Latest / Pharmacy Podcast Network / We Give Thanks to You in Pharmacy | TWIRx

Transcript

We Give Thanks to You in Pharmacy | TWIRx · Pharmacy Podcast Network

0:02
Speaker 1: Hey, welcome to this Week in Pharmacy for November twenty eighth,
0:06
Speaker 1: twenty twenty five. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
0:10
Speaker 1: We roll into Black Friday. I'm not much of a
0:14
Speaker 1: Black Friday. Maybe Amazon Black Friday, but I don't like
0:18
Speaker 1: to be out in the crazy. So if you are
0:21
Speaker 1: working today, shout out to you pharmacists, pharmacy techts in
0:26
Speaker 1: the realm and the craziness of Black Friday. Hey, today's
0:31
Speaker 1: episode is all about gratitude. We want to just give
0:35
Speaker 1: a shout out. We are incredibly thankful for our pharmacists,
0:39
Speaker 1: the pharmacy technicians that support them, pharmacy teams who are
0:42
Speaker 1: showing up every day for their communities.
0:44
Speaker 2: You are the medication.
0:45
Speaker 1: Experts, the problem solvers, the late night troubleshooters, the vaccine champions,
0:51
Speaker 1: the PBM reform fighters, the trusted faces behind the counter,
0:56
Speaker 1: and the advocates who keep patient care moving, often with
0:59
Speaker 1: out anyone recognizing you or giving you a shout out.
1:04
Speaker 1: Throughout the year. Pharmacy fifty Awards is coming up. Pharmacy
1:07
Speaker 1: fifty dot us. Once again, that's Pharmacy fifty dot us.
1:12
Speaker 1: This is a celebration of our profession and the people
1:15
Speaker 1: inside the profession making a difference. Do not forget to vote.
1:19
Speaker 1: Once again, that's Pharmacy fifty dot us. And to every
1:24
Speaker 1: pharmacist pharmacy technician working long hours, covering holiday shifts, managing
1:29
Speaker 1: medication shortages. You're answering those tough questions. People looking at
1:33
Speaker 1: you in the face and they don't understand what's going on,
1:36
Speaker 1: supporting with compassion.
1:38
Speaker 2: Thank you.
1:39
Speaker 1: Your commitment keeps the healthcare system steady, especially during the
1:43
Speaker 1: busiest time of year. So from all of us at
1:46
Speaker 1: Pharmacy Podcast Network, we appreciate you, we support you, and
1:50
Speaker 1: we're honored with you and your stories. A special happy
1:55
Speaker 1: Thanksgiving for all of you out there, and thank you
1:59
Speaker 1: for listening to this Week in Pharmacy. Welcome, Welcome, Hey.
2:24
Speaker 1: First up on twerque's news. Special announcement that just came
2:28
Speaker 1: out today.
2:29
Speaker 3: Special announcement on This Week in Pharmacy. November eighth, twenty
2:32
Speaker 3: twenty five, The Legacy Pharmacy Group has announced that CEO
2:35
Speaker 3: Retest Shaw, RPH has been appointed to Governor Elect Mikey
2:39
Speaker 3: Cheryl's Transition Task Force in New Jersey. This appointment highlights
2:42
Speaker 3: Shaw's long standing leadership in independent pharmacy and his commitment
2:46
Speaker 3: to strengthening community based healthcare across the state. Shaw will
2:49
Speaker 3: focus on advocating for independent pharmacies, improving transparency and pharmacy
2:53
Speaker 3: benefit manager operations, and promoting policies that ensure community pharmacies
2:57
Speaker 3: remain viable, accessible healthcare resources. His priorities on the task
3:01
Speaker 3: force include protecting and strengthening independent pharmacy statewide, ensuring fairness,
3:06
Speaker 3: transparency and accountability in PBM practices, expanding access and reducing
3:11
Speaker 3: barriers to care, particularly for underserved populations. Legacy Pharmacy Group
3:16
Speaker 3: founder and pharmacist Jay de Duke emphasized the importance of
3:19
Speaker 3: having informed pharmacy leadership at the policy level and celebrated
3:22
Speaker 3: Shaw's appointment as critical to the long term sustainability of
3:25
Speaker 3: independent pharmacies. The release also highlights lpg's role as the
3:29
Speaker 3: Tri State area's largest group purchasing organization, supporting more than
3:33
Speaker 3: seven hundred twenty independent pharmacy members with programs, services, and
3:36
Speaker 3: advocacy to help them thrive. Learn more by going to
3:39
Speaker 3: Legacy Pharmacy Group's website lpgrx dot us. That's LPGRX dot us.
