December 2015/January 2016
The
public
policy 2016
PDMP
Provider Status
COLLABORATIVE PRACTICE AGREEMENTS
Cannabis Oil
PRIOR AUTHORIZATIONS
issue
TECH SUPERVISION
Coverage You Need. Service You Deserve. A Price You Can Afford.
contents 10
cover story: Public policy A prescription drug monitoring program. Pharmacists’ role in cannabis oil treatments. Provider status. Technician supervision. Between the laws we’re hoping to change or enact and the regulations we want to clarify, GPhA has an ambitious and important policy agenda for 2016. Here are the issues we’ll be focusing on and what they mean for pharmacists and their patients. 18 LeadershipGPhA
4
Meet the newest class of future Georgia pharmacy leaders
18
3 prescript 4
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Learning by doing Scott Brunner considers the importance of a New Year’s resolutions, and taking those first few steps... sometimes more than once.
4 news What’s happening in the Georgia pharmacy world GPhA’s new group health plans for pharmacies, an important track and trace extension, Georgia pharmacy awards, MTM tips, and much more.
Correction: In the October/November issue, we incorrectly referred to the “DAN” in Project DAN as “Deaths by Naloxone.” It stands for “Deaths Avoided by Naloxone.” We regret the error. December 2015/January 2016
21 PharmPAC Investors in the future of the pharmacy profession in Georgia
23 contact us Who does what at GPhA, and how to reach us
24 postscript A note from President Tommy Whitworth It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood, but are we doing the best we can to keep it that way?
8 legal injection
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Our association counsel answers questions about Georgia pharmacy law Georgia Pharmacy
1
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prescript
The thing about resolutions I’m always amazed at the lengths to which a new year will drive some folks. In early January a couple of years ago I saw on the news where scores of people showed up at a local fairgrounds for a very scott brunner public weighing-in, part of a YMCA-sponsored community weight-loss program. None of the weighees seemed to mind the extra 10 pounds those TV news cameras added to their already hefty physiques. “I’ve eaten my way through my last Christmas,” vowed one interviewee. “My new year’s resolution is to take some of this weight off.” Well, good luck, honey, I wanted to say. You’re gonna need it. Then I remembered my own record on new year resolutions, from my perennial promise to “talk less, listen more” — which I first made somewhere around 1990, and had I adhered to it, would by all rights be totally mute by now — to my well-intentioned vow to start writing that novel I’ve been contemplating for a decade. And even now, I am preparing once again for my annual attempt to read through the Bible — or rather, through the Pentateuch, the first part of the Bible, for in most years that’s about as far as I get. That’s the thing about resolutions. They sound so good, seem so absolutely attainable in the hopeful warmth of a new year’s glow. Who among us hasn’t, on a crisp January 1, resolved to exercise
Georgia Pharmacy magazine is the official publication of the Georgia Pharmacy Association.
President and Chair of the Board Tommy Whitworth
Unless otherwise noted, the entire contents of this publication is licensed under a Creative Commons AttributionNonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license. Direct any questions to the editor at akantor@gpha.org.
First Vice President Liza Chapman
President-Elect Lance Boles Second Vice President Tim Short Chief Executive Officer Scott Brunner, CAE sbrunner@gpha.org Vice President of Communication and Engagement Phillip Ratliff pratliff@gpha.org
December 2015/January 2016
more, be nicer to our neighbor, learn to play golf, dust the baseboards or...whatever. Even read the Bible through in a year. Yet how few of us actually manage to stick with it when the going gets tough, when our resolve sours into inconvenience, when other things entice and suddenly it’s February and we’re bogged down in Leviticus. Let him who is without sin cast the first stone, I say. January is hopeful, a month of fresh starts, clean slates. It’s cold outside, but that new beginning fills and warms us with hope. Then February comes with an icy one-two punch and knocks it right out of us. February is cruel, for it makes us face up to our inconsistencies, forces us to decide if new commitments are really worth relinquishing old habits for. Maybe that’s why Plato called the beginning the most important part of a work. Matters not if your new work is eating less or earning a certification, working out or ramping up your MTM capacity, cleaning the attic or running for the legislature. You have to start, every day. As for me, well, I’ve decided to put nose-to-Pentateuch and once more begin reading — and to root for folks like those who weighed-in down at the fairgrounds. If we all can make it through February, we’ll be halfway home. Georgia Pharmacy A S S O C I AT I O N
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R. Scott Brunner, CAE, is GPhA’s chief executive officer.
Director of Communication & Editor Andrew Kantor akantor@gpha.org Art Director Carole Erger-Fass
SUBSCRIPTIONS Georgia Pharmacy is distributed as a regular membership service, paid for with membership dues. Non-members can subscribe for $50 per year domestic or $65 per year international. Single issues are $10 issue domestic and $20 international. Practicing Georgia pharmacists who are not members of GPhA are not eligible for subscriptions.
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ADVERTISING All advertising inquiries should be directed to Denis Mucha at dmucha@gpha.org or (770) 252-1284. Media kit and rates available upon request.
Georgia Pharmacy (ISSN 1075-6965) is published bimonthly by the GPhA, 50 Lenox Pointe NE, Atlanta, GA 30324. Periodicals postage paid at Atlanta, GA and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Georgia Pharmacy magazine, 50 Lenox Pointe NE, Atlanta, GA 30324.
Georgia Pharmacy
3
news
FDA EXTENDS its TRACK & trace compliance date to march 2016 Pharmacies — “dispensers” to the FDA — were going to have to comply with the requirements of the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (commonly known as “track and trace”) starting November 1. But the
FDA has announced that it is extending that compliance date to March 1, 2016. GPhA has already offered a live webinar to help you get your ducks in a row (you can still watch it, just not live, at GPhA.org/trackandtrace). And you can bet we’ll be offering more help with compliance before that new deadline. For now, enjoy the bit of breathing room.
read more @ gphabuzz.com
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Georgia Pharmacy
GphA debuts new Group health plan — at great rates Starting in 2016, GPhA will be partnering with Georgia-based StaffMetrix HR and J. Smith Lanier & Co. to offer pharmacist owners a new, less expensive group health and employee benefits program. It includes not only health insurance for owners and employees, but is part of a broader package of insurance and human resource services — known as a professional employer organization or PEO. Pharmacy owners who already get their group health coverage through GPhA will have the PEO replace the current Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia coverage with a selection of plans from Humana including an HMO and four POS plans to choose from. You’ll be getting more benefits, more options, lower premiums, plus a range of other human resources services. (If you don’t get your health coverage through GPhA, you need to look at what we’re offering. You’ll be impressed. We did our research.)
