Advancing Pharmacy Practice in Kentucky
Coalition News
Immunization Bill Passes Senate; Work to Do in the House Senate Bill 101 passed in the Kentucky Senate on Wednesday and will now head to the House for review. The bill, sponsored by Senator Julie Raque Adams (R-Louisville), will allow pharmacists to administer all age-appropriate immunizations via protocol to minors between the ages of 9 to 17. Current law allows pharmacists to administer flu vaccines via protocol starting at age 9 and all other vaccines at age 14. The goal of this legislation is to improve adolescent vaccination rates for diseases such as meningitis and pertussis. Pediatricians, however, have expressed opposition to SB 101, arguing that children should receive immunizations in their offices. Help this bill reach the Governor by encouraging your state Representative to support SB 101! See page 3 of the newsletter for talking points to share. If you know your Representative personally, please contact his/ her office directly. If not, you can leave a message by calling the Legislative Hotline (1-800-372-7181) and asking that a message in support of SB 101 be delivered to your specific Representative. Click here to find your Representative.
February 2017
Provider Status Legislation Reintroduced in 115th U.S. Congress The Pharmacy and Medically Underserved Areas Enhancement Act (H.R. 592 / S 109) has been reintroduced in Congress by Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-KY-2) and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA). The bill, widely known as the “Provider Status” bill, would enable Medicare Part B beneficiaries access to p—harmacist-provided services in medically underserved communities. In Kentucky, 87 counties are designated as medically underserved by the US Department of Health and Human Services. H.R. 592 currently has 134 cosponsors, including: • Rep. Brett Guthrie, Sponsor (R-KY-2) • Rep. James Comer (R-KY-1) • Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY-4) • Rep. Harold Rogers (R-KY-5) • Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY-6) Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY-3) has not yet signed on to support the bill. S 109 has 32 cosponsors, but neither Sen. Mitch McConnell nor Sen. Rand Paul has given their support at this time. We urge you to contact your legislators who have not signed on to the bill yet! APhA has many resources to use when contacting your legislator that can be found here. (http:// www.pharmacist.com/make-your-voice-heard-helpfulhints-contacting-legislators)
Trish Freeman, KPhA President, and Monica Roberts, PY4 Student at UK’s COP, testified in support of SB 101 at the Senate Health and Welfare Committee on February 15.
Make your voice heard! Contact your legislators today!
What is the Advancing Pharmacy Practice in Kentucky Coalition? The Coalition is a group of individuals from across diverse pharmacy-practice settings – hospital, community, managed care, academia, Board of Pharmacy, students – who have formed an alliance with the common goal of creating an action plan on how to advance the practice of pharmacy in Kentucky. The Coalition will, from time-to-time, publish reports and updates on current news of importance and calls to action for the profession. The Coalition is open to all practitioners and pharmacy students in the state of Kentucky, and we invite you to join us! Please contact us if you would like to join or have questions about the Coalition.
Advancing Pharmacy Practice in Kentucky
Coalition News
Increasing Naloxone Access Throughout Kentucky: An Update APPKC’s statewide effort to bring naloxone training and certification to pharmacists across the Commonwealth is highlighted in the February issue of JAPhA in an article by Emma Palmer, Steve Hart and Trish Freeman, “Development and delivery of a pharmacist training program to increase naloxone access in Kentucky.” The article is available by clicking here: http://www.japha.org/article/S1544-3191(16)31011-1/fulltext More than 1,500 pharmacists across the Commonwealth are now certified to initiate the dispensing of naloxone under a physician-approved protocol. Additionally, the Kentucky Department of Public Health and KPhA are also promoting naloxone access through community events held at county health departments around the state. Naloxone-certified pharmacists provide naloxone education and dispense NARCAN® Nasal Spray to the public using KPhA’s mobile pharmacy at no charge.. ODCP Website is a Growing Resource for Naloxone Access The Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy (ODCP), the state agency tasked with coordinating Kentucky’s response to substance abuse, continues to be an active partner in increasing naloxone access. StopOverdoses, a website hosted by ODCP in partnership with the Kentucky Board of Pharmacy, the Kentucky Agency for Substance Abuse Policy, and the APPKC, is a growing resource toward ensuring awareness of and accessibility to naloxone in Kentucky. The website, kystopoverdoses.ky.gov, lists more than 321 pharmacies that have a protocol in place to allow pharmacists to dispense naloxone. The public can search the map by city, zip code, or county to find the nearest location where naloxone is available. StopOverdoses also includes facts about naloxone, steps for responding to an overdose, and stories about addiction and recovery. Check out StopOverdoses at http://kystopoverdoses.ky.gov Pharmacies that have naloxone-certified pharmacists and a protocol agreement for naloxone dispensing can be added to the online registry by contacting Teri Timmons at teri.timmons@uky.edu or 859-218-0229.