3:47
Speaker 4: On today's Torquees news from Pharmacy Times titled fun fact
3:50
Speaker 4: coffee could reduce feelings of depression. According to a meta
3:53
Speaker 4: analysis referenced by Pharmacy Times, higher coffee and caffeine intake
3:57
Speaker 4: has been linked to a lower risk of depression, with
3:59
Speaker 4: pool relative risks of about point seven six and point
4:02
Speaker 4: seven two compared with the lowest intake levels. The data
4:05
Speaker 4: suggests an eight percent decrease in depression risk for each
4:08
Speaker 4: additional cup of coffee consumed daily up to an optimal
4:11
Speaker 4: intake range for this effect. The article notes compounds in
4:14
Speaker 4: coffee beyond caffeine may contribute to mood enhancement, and that
4:17
Speaker 4: regular moderate coffee consumption has in prior studies been associated
4:21
Speaker 4: with additional benefits such as lower risk of dementia, stroke,
4:24
Speaker 4: and certain neurogenerative diseases. At the same time, Pharmacy Times
4:27
Speaker 4: emphasizes moderation over consumption or reliance on coffee alone is
4:31
Speaker 4: not a substitute for mental health care. They suggest using
4:34
Speaker 4: coffee strategically rather than as a consistent mood remedy take
4:37
Speaker 4: away for pharmacists and patients. While coffee isn't a cure
4:40
Speaker 4: for depression, moderate daily consumption could offer a small protective
4:44
Speaker 4: benefit for mood. Pharmacists can discuss this evidence with patients,
4:47
Speaker 4: especially those already drinking coffee, as one piece of a
4:49
Speaker 4: broader mental health and wellness conversation, while reinforcing the importance
4:53
Speaker 4: of professional care, healthy lifestyle habits, and moderation.
4:58
Speaker 2: Who's excited to hear some good news about our beloved coffee.
5:04
Speaker 1: It's on and off, on and off. Sometimes it's good,
5:06
Speaker 1: sometimes it is bad. Pharmacy Times just reported today that
5:11
Speaker 1: coffee could reduce feelings of depression. Guess what, when I
5:16
Speaker 1: taste that first bit of coffee in the morning does
5:19
Speaker 1: make me feel better? Hey, you are challenged out there
5:24
Speaker 1: with giving reasons to your local community of why you
5:27
Speaker 1: run out of medicine. This is from Saving Advice.
5:32
Speaker 5: Next on Twerk's news from savingadvice dot com the article
5:35
Speaker 5: titled Unmask the Lie the Reason your local pharmacy always
5:39
Speaker 5: runs out of meds. The article argues that when patients
5:42
Speaker 5: walk into a pharmacy only to be told their medications
5:44
Speaker 5: are out of stock, it's often not just random, it
5:47
Speaker 5: reflects deeper systemic issues. According to the author, supply chain
5:50
Speaker 5: consolidation at the manufacturing level means fewer production facilities when
5:54
Speaker 5: one plant faces delays. Shortages ripple nationwide, affecting even essential
5:58
Speaker 5: medications for chronic can conditions like blood pressure or diabetes drugs.
6:02
Speaker 5: The piece also points to the influence of pharmacy benefit managers,
6:06
Speaker 5: arguing that their pricing and reimbursement practices contribute to shortages.
6:09
Speaker 5: By favoring certain drugs or formulary placements, PBMs can distort
6:13
Speaker 5: which medications are prioritized, sometimes leaving pharmacies with insufficient stock
6:18
Speaker 5: for patients. This translates into uncertainty, stress, and potentially dangerous
6:22
Speaker 5: gaps in care, especially for seniors or those reliant on
6:25
Speaker 5: regular maintenance medications. Take away for pharmacists and patients. Medication
6:29
Speaker 5: shortages often stem from manufacturer consolidation and PBM driven market distortions,
6:34
Speaker 5: not just poor inventory management. Pharmacists should be transparent about
6:37
Speaker 5: these underlying forces and encourage patients to refill early, consider
6:41
Speaker 5: mail order or alternate pharmacies, or explore alternative therapies when
6:44
Speaker 5: supply is tight.