We wanted to offer members the best available health coverage, and to grow our employee benefits program by offering the kinds of services small businesses need, taking advantage of GPhA’s size to provide better rates than individual businesses could get on their own. The new PEO provides not only health coverage, but also voluntary dental, vision, short- and long-term disability, and term life insurance, all with low premiums because you’ll be part of the GPhA pool. Then it goes beyond, providing a soup-to-nuts HR department: complete administration of all the insurance and financial services plans, payroll administration (including handling all taxes and deductions), background checks, W2 and 1099 processing and filing, and a lot more. You’ll find all the details on our website at GPhA.org/peo, or drop a note to GPhA’s Denis Mucha at dmucha@gpha.org. He’ll answer all your questions. December 2015/January 2016
Nominate a Georgia pharmacist for one of GPhA’s prestigious awards Each year the Georgia Pharmacy Association presents four awards acknowledging pharmacists who are among the best of their profession. If you know someone deserving of one of these awards, now’s the time to tell us. The Bowl of Hygeia is recognized as the most prestigious award in pharmacy, and is presented annually by each state pharmacy association to a pharmacist in each state with an outstanding record of service to the profession and the community. The Distinguished Young Pharmacist Award recognizes the achievements of young pharmacists in the profession who has already demonstrated a dedication to Georgia pharmacists and patients. The Excellence in Innovation Award acknowledges a pharmacy that has found new and better
ways to improve the care of its patients — innovative and impressive solutions, techniques, or business practices that all pharmacies should consider. The Generation Rx Champions Award honors a pharmacist who has demonstrated a committed effort to reduce prescription drug abuse through notable programs, outreach, education, and other community efforts. The how-to: • To nominate someone for one of these awards — or for detailed criteria — visit GPhA.org/2016awards. • Winners will be honored at the 2016 Georgia Pharmacy Convention at the Hilton Head Marriott Resort in June. • Deadline for submissions is March 4, 2016.
Keeping pharmacist voters informed The 2016 elections are less than a year away, and you can be sure that whomever’s elected is going to have an impact on pharmacy’s future. To keep you informed, GPhA is partnering with the NACDS’s RxImpact grassroots program. It’ll make it easy to keep up with the latest on state and federal races. RxImpact doesn’t support candidates, but it does provide resources to see how each of them stands on issues affecting the pharmacy profession You can get more info about RxImpact and sign up for alerts at rximpact.org.
December 2015/January 2016
Georgia Pharmacy
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news Study: Med sync programs make a big Difference A year-long study by the National Community Pharmacists Association and our counterparts in Arkansas found that yes, med sync programs work. Patients enrolled in a medication synchronization program were about two-and-a-half times more likely to stick to their regimen than those whose refills were all over the calendar. By the way, a shameless plug: Research like this — that shows the value of community pharmacies — is something the Georgia Pharmacy Foundation is going to start conducting. Just thought we’d mention that. You can find more info in the October 26, 2015 article in the NCPA’s newsroom at ncpanet.org.
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Georgia Pharmacy
Meet your CQI requirements You probably already know that Georgia pharmacies have to have a continuous quality improvement (CQI) program to adhere to key third-party contract and Medicare Part D requirements. Guess what? GPhA members have access to just such a program, and at a discounted rate to boot. It’s called Pharmacy Quality Commitment or PQC and you can check it out over at pqc.net. And if you sign up before the end of the year, enter the code GPHA2015 to get $25 off the initial cost of the program. W00t!
December 2015/January 2016
Tips for increasing MTM service acceptance rates Not everyone jumps at the chance to receive medication therapy management services, so Miraxa offers a few simple tips to turn “No thanks” into “Sign me up”: Introduce the service when the customer is in the store on other business. When customers come in to fill a prescriptions, let them know that there may be an opportunity for you to review their drug regimen with them, at no additional cost, as part of the patient’s existing insurance benefits and if so, you will be in contact with them soon to schedule a meeting. If a patient doesn’t have time to receive the service propose two or three specific alternative
times for them to receive the service; don’t just ask “When is good?” or suggest they call back. If patients still decline, remind them that not only is it good for their health, the service is included as an insurance benefit — it’s already been paid for. If you receive the case through a program such as US Script, don’t decline it immediately, even if the patient refuses. Wait until the case is closer to its expiration date — often patients change their minds. Increasing MTM acceptance rates is good for everyone: It offers better health for patients and higher service levels for you, something program sponsors keep an eye on.
who is GPhA?
1,178 individual pharmacists, including
43
married couples (404 of them own a pharmacy)
760
student pharmacists
114
retired pharmacists
35
pharmacy technicians
3
affiliates
Tell us how we’re doing GPhA is committed to meeting and exceeding the expectations of our members. To help us do that, we need you to let us know how we’re doing. No complex process here: Simply e-mail us at membercare@ gpha.org and share your thoughts December 2015/January 2016
and experiences. If you’ve got a complaint or a concern, you’ll hear from one our VPs within one business day. We’ll address your concerns and discuss how we can better meet your needs.
total members October 2012:
1,307 1,976
October 2015:
Georgia Pharmacy
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legal injection
Q&A: Who can do what? In which Greg Reybold, GPhA ‘s vice president of public policy and association counsel, answers questions about Georgia pharmacy law. (Greg can’t actually give legal advice to members, but he’s happy to offer his interpretation of the law here. You know the drill: If you have a legal issue, consult your own attorney.)
Greg Reybold
I read on GPhA Buzz that the Department of Public Health was giving drive-by flu shots in several areas of north Georgia. How is it that DPH can give immunizations to people in their cars, but I can’t?
The restriction you’re thinking of, on administering vaccines while patients remain in their vehicles, is specific to pharmacists and nurses who are administering vaccines pursuant to a vaccine protocol agreement. Simply put, that restriction, as well as the other requirements of the new law, don’t apply to many other healthcare workers. It’s not applicable to hospitals, physicians offices, nursing homes, or other health care facilities designated by DPH. While I am unsure who was administering those drive-by flu shots on behalf of DPH — whether it was physicians, pharmacists, nurses, or interns — they likely fall under the second category and weren’t subject to the same restrictions as pharmacists. Also, while a bit of a digression, it’s worth pointing out that the drive-by restriction and the privacy requirement in the new law (see more about that in the cover story on page 10) do not apply to mass immunizations in the event of a public health emergency or for purposes of training — when vaccinations are administered to large groups of people at one or more locations in a short interval of time, such as a zombie outbreak.
