance on prescription drugs, Sorensen said. It also has the highest number of single-pharmacy towns, leaving these communities at risk of losing local pharmacy services if a pharmacy shuts down or if pharmacists can’t be recruited and retained.
People who are elderly and low-income are especially vulnerable, Richter said. “If they can’t go to the local drugstore to get their prescription filled, they aren’t going to be able to go somewhere else.”
The pharmacist shortage not only affects customers but also hits small-town hospitals and nursing homes who often must rely on community pharmacies for services.
The challenges are many. The growth of prescription benefit plans and mail-order drugs is undercutting the ability of small pharmacies to remain financially viable.
Rural pharmacists themselves often are spread thin, commuting long distances to provide coverage. It can be an uphill battle to attract young pharmacists to rural practice. Those who are approaching retirement can have a tough time finding someone to replace them.
Organizers of the regional pharmacy network hope to find ways of maintaining the vital services that rural pharmacists provide.
The network’s board of directors will meet for a planning session next month to begin identifying specific projects to tackle.
“Each community may have to look at creative ways to try to keep their pharmacy operating. It may be with the local health care providers. It may be with the community,” Richter said.
A handful of independent initiatives are already being tried.
For instance, the Lac qui Parle Health Network, which consists of the hospitals in Appleton, Dawson and Madison, is working together to plan for the future of pharmacy services. The group has applied for a grant to establish a pharmacy residency program.
In Tyler, population 1,250, the presence of full-time pharmacist April Hanson has helped the hospital pharmacy make the leap from pencil and paper to computer-based inventory and ordering — all in the space of one year.
Hanson has implemented central dispensing of drugs and helped the hospital staff update its medication policies and procedures.
Pharmacists play an important role in patient safety and can be one of the leaders in helping rural providers improve their overall level of care, she said. “A full-time pharmacist is justifiable.”
From the town meetings, organizers also have gained several ideas.
One is to create a resource network of all the region’s pharmacists. Another is to develop an on-call system that allows pharmacists to better share coverage on nights, weekends, holidays and during illnesses or time off.
There have been suggestions to develop internships that bring pharmacy students to rural Minnesota in hopes they will decide to return when they complete their training.
“We’d like to get as many ideas as possible,” Sorensen said. “A lot of ideas have been already brought up — some really good ones that we wouldn’t have thought of on our own.”
Organizers also said it’ll be critical to educate communities about the role of rural pharmacies and enlist their involvement.
In most cases, once a pharmacy closes in a rural town, it’s very difficult to gain it back, Richter said.
“That’s when people finally wake up and say, ‘We have to do something.’ If they don’t all come together, they will lose their pharmacy,” he said.
Source.
Friday, March 17, 2006
U.S. Pharmacist Shortage Looms: Survey
Many are over 55, and new recruits are drawn to part-time work
By Alan Mozes
HealthDay Reporter
FRIDAY, March 17 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. pharmacists could be become a rare breed over the coming decade, as aging male practitioners retire and workers of both genders choose part-time work over a full-time work week, a new survey reveals.
The shortage looms even as the demand for prescription services rises, and pharmacists themselves call for more time to focus on patient care (such as immunization and drug counseling), beyond just dispensing medications.
"The key message is that there is a shortage of pharmacists," said survey project director David A. Mott, an associate professor in the school of pharmacy at the University of Wisconsin. "And certainly, pharmacists are busier than ever, and they may not have enough time to spend with patients answering questions about how to take their medications."
The survey, presented Friday at the American Pharmacists Association's annual meeting in San Francisco, was prepared by the Pharmacy Manpower Project Inc., a non-profit grouping of national pharmaceutical, professional, and trade organizations.
Mott and his colleagues reviewed written questionnaires completed in 2004 by 1,470 pharmacists randomly sampled from across the United States.
The surveys collected information on the pharmacists' demographic and employment status, hours worked per week, type and quality of work environment, and his or her future work plans.
The portrait that emerges is one of a shrinking workforce and the potential for a real shortage over the coming decade.
Almost 46 percent of practicing pharmacists are now female, the survey revealed -- up from 31 percent in 1990 and rising slightly since 2000. More than a quarter of these women are working part-time.
Just over 15 percent of male pharmacists were also found to be working similarly shortened hours.
Pharmacists are also an aging group, particularly men. More than 40 percent of male pharmacists are over 55, compared with just 10 percent of female pharmacists.