6:47
Speaker 2: Why why why well?
6:48
Speaker 1: Why why why are the PBMs always the culprit, always
6:54
Speaker 1: the punch line as to why something so jacked up
6:58
Speaker 1: in our pharmacy care system. That's a great article. It's
7:03
Speaker 1: written from a different point of view. Definitely look it
7:06
Speaker 1: up Saving advice dot com, Saving Advice dot com.
7:11
Speaker 2: Hey.
7:12
Speaker 1: Next article comes from comes from the Pharmaceutical Journal. Across
7:20
Speaker 1: the Pond out of London. Pharmaceutical Journal dot com. Excellent
7:25
Speaker 1: mix of clinical and business news and today's headline is
7:31
Speaker 1: could could dedicated pharmacists help improve neonatal cares medicine's safety
7:38
Speaker 1: problem we know here in the United States. A shout
7:41
Speaker 1: out to Jenna Quinn and the Perfecting Peds team and
7:46
Speaker 1: what they're doing for safety for our tiny little babies.
7:51
Speaker 2: Take a listen.
7:51
Speaker 6: Last article comes from the Pharmaceutical Journal. A new article
7:54
Speaker 6: reveals that more than half of neonatal units in England
7:57
Speaker 6: experience medication errors, often tied to com likes dosing needs
8:00
Speaker 6: for newborns and premature infants. Despite national guidance from the
8:04
Speaker 6: Neonatal and Pediatric Pharmacy Group, only fourteen percent of hospital
8:08
Speaker 6: trusts meet recommended neonatal pharmacists staffing levels, while seventy four
8:11
Speaker 6: percent fall far below the standard. This shortage means many
8:14
Speaker 6: neonatal wards lack consistent pharmacist involvement in dosing, medication reviews
8:18
Speaker 6: and daily rounds. Key safeguards for preventing errors and improving outcomes.
8:22
Speaker 6: The article argues that dedicated neonatal pharmacists brings specialized expertise
8:27
Speaker 6: essential for safe IVY preparation, nutrition support, and accurate individualized dosing.
8:32
Speaker 6: Take Away, dedicated neonatal pharmacists are into luxury. They are
8:35
Speaker 6: critical to reducing medication errors and protecting the most vulnerable patients.
8:39
Speaker 6: The question now is whether health systems will expand neonatal
8:42
Speaker 6: focused pharmacy staffing to prevent avoidable horn Shout out to
8:45
Speaker 6: doctor Jenaquinn and the Perfecting Peed's crew here in the
8:48
Speaker 6: United States, leading pediatric pharmacists expertise. For more information, check
8:52
Speaker 6: out perfectingpeeds dot com. That's perfectingpeeds dot com.
8:57
Speaker 1: Shout out to you pharmacists making difference in these specialties.
9:01
Speaker 1: That's really a huge change in what's going to be
9:07
Speaker 1: taking place with our pharmacists and connection with their patients.
9:09
Speaker 1: Digging into specific disease states and conditions, maternal health, women's health,
9:14
Speaker 1: sexual health, pediatrics. There's so many there's so many buckets
9:20
Speaker 1: that you can jump into and become an expert in
9:23
Speaker 1: in and around your community and nationally, we need more
9:27
Speaker 1: of you. Hey, that's it for twrque's news. We will
9:31
Speaker 1: be right back with a special interview from Kelly Stovall,
9:34
Speaker 1: but we want to say thank you to our sponsors.
9:46
Speaker 7: This episode is sponsored by Independent Pharmacy Cooperative, widely known
9:50
Speaker 7: as IPC. Established in nineteen eighty three, IPC is the
9:53
Speaker 7: nation's largest group purchasing organization owned by independent pharmacy with
9:58
Speaker 7: a mission of maximizing the success us a community pharmacist.
10:01
Speaker 7: IPC works to provide members with access to effective programs
10:05
Speaker 7: and services designed to enhance profitability for independent pharmacy. Read
10:10
Speaker 7: more about our mission by checking out our website at
10:12
Speaker 7: ipcurx dot com. That's ipcarx dot com.
10:27
Speaker 1: Hey, and welcome back to this week in Pharmacy. We
10:32
Speaker 1: have so much going on. I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving.
10:37
Speaker 1: I hope that you're getting some rest. Maybe some of
10:39
Speaker 1: you are off today in this holiday weekend coming up.
10:45
Speaker 2: What a beautiful Friday.