Are there any specific functions that pharmacy technicians are prohibited from performing? Yes, pharmacy technicians are prohibited from performing or conducting duties or functions that require professional judgment. What are those? Here’s the list: • Accepting telephoned or other oral prescriptions; • Transferring prescription drug orders from another pharmacy or transfers of a prescription drug order to another pharmacy; • Patient counseling; • Receiving information or providing information about a prescription drug order; • Making the determination as to whether to refill the prescription drug order; • Certifying a filled and finished prescription drug order; • Weighing or measuring active ingredients without a mechanism of verification; • Compounding of medication without a mechanism of verification; • Giving a completed prescription to a patient without the label being verified by a pharmacist; • Reconstituting of prefabricated medication without a mechanism of verification; • Verification of the constituents of final IV admixtures for accuracy, efficacy, and patient utilization; • Entering an order on patient medication profiles without verification by a pharmacist; • Providing drug information that has not been prepared or approved by the pharmacist; and • Reviewing the patient record for therapeutic appropriateness. Georgia Pharmacy A S S O C I AT I O N
For those of you who like reading the law, see Georgia code 480-15-.01 through 480-15-.05. BLACK & WHITE
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Use of this article, or the information it contains, does not constitute any legal advice, does NOT establish any attorney-client relationship, and does NOT create any legal duty on the part of the author or the Georgia Pharmacy Association. When making a decision that may have legal consequences, readers should consult with qualified legal counsel.
Do you have an issue you’d like to see addressed in this column? Let us know — submit it to Greg at greybold@gpha.org. 8
Georgia Pharmacy
December 2015/January 2016
Pharmacy education is built from the ground up
Operation Firm Foundation gives the Georgia Pharmacy Foundation a solid base of reliable funding. Through sustained giving, your foundation: 4 provides professional education
and development 4 supports students with
education and scholarships 4 trains future pharmacy leaders 4 informs consumers about the
value of community pharmacy 4 invests in profession-related
research
You can join Operation Firm Foundation by investing as little as $10 a month. One-time gift options are also available. Go to www.gpha.org/foundation to keep foundation programs alive and strong. With your continued support, the Georgia Pharmacy Foundation is changing the way we think about pharmacy.
4 extends a helping hand to
pharmacists struggling with substance abuse
F O U N D AT I O N
Read more at GPhA.org/foundation, and help us do more for Georgia’s pharmacists.
cover story
public
By phillip ratliff
policy 2016
PDMP
Provider Status
COLLABORATIVE PRACTICE AGREEMENTS
Cannabis Oil
PRIOR AUTHORIZATIONS
issueS
TECH SUPERVISION
10 Georgia Pharmacy
December 2015/January 2016
T
hrough its yearly call for
its sale be legalized in Georgia), and defining “direct
issues, GPhA talks with
supervision” of pharmacy technicians — as those most
members across geograph-
important to the practice of pharmacy in Georgia. In
ic regions and practice
the 2016 legislative session, GPhA will keep these
settings — independent owners, chain pharmacists, health system pharmacists, students, technicians,
issues before members, legislators, and our allies. Not every issue before Georgia pharmacists
and more. It’s goal: to find out what our members
requires such an approach. We’re also seeking reg-
feel are the most important policy matters facing the
ulatory fixes, to clarify how laws are interpreted or
entire pharmacy profession in Georgia.
enforced. Such issues carry with them their own set
The GPhA Board of Directors uses this feedback to
of challenges, requiring us to work with other boards
determine the year’s policy plan. The Board considers
or regulatory agencies to achieve clarity and the most
strategy and politically viability. A determination has
practical, safe interpretation of current policies. It’s
to be made if a legislative fix is in fact the smartest
sometimes a matter of changing a word or two, but
avenue. Can the change we want be effected at the
that can be more arduous than one might think.
regulatory level, instead? After all, “policy” is about more than changing or enacting laws.
As a whole, the issues our policy agenda addresses are extraordinarily diverse and complicated. But we’ve
After careful deliberation, the board identified
made getting a handle on the issues — and GPhA’s po-
three legislative policy issues — changes to the pre-
sition — as easy and intuitive as possible. Read on to
scription drug monitoring program, clarifying phar-
see how the voice for pharmacy in Georgia will speak
macists’ role for patients taking cannabis oil (should
for pharmacists and their patients in 2016.
Georgia’s PDMP
program, reducing the perceptions of stability and taxing the program’s small staff. Until these holes in PDMP are patched, some patients with prescription drug addiction will continue to escape notice. Here’s a rundown of how Georgia’s PDMP got to where it is, and how we can make the system even better.
Georgia’s prescription drug monitoring program needs some critical upgrades. When Governor Deal signed the Patient Safety Act into law in 2011, Georgia became one of the last states in the nation to implement a prescription drug monitoring program. Despite the late start, the law is working in many respects. Lortab, oxycodone, and hydrocodone abuse have plummeted, thanks in part to the law’s impact. And, as expected, heroin use has shot up — a reliable if somewhat perverse indicator that narcotics addicts are feeding their habits somewhere besides the pharmacy counter. With close to half a decade of PDMP practice under their belts, physicians, pharmacists, and regulators are wondering whether the system is as effective as it should be. Georgia’s program is burdensome, they say. Patient information is spotty, and communication channels — within Georgia’s healthcare system and across state lines — are subject to breakdowns. The perennial scramble for funding further undermines the December 2015/January 2016
Funding woes After the Patient Safety Act was signed into law, the legislature authorized the Georgia Drugs and Narcotics Agency to run the state’s PDMP program. Initial costs were considerable, but thanks to a $400,000 grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Georgians didn’t have to foot the bill. GDNA Director Rick Allen made the money go a long way. “We were able to stretch it out because we only used the money to pay for computer programs, a little travel to PDMP programs,” Allen says. Actual costs, he says, turned out to be about $13,000 to $14,000 a month. Administrative costs, including space, some staffing, and equipment, were absorbed by other areas of GDNA. Thanks to small staff and a lean operation, GDNA stretched BJA grant funding through September 2015. Georgia Pharmacy 11
cover story To keep the PDMP up and running, GDNA had to request an additional $250,000 last March. The legislature granted the request and for the shortrun, PDMP will continue its job of protecting Georgia patients. But eventually, that funding, too, will run out. A permanent and stable source of PDMP funding reassures healthcare professionals that taking the time to input and search patient information is purposeful, that the system is here to stay. There are a couple of options for making this happen. The state of Georgia could continue to fund PDMP for about $200,000 to $250,000 annually. This is the likely course. In the grand scheme of things, that’s a cheap price to pay. But it’s not as cheap as having the BJA pay for everything, which continues to be a live option, Allen suggests, although federal funding comes loaded with a host of reporting requirements and stipulations. It’s a lot of hoop for an agency without a lot of jump.