The researchers also found that, overall, both full- and part-time pharmacists -- whether stationed in a chain, supermarket, independent business, or hospital -- are working less than they did four years ago, while earning an average 38 percent more for their time.
Yet, despite a cutback in their work week, pharmacists are actually handling more prescriptions now than in the past -- presumably taking advantage of a rise in the number of non-pharmacist technicians who now assist drugstore customers.
Technology may also figure in pharmacists' ability to maintain service levels more efficiently. More than 60 percent of those surveyed said new equipment -- such as refill phone systems, bar coding, and medication counters -- have improved both productivity and quality of care, while boosting job satisfaction.
However, as technology improves service, it appears to be geared more toward enabling the faster dispensing of drugs, rather than expanding patient-care services such as face-to-face consultations.
In this respect, Mott and his team found that as pharmacies change, pharmacists still spend most of their time doing what they've always done: dispensing medications. In fact, pharmacists indicated that nearly half of their time is spent filling prescriptions, much as it was in 2000.
Patient consultation takes up 19 percent of their time, followed by business management (16 percent) and drug-use management (13 percent).
In general, the pharmacists said this emphasis on filling prescriptions takes away from consultation and drug-use management.
More than one out of every two pharmacists said their workload was high or excessively high, with 58 percent stating that their workload had increased (sometimes greatly) over the prior year.
Stress also figured into the work mix. Pharmacists often complained of inadequate staff, workloads that may hamper the level of service they can provide, difficulties with hard-to-handle patients, and being interrupted by people and phone calls.
Yet, despite these reservations, the survey did uncover several positive indicators. The pharmacist's attitude toward his or her job, for example, has become a more rosy one since 2000, particularly among those employed by independent stores.
More than 77 percent said they have a high level of job satisfaction, up from 66 percent in 2000.
Mott's team believes the nation's pharmacy schools need to emphasize this good news, while acknowledging that the industry is changing.
"We're looking 10 or 15 years down the road at a real change in our pool of pharmacists," said Mott. "There are only about 100 pharmacy schools in the country that graduate about 80 to 100 students [each] per year, so there's a limit to how we can deal with a shortage."
Sharlea Leatherwood, a past president of the National Community Pharmacists Association and a pharmacy owner in Kansas City, Mo., agreed that the problem is real and looming.
"We are experiencing a very large growth in the boomer population, and they are the ones who are taking a very large number of the meds," she noted. "So, the need for filling prescriptions grows just as we are losing pharmacists. This makes for a very serious situation."
More information
For more on pharmacy issues, visit the American Pharmacists Association.
SOURCES: David A. Mott, Ph.D., associate professor, school of pharmacy, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Sharlea Leatherwood, past president, National Community Pharmacists Association, D.C., and pharmacy owner, Kansas City, Mo.; March 17, 2006, presentation, American Pharmacists Association annual meeting, San Francisco
Last Updated: March 17, 2006
Copyright © 2006 ScoutNews LLC. All rights reserved.
Source
By Alan Mozes
HealthDay Reporter
FRIDAY, March 17 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. pharmacists could be become a rare breed over the coming decade, as aging male practitioners retire and workers of both genders choose part-time work over a full-time work week, a new survey reveals.
The shortage looms even as the demand for prescription services rises, and pharmacists themselves call for more time to focus on patient care (such as immunization and drug counseling), beyond just dispensing medications.
"The key message is that there is a shortage of pharmacists," said survey project director David A. Mott, an associate professor in the school of pharmacy at the University of Wisconsin. "And certainly, pharmacists are busier than ever, and they may not have enough time to spend with patients answering questions about how to take their medications."
The survey, presented Friday at the American Pharmacists Association's annual meeting in San Francisco, was prepared by the Pharmacy Manpower Project Inc., a non-profit grouping of national pharmaceutical, professional, and trade organizations.
Mott and his colleagues reviewed written questionnaires completed in 2004 by 1,470 pharmacists randomly sampled from across the United States.
The surveys collected information on the pharmacists' demographic and employment status, hours worked per week, type and quality of work environment, and his or her future work plans.
The portrait that emerges is one of a shrinking workforce and the potential for a real shortage over the coming decade.
Almost 46 percent of practicing pharmacists are now female, the survey revealed -- up from 31 percent in 1990 and rising slightly since 2000. More than a quarter of these women are working part-time.
Just over 15 percent of male pharmacists were also found to be working similarly shortened hours.