10:47
Speaker 1: Excited about what's happening As we're the sunset of twenty
10:51
Speaker 1: twenty five.
10:52
Speaker 2: It's been a rough year.
10:53
Speaker 1: We've heard from a lot of pharmacists making career transitions.
10:57
Speaker 1: We've heard from our independent community pharmacy owners we've heard
11:01
Speaker 1: from long term care pharmacies. There's a lot of hope,
11:04
Speaker 1: there's a lot of energy, but we've had a tough
11:07
Speaker 1: year and we've gotten through it. I know our publication
11:11
Speaker 1: feels the same way about a lot that's going on
11:13
Speaker 1: one of our clients. One of our pillars of the
11:19
Speaker 1: independent community pharmacy world that shows up at so many
11:23
Speaker 1: important conferences to represent community pharmacy and pharmacy ownership is IPC.
11:29
Speaker 1: I just want to give you guys a shout out,
11:31
Speaker 1: thank you so much for everything that you've done for
11:34
Speaker 1: our industry fighting for independent community pharmacy. The website is
11:40
Speaker 1: ipcarx dot com. And from IPC, I would like to
11:45
Speaker 1: welcome my friend and someone that's a guidance to us
11:49
Speaker 1: as well as to our clients and her clients. Vice
11:52
Speaker 1: President of Pharmacy Services and Clinical Programs, Kelly Stovall, Welcome
11:57
Speaker 1: to twerks.
12:01
Speaker 8: Hi Tom, thanks for having me today. I'm excited to
12:03
Speaker 8: be here.
12:04
Speaker 1: You're very welcome, and the whole way from somewhere where
12:08
Speaker 1: there's probably people that are going to be surprised where
12:11
Speaker 1: you're broadcasting from, but share with us. I'm jealous of
12:16
Speaker 1: where you're at right now celebrating Thanksgiving.
12:18
Speaker 2: Where are you.
12:19
Speaker 8: I'm on Alan, Tom. We had the amazing opportunity to
12:25
Speaker 8: actually go to Hawaii for Thanksgiving this year, So on island, Tom,
12:31
Speaker 8: and glad to be here.
12:33
Speaker 2: Well, I'm glad to have you. We have some stuff
12:35
Speaker 2: to talk about. We are.
12:37
Speaker 1: Like I said, this has been a tough year. This
12:39
Speaker 1: has been a year of change. It's been a year
12:41
Speaker 1: of struggles. But we're also seeing that iron sharpens iron,
12:47
Speaker 1: and we see pharmacists and pharmacy owners positioning for twenty
12:51
Speaker 1: twenty six in ways that I've never seen. The prep
12:54
Speaker 1: happening the way that it is now, and some exciting
12:59
Speaker 1: things that you've talked about that you've shared with us.
13:02
Speaker 1: Where we're getting ready, how do we make more profit?
13:05
Speaker 1: How do we make more revenue? But as we're doing that,
13:08
Speaker 1: how are we servicing our communities better? And that's through
13:12
Speaker 1: things like vaccines, and that's through explaining Medicare pricing changes
13:18
Speaker 1: and things that is very mysterious to people out there
13:21
Speaker 1: who don't live it like.
13:23
Speaker 2: You do, like we do.
13:25
Speaker 1: So tell our tell our listeners a little bit about
13:28
Speaker 1: IPC's year and what you're excited about for twenty twenty six.
13:33
Speaker 8: Oh, it's been a year, and I'll tell you we're all.
13:36
Speaker 8: We're all really i think apprehensive and excited both to
13:41
Speaker 8: see what happens in twenty twenty six. We've got so
13:43
Speaker 8: many changes in the industry that are coming in our stores. Obviously,
13:47
Speaker 8: we represent some of the best pharmacy owners in the industry,
13:53
Speaker 8: very passionate about independent pharmacy, and you know, with that,
13:57
Speaker 8: we we have for twenty twenty six really to bring
14:02
Speaker 8: those tools to stores that we think will help them
14:04
Speaker 8: get through the year in the most successful way.
14:09
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you actually made a post on LinkedIn that
14:13
Speaker 1: talked about a celebration from the state of Colorado. Expand
14:18
Speaker 1: upon that and what that means for our Colorado based
14:21
Speaker 1: independent community pharmacies.