Limited access Under current law, pharmacists are required to enter Schedule II prescriptions into PDMP, but for physicians, accessing the system is voluntary. If you’re a physician seeing 10 to 15 patients a day, logging in to the PDMP to check each and every narcotics prescription isn’t realistic. And when physicians aren’t using PDMP, patients can fall through the cracks. How to seal up those cracks? Delegation, for starters. As currently interpreted, state law doesn’t allow physicians or pharmacists to delegate PDMP access to support staff. This has had the unintended effect of discouraging physician PDMP use — and it’s burdensome to the pharmacists who must use the system. Allowing physicians to bring their support staff into the process would make it infinitely easier to integrate PDMP data into the healthcare process — while remaining entirely compliant with HIPAA. Pharmacy technicians, nurses, and PAs already access the same sorts of data elsewhere. Locking them out of the PDMP defies common sense.
Open communications PDMP programs are built on the idea that the best way to stop drug-seeking behavior is 12 Georgia Pharmacy
through communication: pharmacist-to-pharmacist, doctor-to-doctor, and pharmacist-to-doctor. Under Georgia law, physicians and pharmacists are prevented from any such communication unless they’re armed with a court order. This particular weakness has been present in Georgia’s PDMP since its beginning. When the Patient Safety Act was passed in 2011, there were real concerns with patient privacy, according to Medical Association of Georgia CEO Donald Palmisano. The idea of a PDMP was new to Georgia, and how the issue of privacy would play out was a big unknown. “Four years into it,” Palmisano said, “we see that the privacy concerns just aren’t coming to fruition.” Even more frustrating, information about Georgia patients’ narcotic use is trapped within the borders of the state. Doctors and pharmacists in neighboring states have access to prescription drug records across state lines, which makes sense. Pill mill sales and doctor shopping aren’t stopped by a border. In fact, those pill mills and patients made their way to Georgia in part because the Peach State, unlike our neighbor to the south, doesn’t share its patients’ data. So when Florida stopped being friendly territory, they followed the path of least resistance straight up I-75. There’s a principle here: When a neighboring state clamps down on prescription drug abuse, Georgia feels the squeeze. And the fact is, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, and the Carolinas are doing a better job of putting the squeeze on prescription drug abuse by sharing their data across state lines. Georgia’s prescription painkiller purchases don’t show up on other states’ records. Georgia healthcare workers can technically check records from neighboring states, but only if they have registered with those states for access to their PDMPs. A simple fix is for Georgia to build interoperability into its PDMP. A pharmacist in McCaysville should be able to access Tennessee’s PDMP to be sure a Chattanooga patient isn’t trying to fill too many hydrocodone scripts — ditto for a pharmacist in Chattanooga with a McCaysville patient. When Georgia decides to extend pharmacist-to-pharmacist communication across state lines, Georgia will stop looking like a giant bullseye to out-of-state doctor shoppers. December 2015/January 2016
Cannabis oil If Georgians are going to be using it for their health, Georgia pharmacists should be involved. Cannabis oil is a tricky issue. It’s now legal in Georgia for some people to possess it, but it’s still illegal under federal law — although the Obama administration has said it won’t interfere with states’ decisions on the issue. That means Georgia’s pharmacists are more likely to encounter patients who are taking cannabis oil. How can they ensure those patients enjoy the same level of care as patients on prescription drugs, in a way that doesn’t place the pharmacist in jeopardy under federal law? GPhA’s position is clear: “If the sale of cannabis oil for medical purposes is going to be legal in Georgia, we firmly believe there ought to be pharmacist involvement,” says GPhA Vice President of Public Policy Greg Reybold. In October, Athens pharmacist Kevin Florence made precisely this case before the governor’s commission on cannabis oil. Like Reybold, Florence wants to ensure pharmacists help shape how Georgia’s healthcare system considers this relatively new medication therapy. “You get patients who read about cannabis oil on the Internet, then self diagnose and get off their other meds. They go rogue, and don’t consider interactions or stop taking other medications. They may even be buying the product online, taking their child off all other medicines, not understanding what they’re doing,” Florence says. Helping patients fit cannabis oil fits into overall treatment is the job of pharmacists, Florence says. Pharmacists can monitor patient progress and collect data to that will inform future cannabis oil therapy. Cannabis oil’s newcomer status makes such efforts that much more important. How Georgia treats cannabis oil as a legitimate medication therapy could go in any number of directions. When cannabis oil started making the news in 2013, the GPhA Board of Directors knew it had to bring the voice of pharmacy into the conversation. It convened a task force in June 2014 to study how other states were handling cannabis oil’s complicated legalities. The task force learned that some states allow for the sale of cannabis oil for medical purposes with December 2015/January 2016
no pharmacist involvement or oversight, a policy the task force felt was too risky for patients. Other states have found ways to ensure pharmacist involvement while shielding pharmacies from potential exposure to liability under federal law. In Minnesota, for example, only licensed pharmacists can distribute cannabis oil, although it’s done at special, independently owned dispensaries, staffed by pharmacists who work in consultative roles. If Georgia moves forward with legalization,
what you can do NOW Your voice matters, and with the legislative session set to begin in early January, you can help GPhA achieve its goals in a few simple but powerful ways. First, reach out to your legislator — your state senator and representative — via phone, mail (on paper!) or e-mail. Explain that you’re a pharmacist in his or her district, and that you hope he or she will be supportive of our issues when the legislative session starts. (Feel free to be more specific, of course, and mention, say, improving the PDMP or streamlining the prior authorizations process.) That kind of contact lets legislators know about our priorities, and prepares them to listen to use during the session. Join a GPhA pharmacy advocacy team. When the legislature is in session starting in January, GPhA will bring groups of pharmacists to sit down with lawmakers to discuss our issues face to face — and we need more faces. Give a call or drop a note to Greg Reybold (greybold@gpha.org or 404-419-8118) and he’ll help you pick a date to join us under the Gold Dome. Finally, of course, invest in PharmPAC now so we have the money we need to support pharmacy-friendly candidates. Go to GPhA.org/pharmpac and help ensure that we’ve always got a seat at the table, and that our voice will always be heard.