Pharmacists are also an aging group, particularly men. More than 40 percent of male pharmacists are over 55, compared with just 10 percent of female pharmacists.
The researchers also found that, overall, both full- and part-time pharmacists -- whether stationed in a chain, supermarket, independent business, or hospital -- are working less than they did four years ago, while earning an average 38 percent more for their time.
Yet, despite a cutback in their work week, pharmacists are actually handling more prescriptions now than in the past -- presumably taking advantage of a rise in the number of non-pharmacist technicians who now assist drugstore customers.
Technology may also figure in pharmacists' ability to maintain service levels more efficiently. More than 60 percent of those surveyed said new equipment -- such as refill phone systems, bar coding, and medication counters -- have improved both productivity and quality of care, while boosting job satisfaction.
However, as technology improves service, it appears to be geared more toward enabling the faster dispensing of drugs, rather than expanding patient-care services such as face-to-face consultations.
In this respect, Mott and his team found that as pharmacies change, pharmacists still spend most of their time doing what they've always done: dispensing medications. In fact, pharmacists indicated that nearly half of their time is spent filling prescriptions, much as it was in 2000.
Patient consultation takes up 19 percent of their time, followed by business management (16 percent) and drug-use management (13 percent).
In general, the pharmacists said this emphasis on filling prescriptions takes away from consultation and drug-use management.
More than one out of every two pharmacists said their workload was high or excessively high, with 58 percent stating that their workload had increased (sometimes greatly) over the prior year.
Stress also figured into the work mix. Pharmacists often complained of inadequate staff, workloads that may hamper the level of service they can provide, difficulties with hard-to-handle patients, and being interrupted by people and phone calls.
Yet, despite these reservations, the survey did uncover several positive indicators. The pharmacist's attitude toward his or her job, for example, has become a more rosy one since 2000, particularly among those employed by independent stores.
More than 77 percent said they have a high level of job satisfaction, up from 66 percent in 2000.
Mott's team believes the nation's pharmacy schools need to emphasize this good news, while acknowledging that the industry is changing.
"We're looking 10 or 15 years down the road at a real change in our pool of pharmacists," said Mott. "There are only about 100 pharmacy schools in the country that graduate about 80 to 100 students [each] per year, so there's a limit to how we can deal with a shortage."
Sharlea Leatherwood, a past president of the National Community Pharmacists Association and a pharmacy owner in Kansas City, Mo., agreed that the problem is real and looming.
"We are experiencing a very large growth in the boomer population, and they are the ones who are taking a very large number of the meds," she noted. "So, the need for filling prescriptions grows just as we are losing pharmacists. This makes for a very serious situation."
More information
For more on pharmacy issues, visit the American Pharmacists Association.
SOURCES: David A. Mott, Ph.D., associate professor, school of pharmacy, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Sharlea Leatherwood, past president, National Community Pharmacists Association, D.C., and pharmacy owner, Kansas City, Mo.; March 17, 2006, presentation, American Pharmacists Association annual meeting, San Francisco
Last Updated: March 17, 2006
Copyright © 2006 ScoutNews LLC. All rights reserved.
Source
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Pharmacy Manpower Project Report Finds Ranks of Pharmacists Shrink as Job Demands Grow; Pharmacists Want More Time to Counsel Patients, Less Time Disp
3/15/2006 2:51:00 PM EST
The U.S. pharmacy profession could face a worsening
shortage of pharmacists in the next decade as more men prepare to
retire and more men and women opt for part-time work, according to a
new study released today by the Pharmacy Manpower Project, Inc. (PMP).
The National Pharmacist Workforce Study finds the potential worsening
shortfall coming at a pivotal time with pharmacists wanting to spend
less time dispensing drugs and more time providing patient-centered
services such as immunizations and counseling seniors on proper
medication usage and the Medicare Prescription Drug Plan. The study
was released today at the American Pharmacists Association's Annual
Meeting & Exposition and will be published in the May/June 2006 issue
of the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association (JAPhA).
The number of practicing women pharmacists increased from 31
percent in 1990 to 46 percent in 2004. The study finds a large
percentage of male pharmacists nearing retirement, with more than four
in 10 (41.2 percent) age 55 and over, compared with only about 10
percent of women. Meanwhile, more men and women are working part
time--27 percent of women and 15.5 percent of men in 2004 (compared to
23.4 percent and 11.6 percent, respectively, in 2000).