14:23
Speaker 8: That was so exciting to see that our Colorado stores
14:27
Speaker 8: actually will have that basically provider status for immunizations. That
14:31
Speaker 8: really opens up that space. That's an obstacle that we
14:34
Speaker 8: see in the United States all across different states. You know,
14:39
Speaker 8: unfortunately we don't have a national regulation for these things.
14:44
Speaker 8: But as we see these states make these this progress
14:47
Speaker 8: to this providers status with vaccinations, we know that we
14:51
Speaker 8: can then you know, help help communities in public health
14:55
Speaker 8: cover immunization gaps. To expand on that a little bit,
14:59
Speaker 8: you know, there's there's so many gaps still in immunizations,
15:03
Speaker 8: Like only less than fifty percent received a flu vaccine
15:06
Speaker 8: last year. We've got less than thirty percent of adults
15:09
Speaker 8: that over sixty that's received a shingles vaccine and new macaucles,
15:14
Speaker 8: especially with under age sixty five, is only twenty five
15:18
Speaker 8: percent coverage on that. So with those gaps, right, people
15:23
Speaker 8: aren't getting these vaccines. There's there's vaccine hesitancy, there's missed
15:27
Speaker 8: opportunities on those perhaps the providers not asking about that
15:31
Speaker 8: when they see it. Adding that service in this space
15:36
Speaker 8: and independent pharmacy space really allows us number one to
15:42
Speaker 8: solve a public health problem and number two increase the
15:46
Speaker 8: revenue for those independent pharmacies out there. So that was
15:48
Speaker 8: just fantastic to see. I was so glad to see
15:51
Speaker 8: that had passed.
15:54
Speaker 1: So you also have things that have been deeply researched
16:00
Speaker 1: and supported through IPC and IPC members in the realm
16:05
Speaker 1: of how are we connecting with our home patients, our
16:10
Speaker 1: patients that aren't necessarily in a long term care facility
16:14
Speaker 1: or an assisted living facility, they're at home and the
16:17
Speaker 1: rise throughout the entire twenty twenty five. You go back
16:21
Speaker 1: through some of our podcasts, I think there's probably a
16:24
Speaker 1: dozen shows that we're focused on long term care at
16:27
Speaker 1: home and long term care pharmacy at home.
16:30
Speaker 2: So talk to us about how.
16:32
Speaker 1: IPC's positioning memberships to kind of expand upon that.
16:36
Speaker 8: You know, it's interesting because it really it all. I
16:41
Speaker 8: think it centers around our capabilities digitally to monitor patients
16:46
Speaker 8: at home. You know, and when we talk about remote
16:48
Speaker 8: patient monitoring or the Medicare official Medicare CMS definition would
16:53
Speaker 8: be remote physiological monitoring, But is the ability to collect
16:59
Speaker 8: data on on our patients, you know, from home with
17:02
Speaker 8: Bluetooth cellular enabled devices, something that will upload into a platform.
17:08
Speaker 8: And you know that there is so much research now
17:12
Speaker 8: that supports how that actually improves conditions. So, for an example,
17:18
Speaker 8: one of my favorite studies on that is from the
17:19
Speaker 8: American Heart Association and they actually did a study on
17:24
Speaker 8: pharmacists led RPM interactions and with this study, it showed
17:29
Speaker 8: that seventy four percent of the participants in this study
17:34
Speaker 8: actually improved. They're difficult to control tion hypertension condition successfully
17:42
Speaker 8: and so that was after twelve months and so when
17:44
Speaker 8: you see things like that, it's exciting because that allows
17:48
Speaker 8: for a different avenue for this industry to take care
17:52
Speaker 8: of patients, especially in those rural areas, because we know,
17:55
Speaker 8: you know, I know, the statistics are out there and
18:00
Speaker 8: probably almost you know, quoted too often that everyone's within
18:04
Speaker 8: five miles of the pharmacy, but it's true, and so
18:07
Speaker 8: that it really allows that rural space to have coverage
18:11
Speaker 8: that it didn't have when we're able to involve the
18:14
Speaker 8: pharmacists in that healthcare space in that area. And I
18:20
Speaker 8: think remote patient monitoring is fascinating and I think the
18:23
Speaker 8: growth of it in the next few years is going
18:25
Speaker 8: to be really big, especially when we think about how
18:28
Speaker 8: it can be used in the Rural Health Initiative, the
18:33
Speaker 8: Rural Health Transformation Initiative right now, and I'm proud to
18:38
Speaker 8: say that we actually are on that program and we're
18:42
Speaker 8: excited to see how that will play out in the
18:44
Speaker 8: coming year. And OURPM is just one of these things
18:49
Speaker 8: that if you look at it even outside of the
18:51
Speaker 8: traditional medicare space, if you look at it a direct
18:55
Speaker 8: to consumer space, the sky's the limit on how you
18:58
Speaker 8: may maybe be able to transform that model into a
19:02
Speaker 8: direct to consumer space or model that will then allow
19:07
Speaker 8: you to serve your patients in ways that you've never
19:10
Speaker 8: had the opportunity to serve them before.