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cover story GPhA will argue for pharmacist — but not pharmacy — involvement. Under such a plan, anyone selling cannabis oil would have to employ a pharmacist — who could then consult on cannabis oil use, looking at the patient’s medication profile, advising on contraindications and side effects, and monitoring therapy effectiveness. But pharmacies would not sell or dispense cannabis oil. That may seem like a fine line, and a somewhat squiggly one — but it’s the only way to keep patients under the care of pharmacists and pharmacies from running afoul of federal law. That could mean loss of DEA numbers and payor agreements, and that wouldn’t be good for anybody.
Technician supervision Thorough supervision, yes... but common sense, too. Laws are not computer code. They are, to a reasonable degree, statements that have to be interpreted to achieve an intended outcome. On the one hand, you’re required by Georgia law to be responsible for all activities of pharmacy technicians in the preparation of drugs for delivery to patients. You must be present and personally supervising the activities of technicians at all times. You have to be physically present in the prescription area and actually observing the technicians. But a strict interpretation of those current rules (all paraphrases of sections of Georgia code) would make it difficult to perform even some basic tasks, from consulting on chronic care medication therapies to fitting a diabetic patient with footwear to showing a kid with asthma how to properly use her inhaler. The newly passed immunization law further highlights this matter. It is clear that patient privacy must be maintained —behind a privacy screen or in another room if there is one — but not in the view of other patients. See the conflict? If pharmacists are subject to a more extreme interpretation of supervision laws, a single pharmacist may not be able to balance patient privacy with supervisory responsibilities. “Strictly construed, the whole behind-the-counter staff is taken out of commission when the phar14 Georgia Pharmacy
macist leaves the counter area,” Reybold said. In short, a rigid interpretation means a pharmacist effectively can’t be a pharmacist. Surely supervision can’t require X-ray vision. Fortunately, there are common sense interpretations of supervision laws. (Common sense tells us those interpretations are probably already being applied.) GPhA is working closely with the Board of Pharmacy and GDNA to ensure that pharmacists provide a level of supervision to technicians that is consistent with both state privacy requirements and patient safety. According to Greg Reybold, that requires working toward consistent language and a clear and sensible definition of the law’s squishier terms. “While additional analysis will be needed in order to determine how to reasonably define supervision requirements with minimal legislative effort, this is an issue that should enjoy broad support amongst pharmacy organizations,” Reybold said. “As it stands, current laws, rules and interpretations may be compromising pharmacists’ ability to perform core functions of their jobs.”
Also on our radar Beyond the three major legislative priorities on our agenda, there are three others we’re working on this year — and beyond.
Provider status Georgia pharmacists can do much more when they’re recognized as full healthcare providers. Provider Status is an incremental process, requiring dozens of small steps toward the goal of having government (and other) health plans reimburse pharmacists for delivering more of the services they are trained to provide. And progress toward that goal, at least on a federal level, may be taking a giant leap forward thanks to recently introduced federal legislation. In January 2015, the Pharmacy and Medically Underserved Areas Enhancement Act went before both the U.S. House and Senate. The bill amends the Medicare Part B section of the Social Security Act to recognize pharmacists as providers, with December 2015/January 2016
the goal of raising the quality and cost effectiveness of healthcare delivery in areas where patients most need help. The bill has gained considerable bipartisan support. Since Rep. Brett Guthrie of Kentucky introduced it to the House, a whopping 242 cosponsors — including seven Georgia congressmen — have come on board. Senate support is just as strong, with currently 36 cosponsors evenly divided across party lines. If and when the Pharmacy and Medically Underserved Areas Enhancement Act is signed into law, expect all eyes shift to the states. According to NASPA Director of Policy and State Relations Krystalyn Weaver, there are three steps Georgia will need to take for us to reach our goal. First, the state will have to actually designate pharmacists as healthcare providers. Federal law allows it to do just that, but because Medicare pro-
grams are administered by states, Georgia will have to revise its laws to effect this recognition, which means getting the details right across an array of laws, some pertaining to scope of practice, others to Medicare or insurance code, is important. Second will be defining scope of practice. Designating pharmacists as providers in Georgia means determining precisely what treatments or procedures they’ll be paid to consult on. The goal may be obvious to pharmacists: Align what they can “provide” with what they’ve been trained to do. But legislators aren’t always aware just how much that actually is. Advocacy will be key. Finally, Georgia law will have to consider reimbursements, specifically with Medicaid. Simply redefining pharmacists as providers doesn’t always mean they’ll get paid. The laws affecting pharmacists and those covering insurance companies overlap but aren’t in sync. Georgia will have to look closely at reimbursements; other states will
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cover story surely provide models. Provider status has great potential to deliver healthcare to patients who are currently being overlooked. According to Lindsey Welch of the University of Georgia School of Pharmacy, 143 of Georgia’s 159 counties are designated as medically underserved. It’s a number mostly made up of rural counties, but there are some urban communities in that mix as well. Medically underserved simply means that access to physicians is limited. But it doesn’t mean access to a healthcare provider needs to be — many underserved patients drive by a pharmacy every day, whether it’s tucked inside a larger retailer, a standalone chain store, or an independent pharmacy. Who owns the pharmacy or how big it is doesn’t matter. Accessibility does. Patients could access a host of healthcare services there: immunizations, diabetes and pain management, counseling to keep them on their medication regimens. These can be life-changing for Medicare and Medicaid patients who have trouble finding or going to a doctor. Pharmacies’ typical hours and their intentional location along well-beaten paths often make pharmacists the most accessible providers in the healthcare team. And what do you get for accessibility? Perhaps the biggest benefit is medication therapy compliance. The more pharmacists are involved in counseling patients, the better those patients are at taking their medicine. When a diabetes patient has talked through the challenges of taking her medication, she is much less likely to later face heroic and costly interventions, which could include years of surgery and costly rehabilitation. Improving patient care while reducing healthcare costs: this is precisely why GPhA President Tommy Whitworth appointed a workgroup, which Welch will chair, to look at this complicated issue over the course of the year. Whitworth tasked the workgroup with designing a legislative plan that’s workable, well-timed, and politically sound. This isn’t an easy task: provider status impacts large and diverse swaths of Georgia law and regulatory policy and it can be difficult to explain. But it’s a worthy task. Allowing pharmacists to practice to the full extent of their license and training will fundamentally improve the lives of thousands of Georgia patients. Bringing the practice of pharmacy to the people who need it most 16 Georgia Pharmacy
makes Provider Status arguably one of the most important items on our policy agenda. “We’re the most accessible healthcare providers,” Welch said. “There’s a pharmacy on every corner. Currently most Georgia residents on Medicare don’t have access to medication counseling, chronic disease management. Provider status will increase the services they have access to.”
