By the time you read this, the House may have voted on the AHCAA. Debate on amendments is under way as I type this.

We’ll follow up with analysis as we learn more. Check it out at www.pharmacist.com.

This proposal has many pharmacy-friendly provisions that we support. I also understand an importation amendment that we would oppose was not allowed during votes in the House Committee on Rules on Friday.

Getting my seasonal flu immunization from Ukrops pharmacist Jessie Evans

APhA Trustee Kelly Goode and I last month had the opportunity to visit Ukrop’s Pharmacies in the greater Richmond, VA, area. John Beckner, Pharmacist and Director of Pharmacy and Wellness, hosted us for the three-store visit on October 16.

While each location had a generally similar feel, the pharmacists and technicians were proud of their unique services, their teamwork, and perhaps most importantly, their connection with their patients. One store offered an extensive travel immunization service that was being tested for ways to extend it to other stores via a “hub and spoke” process. Other stores conducted extensive MTM. All were heavily involved in influenza vaccinations.

I received my seasonal flu shot from pharmacist Jessie Evans and gladly paid my fee!

At APhA, we get questions about the scalability of MTM all the time. We also get questions about whether most pharmacists even know what the services include. Ukrops is just one example of many—as evidenced on the pharmacist.com MTM map —where MTM is a major part of practice.

To everyone who is doing the work—keep it up. You are making a difference!

In today’s Federal Register, FDA reopened the comment period for its Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies, or REMS, for certain opioid drug products. The new deadline for comments–a year from today, 10/19/2010–indicates that no action will be taken for a long while.

The move shows that the agency recognizes the problems identified in the comments filed about the development of an opioid REMS, which has important implications for the daily practice of pharmacists, is rethinking its approach, and reflects the impact of the nearly 2000 comments that FDA received on this topic. APhA was a key voice in calling for modifications to the REMS plan.

In the notice, FDA wrote that it recognizes the challenges and need for an opioid REMS to be “carefully designed” (due to the number of prescribers, pharmacists, and patients involved with these medications) and the need to ensure a REMS does not unduly burden the health care system or limit patient access.

We will monitor this development and keep you posted as needed.

We all hate to run into heavy traffic on the roads, but when looking at Web and readership of journals and magazines, increased “traffic” is a good thing. At APhA, we’ve been gratified at the rapid growth and visits to www.pharmacist.com, Facebook, Twitter, and this blog. Since July, our unique visits and time spent on our pharmacist.com “pages” has been increasing as well.

I get reports that readership and citations of our APhA periodicals are increasing. While not directly related, I think it’s relevant that our Political Action Committee contributions have doubled over last year as well. Attendance in our certificate programs like MTM and immunization are “through the roof” this fall.

All of these are positive signs, but we are just getting started. Your membership is incredibly valuable to our long-term ability to serve the profession. And our PAC is becoming increasingly important in our efforts to stay connected on the Hill. With pharmaceutical company sponsorship down, our ability to attract readers to our publications is more important than ever to sustain the provision of excellent content for pharmacists. Thanks for your continued support. We couldn’t be this successful without you.

When I was in practice, I often thought that if only every consumer knew what we pharmacists had to offer, we would all be better off and our advocacy would not be so challenging. What you may not know is how we are getting the word out. Soon, I’ll provide you with a report that details the “hits” pharmacists have been getting in the national media. One of our staff members recently began a series of interviews with WebMD. I thought I would share the clip with you. Millions of consumers are seeing this every day!

Sooner or later, the Senate will consider the controversial issue of prescription drug importation. Today, Senator McCain (R–AZ) called up an amendment to prohibit the use of any Department of Justice funds to investigate or enforce Federal laws related to the importation of prescription drugs. He later withdrew the amendment.

We also understand that Sen. Dorgan (D–ND) will present language during the health care reform debate (which could begin as soon as next week) to establish new authority (and a new bureaucracy) favoring importation.

APhA has long opposed importation and is making our concerns known about how importation can negatively impact the safety of the U.S. supply chain and the ability of pharmacists to care for their patients. We encourage you to do the same. Members can log in to pharmacist.com to use APhA’s Legislative Action Center to contact their Senators.