19:14
Speaker 1: Reporting from Pharmacy Times just this week in Pharmacy, Pharmacy
19:19
Speaker 1: and Medically Underdeserved Underserved Areas Enhancement Act offers new hope
19:26
Speaker 1: and this goes down through In September of twenty twenty five,
19:30
Speaker 1: Senator Chuck Grassley and Senator Ben ray Leugen they reintroduced
19:37
Speaker 1: the Pharmacy and Medically Underserved Areas Enhancement Act S two
19:43
Speaker 1: eight zero zero.
19:45
Speaker 2: So much alphabet soup.
19:47
Speaker 1: And this is amazing because right here in this article
19:51
Speaker 1: it says the Act seeks to leverage the data that
19:54
Speaker 1: ninety percent of the US populations lives within five miles
19:59
Speaker 1: of community pharmacy and this can substantially enhance access to healthcare.
20:04
Speaker 1: Without the ability of pharmacists to be compensated for clinical services,
20:08
Speaker 1: patients often travel great distances to receive the same services
20:12
Speaker 1: from positions. In addition, pharmacies in rural and underserved areas
20:17
Speaker 1: are often economically disadvantage due to their reduced bargaining power
20:23
Speaker 1: with pharmacy benefit managers. While this hits the nail right
20:27
Speaker 1: on the head with what you and I are talking
20:29
Speaker 1: about today on twerques, and this gives me hope. So
20:33
Speaker 1: a shout out to all of our listeners right now,
20:37
Speaker 1: if you're a pharmacy owner and you're curious, if you
20:40
Speaker 1: reach out to the Independent Pharmacy Cooperative Team and just
20:43
Speaker 1: ask questions, just sit there and just schedule some time
20:46
Speaker 1: with him and ask questions, how do I get involved
20:48
Speaker 1: with this remote patient monitoring or how do I leverage
20:53
Speaker 1: some of the things that are happening in my specific
20:55
Speaker 1: state for immunizations or vaccine programs or whatever. But now
20:59
Speaker 1: that we have a federal act that's kind of backing
21:02
Speaker 1: this trajectory and this energy, it should give us a
21:05
Speaker 1: lot of excitement and hope for twenty twenty six. And
21:08
Speaker 1: I know you guys are your your heads are on
21:12
Speaker 1: fire for ideas of how to leverage acts like this.
21:16
Speaker 1: And shout out to my friend John Covil, who's always
21:19
Speaker 1: on top of everything with policy. But I'm excited to
21:24
Speaker 1: read this, This is this was a good article will
21:26
Speaker 1: come out this week.
21:27
Speaker 2: Kelly Noah.
21:29
Speaker 8: I agree, It's an exciting time, you know, and I
21:33
Speaker 8: think that that's really a lesser renowned service of IPC
21:38
Speaker 8: for our members that we really put a lot of
21:40
Speaker 8: time and effort into. Is this one on one consultation, Like,
21:44
Speaker 8: if you're thinking about expanding the immunization program, you're thinking
21:48
Speaker 8: about starting RPM, if you're thinking about three point forty
21:51
Speaker 8: B give us a call. We can do a one
21:53
Speaker 8: on one consultation with you. We'll meet you where you
21:56
Speaker 8: are in your business and you know, help take you
22:00
Speaker 8: from there to those next steps that you want to
22:03
Speaker 8: see success in that program. So I'm glad that I'm
22:07
Speaker 8: so glad you had this article that you could refer
22:09
Speaker 8: to on this because I really think it drives home
22:12
Speaker 8: the point that with some of these things that we
22:15
Speaker 8: really have such an opportunity to expand this model, this
22:20
Speaker 8: pharmacy model, even the pharmacy business model, beyond what we
22:23
Speaker 8: have in the past.