Prior authorizations Bureaucracy is a necessary evil, but it shouldn’t interfere with patient care. You’re a pharmacist and a Medicaid patient approaches the counter with a new prescription. You send it to the insurance company for adjudication and you get a red flag. The insurance company is requiring prior authorization. For pharmacists and physicians alike, prior authorizations are an administrative annoyance at best and a costly encroachment on the quality of patient care at worst. Healthcare professionals probably know what’s behind the practice: controlling healthcare costs. A medical review board hard-wires into its system a step therapy approach, meaning that have to try a medication from a particular class that’s less expensive before moving on to more expensive ones. Pharmacists generally agree with this approach. But if you’ve landed on a medication that’s working and then — through a change of insurance coverage or health system — you’re pushed through a different prior authorization process, healthcare can be disrupted. Medicaid patients often face the biggest challenges. Georgia Medicaid is actually four separate health systems, each with its own formulary and prior-authorization requirements. Some Medicaid entities use the CMO model, others, a fee-for-service one. Family status, type of disability, and the patient’s legal status determine which Medicaid system the patient goes through. Children are often the ones hit hardest. Kids in foster care or the juvenile justice system change health systems often, making them especially susceptible to disruptions in treatment. An inhaler that was working beautifully or an ADHD medication that was helping the patient stay on track in school disappears. Patients, doctors, and pharmaDecember 2015/January 2016
cists begin the lengthy process of documenting why this particularly medicine should be covered or finding a new medicine that is. If it’s a Schedule II drug, the doctor has to write a new prescription. Patients can be left waiting. This sort of bureaucratic snarl is not serving patients the way Medicaid intended. Fortunately, the snarl can be unraveled. Real time prior authorization systems — including mobile platforms — are already out there. Independent pharmacist Sharon Sherrer of Atlanta will be chairing a GPhA workgroup dedicated to looking at this and other methods of streamlining the prior authorizations process in the state of Georgia. Sherrer says that having consistent formularies across the four different Medicaid entities is another enhancement that would prevent interruptions to medication therapies. This would streamline paperwork and reduce costly inefficiencies in pharmacy inventories. But most importantly, it would not let vulnerable young Medicaid patients go without their medications.
Collaborative practice agreements Some clarification of the language would ease pharmacists’ minds. When immunization expansion was signed into law last spring, the Composite Medical Board was charged to set and enforce the related rules. GPhA has been paying close attention to how the rules are being written, and generally we’ve been pleased with the Composite Medical Board’s approach. But when wording that may have unintentionally exposed pharmacists to liability crept into the new rules, GPhA was able to propose alternatives more consistent with the Immunization Expansion law. The Composite Medical Board has proposed rules addressing some of GPhA’s concerns, and it will likely revise the wording with some pharmacy-friendly tweaks. Georgia pharmacists can breathe easy that GPhA has their backs. Georgia Pharmacy A S S O C I AT I O N
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leadershipGPhA
Introducing the Class of 2016 We’re proud to introduce the 2016 class of LeadershipGPhA: the Georgia Pharmacy Association’s program for up-andcoming pharmacist leaders in the state. Through the program, 16 hand-picked Georgia pharmacists — men and women who have demonstrated a desire or knack for leadership — will develop and polish those leadership skills. Over the next nine months, the participants will take part in a training curriculum that combines leadership training and project experience. They’ll take part in team-building exercises, learn how to identify their own and others’ strengths and weaknesses, work on ethical decision making, and improving their communication skills. At the end, they’ll be equipped to help shape the future of the pharmacy profession in Georgia, to help mentor other professionals, and to advance their own careers.
Sylvia Adams, Riverdale WalMart She hopes to see “opioid drug abuse deterrent programs where pharmacists and law enforcement work together to stop physicians who are over prescribing narcotics.”
Mollie Allen, Atlanta CVS Pharmacy She’s hoping to see more engagement of Millennial pharmacists: “If a Millennial pharmacist is not engaged or developed, she or he will seek career opportunities elsewhere. If this trend continues, our profession could lose out on skilled talent as pharmacists choose to leave the profession altogether.”
Amber Brackett, Decatur Kroger “If pharmacists were considered healthcare providers by Medicare, our profession could finally get paid for the services we are already providing. In order to be recognized as providers, pharmacists have to
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advocate and share their stories about the quality care they provide to their patients with their legislators.”
Laura Greene, Sandy Springs Cherokee Custom Script Pharmacy She would like to “eliminate the ‘my pharmacy practice setting is better than yours’ mentality that plagues our profession. We should all be united with one voice if we want to see positive changes happen within our legislature.”
Johnathan Hamrick, Atlanta Mercer University College of Pharmacy “With the various practice types of pharmacists, there seems to be discord between entities or a lack of a unified identity as pharmacists.” His suggestion: “The more exposure and understanding each type of pharmacist has about other types of pharmacy the more likely they will be willing to work together.”
Cassandra Hayes, Athens Jennings Mill Drug Company “I think it is imperative to continually emphasize the importance of political involvement. If we will not promote our profession, who will? We need to show our worth.”
Andrew Holt, Douglas The Medicine Cabinet The challenges he sees: “Defending our right as pharmacists to provide clinical services to patients. Fighting insurance companies to keep reimbursements fair and balanced. Keeping up with the fast-changing world of pharmacy and its legislation.”
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Leigh Howell, Duluth
Lori McGinley, Athens
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta “I feel the lack of personnel and time for true individual patient consideration and compassion is a tragedy in the current practice model; in many facilities, pharmacists are rushed to approve orders without truly servicing both a patient’s medical and emotional needs.”
PharmD on Demand “I have a passion for competitive pharmacy services in smaller facilities. I think that we can improve the culture of hospital pharmacy (especially small hospital pharmacy) by creating a productive environment that is also efficient and serves the physicians, nurses, and patients with the pharmacy-led programs that large hospitals experience.”
Monica Jolley, Madison PharmD on Demand “The number of pharmacists is low compared to other healthcare providers, so we aren’t as easily heard by policy makers. The importance of participation in organizations like GPhA needs to be reinforced to students and practitioners.”