"The changing face of pharmacy will be increasingly evident in the
next five to 10 years with more women in the workforce, the potential
for more part-time work by pharmacists, and the desire of pharmacists
to spend more time on counseling and other patient services," says
David A. Mott, Ph.D., the study's project director and associate
professor and Hammel/Sanders chair in pharmacy administration at the
University of Wisconsin.
Although the trend of part-time work is increasing for both men
and women pharmacists, the study finds the trend toward more part-time
work is being fueled by women. For women age 31-50, more than 30
percent are working part time.
Pharmacists' roles are very diverse. In 2004 pharmacists spent 49
percent of their day dispensing drugs and 32 percent of their time on
activities such as advising patients on drug therapies, evaluating the
safety of drug therapy, administering vaccines, and counseling
patients on services ranging from self-care to disease management. The
results suggest pharmacists would like to spend only 39 percent of
their day dispensing drugs and increase the time spent providing
services to patients to 48 percent of their day.
"The roles of pharmacists continue to expand to meet the growing
and diverse needs of patients," says Lucinda L. Maine, Ph.D., PMP
President and Executive Vice President of the American Association of
Colleges of Pharmacy. Maine cited the critical role that pharmacists
have played this year in administering the Medicare Prescription Drug
Plan.
Consistent with the growing number of prescriptions dispensed in
community pharmacies, the workload for pharmacists has increased
between 2000 and 2004. Pharmacists report the high workload can
negatively affect their work, including activities such as ability to
take a break (48 percent), opportunity to reduce errors (36 percent),
time spent with patients (35 percent); and ability to solve drug
therapy problems (33 percent).
The most stressful events for pharmacists include inadequate
pharmacy technician staffing levels (38 percent), phone interruptions
(37 percent), and inadequate pharmacists' staffing (34 percent).
"Dealing with difficult patients" and "dealing with difficult
co-workers" are cited by 33 percent of pharmacists.
Despite the high workload, the study finds a high level of job
satisfaction. More than three-quarters (77 percent) of pharmacists in
2004 report a "high level" of job satisfaction compared with 66
percent in 2000.
"This study shows the need for pharmacy schools to produce the
best and brightest to meet these new health care challenges and
provide patients with the highest level of quality care," says Maine.
Results of the National Pharmacist Workforce Study were compiled
by a questionnaire completed by 1,470 practicing pharmacists.
The study was commissioned by the PMP. The PMP is comprised of
Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy, American Association of Colleges of
Pharmacy, American College of Apothecaries, American College of
Clinical Pharmacy, American Pharmacists Association, American Society
of Consultant Pharmacists, American Society of Health-System
Pharmacists, Bureau of Health Professions, National Association of
Chain Drug Stores, National Community Pharmacists Association,
National Council of State Pharmacy Association Executives, National
Pharmaceutical Association, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers
of America and Pharmacy Technician Certification Board.
The Pharmacy Manpower Project, Inc. is a nonprofit corporation
consisting of all major national, pharmaceutical professional and
trade organizations. Its mission is to serve the public and the
profession by developing data regarding the size and demography of the
pharmacy practitioner workforce and conducting and supporting research
in areas related to that workforce.
(End of advance for release 12:01 a.m. PST March 17.)
CONTACT:
Pharmacy Manpower Project, Inc. (PMP)
Norida Torriente, 703-739-2330, ext. 1015
ntorriente@aacp.org
or
Brian Ruberry, 301-948-1709
br@allhealthpr.com
Source
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Pharmacy Manpower Project Report Finds Ranks of Pharmacists Could Face Worsening Shortage
3/15/2006 2:51:00 PM EST
A new report finds the numbers of U.S. pharmacists could
continue to dwindle in the next decade as more men retire and more
professionals, particularly women, choose part-time work. The report,
prepared by the Pharmacy Manpower Project, Inc., will be released at a
press briefing on Friday, March 17, 4:30 p.m. PST, at the American
Pharmacists Association's Annual Meeting & Exposition in San
Francisco.
The National Pharmacist Workforce Study, to be published in the
May/June 2006 issue of the Journal of the American Pharmacists
Association, finds the potential shortfall coming at a pivotal time
with pharmacists desiring to spend less time dispensing drugs and more
time providing patient-centered services like immunizations and
counseling seniors about the new Medicare Prescription Drug Plan.