22:25
Speaker 2: A shout out to our owners.
22:26
Speaker 1: By the way, if you I'm going to have this
22:28
Speaker 1: link to the Pharmacy Times article in the show notes,
22:32
Speaker 1: if you send this article to your local state representatives
22:36
Speaker 1: and just say hey, in twenty twenty six first quarter,
22:40
Speaker 1: we'd like to have you come in and just do
22:42
Speaker 1: a tour of our pharmacy. Let us show you compliance packaging.
22:45
Speaker 1: Let us show you how we're working with the community.
22:48
Speaker 1: Let us show you our immization programs. That way that
22:53
Speaker 1: state representative is like, it's not something that you have
22:57
Speaker 1: to stage yourself. Because now there is a bill that's
23:00
Speaker 1: out there, that's been passed, that's moving forward. It's going
23:02
Speaker 1: to bring a lot of attention. I guarantee they've probably
23:05
Speaker 1: heard about it. But being able to put it in context,
23:08
Speaker 1: being able to read it and then turn around and
23:10
Speaker 1: show up at your pharmacy and actually see it in action,
23:14
Speaker 1: that's when the lights really start going off for those
23:16
Speaker 1: for those state representatives and their constituents. And that may
23:19
Speaker 1: even make some press in your local markets. And if
23:23
Speaker 1: you're if you guys are even interested in press, I
23:25
Speaker 1: mean IPC and the Pharmacy Podcast Network both have ideas
23:29
Speaker 1: about how to bring you more more noticeability in your community.
23:33
Speaker 1: But this is this is the stuff that's going to
23:36
Speaker 1: change things for our pharmacy owners and those that are
23:41
Speaker 1: prepared by doing little bits and movings. You don't have
23:45
Speaker 1: to do everything you know in one day or one week,
23:49
Speaker 1: but make sure that you get your local representatives into
23:52
Speaker 1: your stores at some point so that they can see
23:55
Speaker 1: things that national news is bringing attention to but then
23:59
Speaker 1: when they actually get to go to their local pharmacy
24:03
Speaker 1: that's in their district, it starts to make the light.
24:05
Speaker 2: Bulbs go off.
24:08
Speaker 8: No, I agree, and I love I love that. So
24:11
Speaker 8: I think one of one of the things that things
24:13
Speaker 8: that I thought of as you were sharing that important
24:17
Speaker 8: really reach out to all legislators, all your people that
24:20
Speaker 8: represent you to spread this word and push these things forward.
24:24
Speaker 8: Is a lot of times you get to this point
24:27
Speaker 8: as an owner and you think, wow, this sounds great,
24:30
Speaker 8: this would be great to do, But how in the
24:32
Speaker 8: world do I manage staff? How in the world do
24:34
Speaker 8: I change my workflow? And and I would say we
24:38
Speaker 8: think about that a lot. And you know, it's one
24:40
Speaker 8: thing to put out, wow, you should do this, but
24:43
Speaker 8: if you know, it's important to us to also have
24:45
Speaker 8: those solutions for some of those obstacles that you have
24:48
Speaker 8: in implementing something like that, whether it be workflow, staffing, training,
24:55
Speaker 8: those types of requirements, to actually push these forwards, these
24:59
Speaker 8: these these opportunities forward because we want it to work,
25:04
Speaker 8: and we want you to have the best as a
25:06
Speaker 8: pharmacy owner, to have the best chance to take all
25:10
Speaker 8: the tools and push this forward in a way that's
25:13
Speaker 8: really successful for you and brings revenue for you as well.
25:16
Speaker 8: So it's not just an idea, and it's not just
25:19
Speaker 8: an article out there of reading, but it's actually something
25:22
Speaker 8: that you can bring into your store and implement the
25:24
Speaker 8: successful way.
25:26
Speaker 1: Absolutely, take a look if you're listening. If you're not
25:29
Speaker 1: seeing your screen right now, don't worry. The links will
25:31
Speaker 1: be in the show notes. Ipcrx dot com Once again
25:35
Speaker 1: ipcrx dot com. Kelly, it's been wonderful to be working
25:40
Speaker 1: with you this year twenty twenty five. Excited about twenty
25:44
Speaker 1: twenty six and doing more shows with you and more
25:47
Speaker 1: coverage of different things that the members at IPC are
25:50
Speaker 1: doing to make impacts to their community. And wishing you
25:53
Speaker 1: a very happy Island driven Thanksgiving weekend for you. Tell
26:00
Speaker 1: us get out there on the surf and get some
26:03
Speaker 1: drinks or do something fun on the beach.