Ashley London, EVANS Barney’s Pharmacy “Pharmacists do not have support from the DEA or Medical Board on how to handle physicians that over prescribe pain medications and other controlled substances. Pharmacists are held responsible for filling these medications when little is done to the physicians.” And: “Insurance companies have too much control on what pharmacists can and cannot do. PBM’s decide where patients can get their medications, which medications the patient can actually take for their conditions, and how much the pharmacy gets reimbursed for prescriptions.”
Kalen Manasco, Augusta University of Georgia College of Pharmacy “We need to unite as a profession and have one voice as we move forward in our advocacy efforts to obtain provider status. Corporate chains, health systems, colleges of pharmacy, state and national organizations, etc., need to be able to provide one clear message to our other healthcare professional colleagues about the value and importance of pharmacists.”
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Danielle Navalta, Newnan Rite Aid “I believe there are still too many people who do not fully understand the skill set and abilities of pharmacists, such as patients who believe that only doctors can give vaccines and review their medication regimen or doctors who underestimate the value of having a pharmacist on the medical team.”
Corey Swymer, Bishop Northridge Medical Center “Pharmacy services … continue to mostly remain a hidden part of the healthcare field to the general population. If the general public is unaware of what pharmacists are capable of doing, it’ll be more challenging to further advance the profession.”
Angela Wampler, Midway Walgreens “The three most significant challenges facing our profession today are getting reimbursed from all the different PBMs, getting recognition from insurance companies and other healthcare professionals and/or fields as valid providers (provider status), and being treated/ acknowledged as professional and knowledgeable healthcare providers with all the hard work and schooling that we endure.” Georgia Pharmacy A S S O C I AT I O N
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Get Ready foR
change
Your profession is changing. And Georgia’s premiere convention for pharmacists is ready. Hilton Head Marriott resort, June 16-19, 2016
Announcing the 2016 Georgia Pharmacy convention’s general sessions. Led by experts from the worlds of law, healthcare, and business, we’re sure you’ll agree there’s no better way to prepare for the challenges pharmacists will face. THURSDAY JUNE 16 Pharmacy in the Age of Uber AlliSoN liNNEY
FRiDAY JUNE 17 The Provider Status Show with BEckY SNEAD
Management expert Allison Linney is convinced that the practice of pharmacy is becoming to healthcare what Uber is to getting a ride: more accessible, more effective, more human. But have you positioned yourself within this new healthcare paradigm? Do you even understand it? For two decades, Linney has been helping healthcare professionals broaden their vision. That’s what Pharmacy in the Age of Uber is all about. Explore with her your profession’s adventurous new course.
For Georgia to find a way forward on Provider Status, we’ll have to hear from a lot of voices. NASPA CEO Becky Snead says it’s time to get the conversation started. That’s where The Provider Status Show comes in. You’ll learn what provider status can mean both in Georgia and nationally for pharmacists, and what must be done to get us there. After all, what better way to explore this complex topic, than hearing experts hash it out?
SATURDAY JUNE 18 innovation Showcase: Five Pharmacists Who Are Paving the Way to Provider Status in Georgia Think provider status is just about immunizations and MTM? Think again. Pharmacists in Georgia and elsewhere are finding surprising ways to practice to the full extent of their licenses and training. And as they do, they’re also finding new revenue streams and, more importantly, delivering better healthcare outcomes for their patients. Join us as our lineup of pharmacist innovators as they share their surprising pathways to provider status.
Investing in PharmPAC is investing in your practice. 2015 PharmPAC investors The following pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, students, and others have joined GPhA’s PharmPAC.
The contribution levels are based on investment for the calendar year as of September 18, 2015.
Diamond Investors ($4,800 or $400/month)
Charles Barnes Valdosta
MARVIN McCORD Albany
Scott Meeks Douglas
Fred Sharpe Albany
Titanium Investors ($2,400 or $200/month)
Ralph Balchin Fayetteville
T.M. Bridges Hazlehurst
DAVID GRAVES Macon
Greg Hickman Monroe
THOMAS LINDSEY Omega
Brandall Lovvorn Bremen
Jeff Sikes Valdosta
Danny Smith McRae
TED HUNT Kennesaw
DEAN STONE Metter
David Graves, Macon, PharmPAC chairman December 2015/January 2016
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2015 PharmPAC investors Platinum Investors ($1,200 or $100/month) Thomas Bryan William Cagle Hugh Chancy Keith Chapman Wes Chapman Dale Coker Al Dixon Jack Dunn Neal Florence Martin Grizzard Robert Hatton William Huang Ira Katz Jeff Lurey Jonathan Marquess
Silver Investors
($300 or $25/month)
Renee Adamson Nelson Anglin Larry Batten Chandler Conner Mandy Davenport Gregory Drake Bill Dunaway Eric Durham Marshall Frost Amanda Gaddy Amy Galloway Carson Gleaton Johnathan Hamrick Willie Latch Kalen Manasco Bill McLeer Donald Peila, Jr. Daryl Reynolds Ashley Rickard
(continued)
Gold Investors ($600 or $50/month) Larry Braden William Brewster Bruce Broadrick Liza Chapman Blake Daniel Mahlon Davidson Sharon Deason Robert Dickinson Benjamin DuPree Kevin Florence Kerry Griffin Michael Iteogu Marsha Kapiloff Stephanie Kirkland Curtis Marshall
Pamala Marquess Ivey McCurdy Drew Miller Laird Miller Mark Parris Houston Rogers Daniel Royal Wade Scott Terry Shaw Tim Short Chris Thurmond Danny Toth Alex Tucker Tommy Whitworth Carl Stanley
Sharon Sherrer Richard Smith Archie Thompson Austin Tull Flynn Warren Hillary Jack Mbadugha Bronze Investors
($150 or $12.50/month)
Phil Barfield Robert Bentley Elaine Bivins Nicholas Bland James Carpenter Mark Cooper Jean B Cox Michael Crooks Melanie DeFusco Rabun Dekle Christina Futch John Gleaton
Mike McGee Bobby Moody Sherri Moody Brian Rickard Andy Rogers Bill Scrogins Teresa Smith Michael Tarrant Carey Vaughan Chuck Wilson William Wolfe
Erica Veasley Angela Wampler Amanda Westbrooks Steve Wilson George Wu
Fred Gurley Ann Hansford John Hansford Larry Harkleroad Hannah Head Phillip James Henry Josey Susan Kane Josh Kinsey Brenton Lake Micheal Lewis Mack Lowrey Eddie Madden Susan McCleer Mary Meredith Carolyn Perry Ayers Laurence Ryan Jim Sanders Kimmy Sanders Krista Stone Sonny Thurmond
Member Investors (amount below $150)
Marla Banks David Clements Ken Couch James Graves Max Mason Roy McLendon Sherri Moody Debbie Nowlin Leonard Templeton Lindsey Welch Anonymous Donor
URGENT: We need your support to reach our 2015 goal! PharmPAC funds help elect legislators who are friendly to pharmacy. As of November 15, 2015, we are within striking distance of making our goal for the year. Visit GPhA.org/PharmPAC to find out more.