On Friday, we at APhA hosted hundreds of U.S. Department of State employees for American Pharmacists Month activities at 2215 Constitution Avenue.

Various information and screening stations were staffed by a crew of APhA staffers, but the real stars were 50 faculty and students from the pharmacy schools at Shenandoah, Notre Dame, Maryland, Virginia Commonwealth, and Howard universities. This team effort was led by Maria Gorrick, Professional Resources and Business Development, and Megan Sheahan, APhA Foundation Executive Resident.

My hat is off to these folks for the weeks of planning that led to their outstanding execution of this event. The benefits were many, as we not only increased awareness of pharmacists’ services for State Department staff who work in our building but also uncovered potential health issues with several participants–the normal goal for these events.

Please use this forum to let everyone know what you are doing to celebrate American Pharmacists Month. “Know Your MEDICINE, Know Your PHARMACIST” is our theme and core message for this month. Make sure this idea is presented to your patients and your colleagues on the health care team, and that they have a chance to recognize all that you do each day!

In a policy paper, Improving FDA Regulation of Prescription Drugs, released Sept. 24, 2009, the American College of Physicians (ACP) proposed that FDA “be given the authority to require new drugs be labeled with a symbol that indicates it is a new drug and that direct-to-consumer advertising be limited for the first two years after a drug’s approval.”

The paper makes five other important recommendations. The one I’ve singled out above has broad implications and is worthy of some debate within pharmacy.

Promotion advocates would suggest that such a proposal would limit access to important advances in medicine, while opponents might argue that a 2-year “soft launch” would protect consumers by allowing greater experience with products before significant promotion occurs. APhA has numerous policies regarding direct-to-consumer advertising, but nothing that would guide us regarding whether pharmacy would support or oppose the ACP proposal.

What do you think?

This week’s release of the long-awaited Senate Finance Committee health care reform (HCR) proposal sets the stage for an interesting study in lawmaking on Capitol Hill. As the process moves forward, pharmacy and medication therapy management (MTM) are exactly where we hoped at this point: MTM is in both Senate bills and the key House HCR proposal, and the profession is engaged and being heard by legislators.

I do believe that APhA’s focus, focus, focus on MTM, as well as advocacy from others, will pay off. This is truly a generational opportunity for pharmacists. The fact that these sound MTM provisions, although not precisely identical, are in the proposals on both sides of the Capitol makes our chances of final passage much more likely.

Our hat is off to many other national and state pharmacy associations that have worked diligently to help secure these provisions. Many pharmacy organizations have promoted MTM along with other concerns, but APhA has been focused on MTM. As members of a stakeholders’ coalition, we have supported in letters and deeds an AMP fix and DMEPOS surety bond relief, and I give our partners credit for their successes.

Please stay tuned and informed. If debate takes a negative turn for pharmacists, we will need your aggressive and immediate calls of support. Meanwhile, we can smile, knowing that the Hill is listening to pharmacy.

In October (American Pharmacists Month, or “APhM”), we will release the results of a survey APhA commissioned to gain insight into consumers’ medication habits and the relationship they have with their pharmacist. Results suggest we have some work to do as a profession to ensure that our patients see us as a partner in their health care. APhM is a perfect vehicle to get out that message. We’ll do our part with the media. I hope you will help us by letting your patients know that you are eager to become more involved in their health and to help them use their medications correctly.

“Know Your Medicine, Know Your Pharmacist” will again be the theme and call to action for this year’s campaign. Our consumer outreach efforts will place a special emphasis on using a personal medication record (PMR) to help patients get to know their pharmacist. Survey results revealed that only 28% of consumers carry an up-to-date list of their medications. The most common reason, the survey showed, that patients did not use medication lists was, “I never thought about it (49%).” Encourage your patients to keep a list and share it with all of their health care providers to minimize the risk of improper dosing, duplicating medications, and harmful drug interactions and side effects. I challenge all APhA members to get involved this APhM to help carry out APhA’s mission of improving medication use and advancing patient care. I’d also like to give a special thanks to McNeil Consumer Healthcare for their continued support of American Pharmacists Month.