Another year is nearly gone… as I look back on this year… my beloved profession has seemingly taken a nose dive.. from a professional perspective.. Most places, volume up and regardless of volume .. staffing is down. This year I have averaged nearly one post per day.. and in looking back… I have written on various subjects but have tried to stay away from politics and religion.. although not totally successful.
We have seen a number of lawsuits against employers for various reasons.. mostly for a Pharmacist or tech being discharged for nebulous/no valid reason(s) and/or refusing to break their practice act or some other rule/regulation.
We saw the NC BOP ignore their own practice act and declined to enforce a number of its provisions, when a RPH complained about it… but.. then we saw them suspend some RPH from giving vaccinations for several months and six CVS stores suspended their permission to provide vaccinations for TWO YEARS… We saw where CVS or their RPH’s thru June had 30% of all disciplinary actions in the state for 2012… A record that doesn’t seem to use in their advertising..
We saw a report that a number of Fed and CA state agencies investigating CVS for setting up pts for auto-refill without their permission.. the LA TIMES had a sizable story on this.. and it died quickly .. and no other paper picked up on the story..
We have seen the media, and bureaucrats focus on the deaths and harm that NECC’s sloppy procedures caused to hundreds of patients.. We have yet to see how this will ripple thru the rest of the profession… once they finish dealing with those pharmacies doing compounding.
We seemed to have survived the ESI/Walgreens dispute and the ESI/Medco merger.. although.. the dust may not be totally settled on the latter.
On a personal note… Daughter finalized her divorce and moved from CALF to NC… she is now a single Mother… and we have her and our Grandson closer to us.. the grim reaper claimed two of my first cousins and my wife lost her Mother and Uncle… all in the 4th quarter.. I have had my quota of funerals for a long while.
Last but not least.. I am now “friends” with some RPH’s through out the country.. some are fellow pharmacy bloggers , others are RPH’s that need some advice or consultation in dealing with their work environment and or their employer in general.
Looking into my “crystal ball” for 2013… doesn’t appear to be any less tumultuous than 2012 was…
We are going to have to deal with the consequences of the fiscal cliff that it now seems we are going over…
IMO.. we have not seen the final outcomes of the ESI/Medco merger
I think that we will see many more RPH’s – especially Senior RPH’s – that will be shown the door… for no good reason. and I believe that we will see some of these will challenge these discharges as wrongful and take their employer to court and will WIN !
We will see a lot of transformation of some businesses as they try to adjust their operations for Obamacare beginning the first of 2014.. we will see the formation of some sort of insurance exchanges in all 50 states and DC… Enrollment will start in Oct … as well as the forming of ACO’s. IMO, if Pharmacists don’t find themselves a seat at this table… we will be separated further from being a “real healthcare professional”
Will many of pharmacy staffs find their hours cut to < 32 hrs/wk so that their employer can shift health insurance costs to the employee or the government.. to increase their own profits?
By the end of the year we will be hoping that the first week of Jan,2014 will not resemble the first week of Jan ,2006 when Medicare Part D started… will there will be pts who have been told they have coverage and a system that will not have been tested sufficiently to allow a smooth operation… will we will see a increase in the number and scope of closed pharmacy networks.
In the very end.. everyone has to take – with a grain of salt – all the new mandates that come down from corporate.. and seek out if they are legal and of course ethical… likewise, everyone has to start extensive documenting what is not following the law and/or the practice act… and let the employer that you are documenting by asking for clarification of what comes down the pike…
Filed under: General Problems
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