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GOAL
$90,000
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Get invested today. Visit GPhA.org/PharmPAC or call (404) 419-8118 22 Georgia Pharmacy
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contact
Reach out to us Our phone number is 404.231.5074 Our Website is GPhA.org Our blog is GPHABuzz.com GPhA Leadership President & Chair of the Board Tommy Whitworth twhitworth@corleydrug.com
For questions about our magazine, Web sites, or social media Andrew Kantor Director of Communication akantor@gpha.org
First Vice President Liza Chapman liza.chapman@kroger.com Second Vice President Tim SHORT garph9@aol.com Immediate Past President Bobby Moody coliseumpharmacy@gmail.com Chief Executive Officer Scott Brunner, CAE sbrunner@gpha.org At-Large Board Members John Drew, Fortson rxdrew@yahoo.com
Drew Miller, Griffin wynnsrx@aol.com David Graves, Warner Robins davidbgraves@hotmail.com
Chris Thurmond, Athens vildrug@bellsouth.net
For questions about engagement with the Georgia pharmacy community, our BLACK & WHITE events, or CPE credits Phillip Ratliff Vice President of Communication and Engagement pratliff@gpha.org For membership questions Tei Muhammad GLOSS/GRADIENT Director of Membership Operations (404) 419-8115 tmuhammad@gpha.org
Sharon Deason, Newnan sdeason99@hotmail.com
DAryl Reynolds, Griffin dreynolds@u-save-it.com
Georgia Pharmacy A S S O C I AT I O N
President-Elect Lance Boles lanceboles@hotmail.com
For questions about any of our insurance products Denis Mucha Manager of Insurance Services (404) 419-8120 dmucha@gpha.org
For questions about governmental affairs Greg Reybold Vice President of Public Policy greybold@gpha.org For questions about the Board of Directors or for scheduling the CEO Ruth Ann McGehee ExecutiveOPEN Assistant and Governance Manager (404) 419-8173 rmcgehee@gpha.org For operational or accounting questions: Dianne Jones Vice President FLAT COLORof Finance & Administration (404) 419-8129 djones@gpha.org Patricia Aguilar Accounting Coordinator paguilar@gpha.org (404) 419-8124
For assistance with independent-pharmacy issues Jeff Lurey, R.Ph. Vice President of Independent Pharmacy & Director of AIP (404) 419-8103 jlurey@gpha.org For questions about your AIP membership Verouschka “V� Betancourt-Whigham Manager of AIP Member Services (404) 419-8102 vbwhigham@gpha.org AIP Member Service Representatives Rhonda Bonner (229) 854-2797 rbonner@gpha.org Charles Boone (478) 955-7789 cboone@gpha.org Melissa Metheny (678) 485-6126 mmetheny@gpha.org 1
Gene Smith (423) 667-7949 gsmith@gpha.org
Got a concern about a GPhA program or service? Want to compliment or complain? Drop a note to membercare@gpha.org. December 2015/January 2016
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postscript
Spreading our blessings On this beautiful fall day in LaGrange, I’m reflecting on how blessed I am in so many ways. Chief among these blessings is the good health I enjoy, a result of a tommy whitworth combination of things: access to good nurses and doctors, facilities and pharmacists and, of course, some luck of the draw. But I have to think about those across the state who struggle with their health, too. We have a sacred duty to speak for them. But are we pharmacists always doing that? There are those in our Medicare system who need a more streamlined and responsive system of prior authorizations. Are we fighting to give them a better system, one that gets kids in the foster care or juvenile
justice system the medication they need? There are patients in areas of the state deemed medically underserved, who, as research shows, would benefit tremendously from pharmacist providers. Are we educating public officials about how our profession benefits underserved patients in clear, tangible, evidence-based ways? There are patients who may, after finding no success with conventional medications, have found relief in a relatively new medication therapy, cannabis oil. Are we working with legislators to ensure that their treatment is brought under the expertise of pharmacy? Come September, I hope we’ll all be able to look back at our 2016 fiscal year and answer, unequivocally, we fought hard for patients – with our time and with our money. What we do matters. It matters because our patients matter. They’re people who need our voice. But will you speak for them? Georgia Pharmacy A S S O C I AT I O N
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S thisave date AIP :
Sprin March g Meeting Maco 13, 2016 n Ma Centr rriott eplex
Introducing the AIP CriticalKey High Performance Network Georgia’s AIP pharmacies are now under contract with private Georgia payers and Accountable Care Organizations to provide clinical services through our partnership with CriticalKey, LLC.
As part of this CriticalKey-powered network, AIP member pharmacies will be able to expand patient offerings to provide care coordination and clinical services for MTM, smoking cessation, obesity control, diabetes management, and more. Network members will get the training they need to up their game and be ready to provide the services payers are asking for.
Look for more information about the AIP High Performance Network in your mailbox, or talk to your AIP member service representative, and get paid for doing what you were meant to do.
Georgia Pharmacy A S S O C I AT I O N
50 Lenox Pointe NE, Atlanta, GA 30324
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we won!
In 2015 GPhA scored two major victories: expanded immunizations and MAC transparency. Crucial to those wins: FLAT COLOR friendly legislators, elected with the help of PharmPAC.
GLOSS/GRADIENT
PharmPAC is GPhA’s political action committee. It works to elect candidates who think like you do, and who understand the challenges you face in serving your patients and running a business.
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PharmPAC helps make sure pharmacists have a seat at the table. And it works.
50 Lenox Pointe, NE, Atlanta, GA 30324 | tf: 888.871.5590 ph: 404.231.5074 | f: 404.237.8435 | www.gpha.org
But it won’t keep working without you. By investing in PharmPAC, you help protect your practice, your patients and the pharmacy profession from bad law and policy, and you join with hundreds of other investors in growing your profession’s political influence. Invest today — in PharmPAC and in your practice — at GPhA.org/pharmpac.