Who David A. Mott, Ph.D., Study Project Director and Associate
Professor & Hammel/Sanders Chair in pharmacy
administration, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Lucinda L. Maine, Ph.D., Pharmacy Manpower Project
President & Executive Vice President, American Association
of Colleges of Pharmacy
Katherine Knapp, Ph.D., Project Director, the Aggregate
Demand Index & Dean, College of Pharmacy, Touro
University-California
What National Pharmacist Workforce Study
When &
Where Friday, March 17, 4:30 p.m. PST
San Francisco Moscone Convention Center, Room 2018
San Francisco, CA
The Pharmacy Manpower Project, Inc. is a nonprofit corporation
consisting of all major national, pharmaceutical professional and
trade organizations. Its mission is to serve the public and the
profession by developing data regarding the size and demography of the
pharmacy practitioner workforce and conducting and supporting research
in areas related to that workforce.
CONTACT:
Pharmacy Manpower Project, Inc.
Norida Torriente, 202-253-5058
ntorriente@aacp.org
or
Brian Ruberry, 301-948-1709
br@allhealthpr.com
Source
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Telepharmacy Project Expands Students' Practice Experience
Pharmacy students at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) in Lubbock are now learning about telemedicine as a tool to deliver pharmacy services to a rural community. Third- and fourth-year students on the TTUHSC Lubbock campus spend a week during their rural rotation working with the telepharmacy system that links the TTUHSC Southwest Clinic pharmacy, the isolated community of Turkey, Texas, and Dr. Sid Ontai of Plainview, Texas.
In addition to providing needed pharmacy services in Turkey and nearby Quitaque, where residents have to drive an hour each way to the nearest pharmacy, the new telepharmacy project also enhances the education of pharmacy students. TTUHSC School of Pharmacy is the only pharmacy school in the state-and one of only two pharmacy schools in the nation-that requires students complete a Rural Clerkship in its Doctor of Pharmacy Program. Students complete six hours of didactic training prior to the rotation, where they learn the basics of telemedicine and telepharmacy.
"Students review various operating models that utilize telemedicine technology, such as primary to specialty care, low and mid-level provider to primary and specialty care, correctional and geriatric care," says Chuck Seifert, PharmD, regional dean for the TTUHSC School of Pharmacy in Lubbock. The classroom session also covers: 1) the technology issues of remote dispensing of medications, digitizing information and bandwidth requirements; and 2) practical issues of accessibility, quality of transmission, ability to make diagnoses, outcomes, and patient satisfaction.
During the week-long, hands-on telepharmacy experience, students spend one day observing the physician in Plainview, two days in Turkey and Quitaque observing the emergency medical technician delivering health care services under the direction of the Plainview physician, and one day working with the central pharmacist in Lubbock who receives prescription orders, performs validation activities, approves label generation at the remote site and counsels patients by videoconference.
"I really had a chance to see the telemedicine patient care process from all sides- doctor, patient, and pharmacist-and to see what is required on each end to make telepharmacy work," says Kris Zepeda, a 4th year pharmacy student from Seagraves, Texas. Suzanne Thompson, another 4th year pharmacy student from Seminole, Texas, says that the housecall experience she had in Turkey was unique and educational.
"For patients that were unable to leave their homes, we would deliver their medicines to them and do patient education in the home. On one of my days, a lady called in with an upset stomach. The doctor wasn't available to write a prescription, but we went to Allsup's and took her some Gatorade and pepto. I couldn't help think about when my grandparents lived in a small town. This would have been a great service for them," Thompson adds. One aspect that students really enjoy is the small-town atmosphere.
"The clinic in Turkey is in the same building as the Bob Wills' Museum-he's the Founder of Texas Swing. And patients come in to get their medications and stay and chat awhile,"
Zepeda says.
Both Thompson and Zepeda graduate in May 2004 and both have plans to return to their rural roots to practice pharmacy. Thompson will stay in Seminole, where she and her family have lived for 15 years, and work in a retail pharmacy. Zepeda plans to go into partnership at Nelson
Pharmacy in Brownfield, Texas. Both can foresee telepharmacy providing a needed service to isolated rural populations.
The telepharmacy project by Texas Tech-the first in Texas-was launched in September 2002. Since that time 26 students from the Lubbock campus have completed the telepharmacy component of the Rural Clerkship. Future plans include involving TTUHSC Amarillo and Dallas campus students in the telepharmacy rotation.
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