This is a term that doesn’t seem to be in our vocabulary much anymore. or has this morphed into “metrics”… which.. those of us with a real patient focus knows that one does not have much to do with the other.
While it is true that a good pharmacy tech can do 90%+ of what we do.. it is that 10% that is where patients are saved from harm or even worse. Is it not so much what we do.. but.. what we keep from happening?
I could probably write for another week relying stories about my interventions could have been the difference between life and death… for a patient.
How do we assure that the RPH is at the right place at the right time to catch all of these issues.. unless the RPH is intimately involved in the filling process?
Sure a RPH can review the Rx that has been ordered by a tech…but.. in today’s retail work environment… the interruptions and distractions are ever present… states are increasing the tech to RPH ratios.. We have two eyes and two ears… meaning that the more techs that are involved in the whole process the less time that a RPH can devote to what a particular tech is doing or saying to a patient or to a particular part of the Rx filling process.
Granted… the Pharmacist can help patient better manage their disease states. Just look at the success of the Ashville Project…but.. one has to ask.. this project has been on going for a decade or two and has yet to be duplicated in any larger numbers. Does it seem like the insurance industry – as long as they can keep raising premiums without much resistance – doesn’t seem to have much interest in really investing in expending monies to save monies and providing patients with better disease management and quality of life?
Is the healthcare industry more interested in maximizing profits than maximizing patient’s disease management and quality of life?
Filed under: General dumb-ass problems
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