I don’t need to tell any RPH now in practice that times they are a changing..
Our professional roots are in entrepreneur world… until some 40-50 +years ago.. if you where a RPH… it was presumed that you would eventually own your pharmacy. The “chain era” was just in its infancy… even if you were a independent, it was “normal” for you to become a Rexall store or a Walgreen’s Agency… to give you a “chain image”, access to a multitude of private label items.
Up until the last 5-10 years.. all the baby boomers RPH’s were use to being able to basically walk from one job to the next.. any unemployment could be in days counted on a single hand.
The vast majority of the entrepreneur Pharmacist’s spirit has increasingly been replaced by a paycheck.
I was given a copy of a concept that a RPH in the mid-west that has apparently developed a successful practice and being self-employed, without owning/operating a community pharmacy. This RPH has taken the initiative to go out and talk to small-medium companies during DUR/MTM and is being paid on a capitation rate. And according to this report, the companies are spending less on medications per employee , including the RPH’s fee and the employees were healthier.
Obviously, the PBM is not real happy with this RPH’s program… Less drugs sold or less expensive drugs sold and the PBM’s get less money.. but.. wait.. aren’t the PBM’s all about good patient care and improved patient’s health ? At least that is what they tell every employer they get to sign on to their program..
What the impending OBAMACARE implementation will do to this RPH’s program is anyone’s guess at this moment.
Those Senior RPH”s out there that find themselves sitting on the curb… without a reason why… I hate to tell you this… “opportunity” is not going to come seeking you out.. you have to find that entrepreneurial spirit that should have came with that RPH license and go out a seek out that niche/opportunity that is just waiting for you to “find it”
I was recently exchanging emails with a RPH at a small mid-west hospital, which has a staff opening… and they had 19 applicants for this one opening… and it is estimated that the “peak” of the surplus is still a few years off… it is not going to get better… trust me… If you are a Senior RPH… you have decades of experience.. there are entities that can appreciate that… it probably won’t be the 30 something manager with a PharmD and a residency or two… and for some reason believes that he/she needs to surround themselves with other RPH’s with same/similar credentials.
It is almost as those decades of experience is literally NOTHING against a couple of years in a residency… which is nothing more than a specialized/compressed experience.
Filed under: General Problems
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