Getting Out to See New Technology: An Audio Slide Show

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 15:24:04 -0400

Pharmacist and owner Jimmy Yuen recently installed dispensing automation at his Advance Medical Pharmacy in Walnut Creek, Calif. In this audio slide show, he talks about the decision process that led him to select Kirby Lester’s new KL60 and his decision to to invite his independent colleagues for a first-hand look at this technology.

Yuen began looking at dispensing automation in response to rising prescription volume and had to balance the features he wanted with the space available in his pharmacy.

Technology Perspectives: Pharmacy and Healthcare Reform

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 15:23:07 -0400

In this podcast, McKesson Pharmacy Systems President Stanton McComb covers a range of topics surrounding pharmacy, technology, and the current drive for healthcare reform. He offers his take on what new roles pharmacy may play as a result, the growing role of clinical care in pharmacy, and what’s on the horizon for technology for the pharmacy and for the patient. Also part of the discussion: What MTM means for retail pharmacy right now and what it might look like in five years’ time.

Perspectives on E-Prescribing: Pharmacist and Physician

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 16:59:15 -0400

E-prescribing remains near the top of the list of technology issues in healthcare. In this podcast, Ken Lalime, Executive Director of the 7,000 physician Connecticut State Medical Society – IPA, offers his take on this constantly evolving topic. Ken has devoted a great deal of time and energy to analyzing the prospects for e-prescribing for CSMS-IPA, and is also responsible for evaluating the e-prescribing products that the IPA makes available to its members. For example, CSMS-IPA has partnered with Health Net for the last two years to provide its physician members with access to Emdeon ClinicianRx e-Prescribing software. Ken brings to the conversation not only the perspective of the medical society, but his experiences as a former practicing pharmacist and what he learns from his colleagues and friends, who are practicing pharmacists.

You may find the following URLs useful:

Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (MIPPA) Legislation

Surescripts Summary of the CMS E-Prescribing Incentives

CSMS-IPA Technology Overview

Strategies for Managing Prescription Pricing and Patients’ Prescription Costs: An Interview with Valu-Med Pharmacy’s Justin Wilson

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 12:49:06 -0400

There’s a new breed of bargain shopping pharmacy customer who’s looking to minimize out-of-pocket prescription costs. These customers could be a young couple managing their high deductible healthcare savings account, a middle-age man who suddenly has no prescription coverage due to job loss, or a retired couple who really want to avoid “the doughnut hole.” When these price-sensitive customers transfer prescriptions to save a few dollars or use a coupon for “$25 off any new or transferred prescription,” both your pharmacy business and your patients suffer. What are your options to retaining your price-sensitive customers? And how can you make sure you are helping patients manage their prescription costs effectively? In this podcast ComputerTalk senior editor Will Lockwood talks with Justin Wilson, Pharm.D., from Valu-Med Pharmacy in Midwest City, Okla., about strategies for retaining price-sensitive customers while maintaining a pricing strategy that’s good for both the customer and the pharmacy.