February 2017
More work to do as overdoses continue to rise Even as pharmacists step up to address this epidemic of opioid abuse, you need only scan the news to quickly realize that the battle is far from over, as drug abuse and overdose deaths continue to make headlines across the Commonwealth and the Nation.
‘He’s blue’: Louisville rattled by 151 overdoses in 4 days By Sonia Moghe and Wayne Drash, CNN
“By the end of Sunday, Louisville emergency crews responded to 151 calls about overdoses over a four-day span, a blistering pace that stretched and strained resources.” “The overdoses seemingly happened everywhere. Homes. Restaurants. Parking lots. People slumped in cars at stop lights.” That CNN headline story on February 14, 2017 is one of many being repeated across the Commonwealth, as the incidences of opioid overdoses continue to skyrocket. The New York Times also reported on the spate, saying “the numbers were remarkable even for a city in Kentucky, which is one of the top five states in the nation for overdose deaths.” Now more than ever, the commitment of Kentucky pharmacists to ensure that their patients have access to naloxone is critical to addressing this crisis.
For more information, contact: Teri Timmons Center for the Advancement of Pharmacy Practice UK College of Pharmacy 859-218-0229; teri.timmons@uky.edu
Chris Clifton, Chair Trish Freeman, President Chris Harlow, President-Elect
Brooke Hudspeth, Secretary Chris Palutis, Treasurer Robert McFalls, Executive Director
SB 101: AN ACT relating to the administration of immunizations by pharmacists
Talking Points to Use When Communicating with Your Legislator Chairwoman Julie Raque Adams (R-Louisville) filed SB 101, legislation that would allow pharmacists to administer vaccines via prescriber-approved protocol beginning at age 9 History and Impact • • • • •
In 2004, pharmacists were given statutory authority to administer adult immunizations via prescriber-approved protocol In 2010, due to the extremely positive impact pharmacist provided vaccinations had on immunization rates in the Commonwealth, the law was amended to include adolescents ages 14-17 In 2011, again the law was amended, to allow pharmacists to administer influenza vaccine via prescriber-approved protocol to children age 9 and older Vaccination coverage for influenza in adults has increased from 30.2% in 2003 to 43.3% in 2015 i in part due to the access to vaccines provided by pharmacists Since 2004, pharmacists have safely immunized thousands of Kentuckians, significantly impacting public health across the Commonwealth
Need for Change • • • •
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2015 vaccination rates for adolescents lag well behind Healthy People 2020 goals, with lack of timely access to providers cited as one of the reasons for the lag Access to care continues to be a challenge across Kentucky, with 87 of Kentucky’s 120 counties designated as medically underserved by the US Department of Health and Human Services Kentucky boasts 5,488 licensed pharmacists who are trained and stand ready to assist in patient care Due to their unparalleled accessibility, pharmacists are ready to play a key role in helping Kentucky meet important public health goals related to vaccination rates by providing life-saving vaccinations to Kentuckians
ASK •
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Please support and consider co-sponsoring this important piece of legislation that will improve patient and public health.
http://www.kentuckyhealthfacts.org/data/topic/show.aspx?ind=64
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