Communications
As pharmacists, we are among the most trusted professionals in the world, yet we don't utilize that trust to the fullest. This page is going to have more than just the information stored for general use, but also a section for informational stories and pieces for utilization.
MO Chambers of Commerce – Pharmacies Not a Priority?
Attended Missouri House Health & Mental Health Committee Hearings last week, and experienced a few unexpected scenarios. This video is clips from the opposition testimony
Rotten Fruit Basket
After listening to the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA)’s testimony last week at the Missouri House Health & Mental Health Committee Hearing for House Bills
1. Paying Pharmacies Below Their Cost to Buy Medications: This is not competition — it is market destruction.
There are dozens of examples daily at most every community retail pharmacy. These are some examples to showcase the commonality of items, with specific exact dollar
2. Self-Dealing Through PBM-Owned Mail-Order and Specialty Pharmacies: This is preferential treatment, not a free market.
*Patient fills and picks up 8 medications regularly through retail community pharmacy. After 2 fills of Humalog, is told now must use mail-order facility or
3. Non-Negotiable, Take-It-or-Leave-It Contracts: This imbalance of power removes real competition and violates fair dealing principles.
*Most pharmacies today exist with a relationship into what is known as a Pharmacy Services Administrative Organization, or PSAO, that helps “negotiate” contract terms with
4. Lack of Transparency and Data Access: Markets cannot function when pricing and rules are hidden.
*PBM’s are one of the few organizations that can be asked for information and tell such requestor to “take a hike” on a regular basis.
"He Who Knows Does Not Speak"
This start to a Chinese proverb is highly indicative of the retail pharmacy industry. We have allowed mail-order pharmacy representatives to dictate our line of business for too long. The end of the proverb goes as “He who speaks does not know.” – Loazi, Chinese Philosopher 604BC-531BC
Today’s environment, although millennia after the proverb was coined, remains much the same in numerous aspects, with pharmacists high among the rank of sticking their heads in the sand and hoping for better… Mail-Order lobbyists have dictated several practice regulations for our industry because they are the loudest voice with the most funds due to their joined forces as PBM’s. We could learn a few things from their tactics if we would band together and work as a unit instead of constantly squabbling over the leftovers, getting left the moldy crumbs…
Our goal through UPC is to do exactly that: work pharmacists together, as a unified front, toward retail pharmacy for community-centric goals that everybody agrees should be center of the discussion. Join us in our endeavors to positively shape pharmacy healthcare standards today!