26:05
Speaker 8: You bet I will, all right, Thanks God.
26:10
Speaker 1: Thank you for being on twerks, Thank you for listening.
26:13
Speaker 1: Hey listen, we will be right back with more twerques.
26:22
Speaker 7: As frontline healthcare providers, pharmacists like you understand the importance
26:26
Speaker 7: of personalized care, especially in acute pain management. Euryal Pharma
26:30
Speaker 7: is dedicated to providing high quality generic products tailored to
26:33
Speaker 7: meet your patient's needs. The company aims to serve a
26:37
Speaker 7: diverse range of patient populations, including athletes recovering from intense training,
26:42
Speaker 7: weekend warriors, managing minor injuries, and those seeking a practical
26:46
Speaker 7: and mess free option for acute pain management. Keep your
26:50
Speaker 7: all in your toolbox of pain management options and join
26:53
Speaker 7: the ranks of pharmacists leading away in personalized care. To
26:56
Speaker 7: learn more about Euryal Pharma and its products, including full
27:00
Speaker 7: prescribing information, boxed warnings, and important safety information, visit ur
27:05
Speaker 7: rolpharma dot com That's why a rl pharma dot com
27:11
Speaker 7: and connect with them on LinkedIn.
27:16
Speaker 1: Hey, welcome back to twers. It is a good day
27:21
Speaker 1: to be in healthcare. I know there's a lot of
27:23
Speaker 1: challenges out there. It's technology to me that it's so exciting.
27:27
Speaker 1: We just got back from the sure Cost event in Nashville, Tennessee.
27:31
Speaker 1: I was able to speak on pharmacy and AI and
27:35
Speaker 1: where that's going to take our independent community pharmacies, where
27:40
Speaker 1: that's going to take hospital system pharmacy and people that
27:43
Speaker 1: are worried about formulay management and data analytics. So when
27:49
Speaker 1: I get an opportunity to talk to an entrepreneur who
27:53
Speaker 1: is tuned into technology more specifically pharmacy and being able
27:58
Speaker 1: to dig down into some of that data and formula
28:02
Speaker 1: A management.
28:03
Speaker 2: I had to have Maya a mod on Maya. Welcome
28:07
Speaker 2: to twerks, Thank you, thank you for having me. It's
28:12
Speaker 2: good to see you. Good to talk to you right
28:15
Speaker 2: out of the gate.
28:16
Speaker 1: You have a special place, there's a pharmacy is a
28:20
Speaker 1: special place in your heart. I think there's obvious reason
28:23
Speaker 1: for that. I want you to give the listeners a
28:25
Speaker 1: little background on yourself, how you got into this game,
28:29
Speaker 1: and then we're going to open up about Mochi Health.
28:33
Speaker 9: Sure. So Mochi is a marketplace for pharmacies and patients
28:38
Speaker 9: to be able to connect and get different types of medication.
28:41
Speaker 9: A lot of our focus over the last couple of
28:43
Speaker 9: years has been in the obesity space, where we connect
28:46
Speaker 9: physicians and pharmacies to patients to basically get access to
28:51
Speaker 9: obesity medications. My background is a physician. I went to
28:55
Speaker 9: med school at University Washington and then I did a
28:58
Speaker 9: I spent a lot of time research in the obesity
29:01
Speaker 9: and obc medicine space. And bariatric surgical practice.
29:04
Speaker 2: Which was.
29:06
Speaker 9: Several years ago now and then in twenty twenty two
29:09
Speaker 9: started Mochi and have been growing, growing, growing since then.
29:14
Speaker 2: All right, so you peaked my interest in.
29:18
Speaker 1: We've talked a tiny little bit just through email before
29:22
Speaker 1: about how you're assisting pharmacies and pharmacy owners and pharmacists
29:28
Speaker 1: and even our consultant pharmacists. And if you go to
29:31
Speaker 1: join Mochi dot com, that's join Mochi dot com, you
29:38
Speaker 1: will see the pharmacy tab, So talk to me about
29:42
Speaker 1: how to grow your pharmacy and be able to help
29:45
Speaker 1: more patients.
29:48
Speaker 9: Yeah, So our pharmacy software basically can be used by
29:54
Speaker 9: any pharmacy that would like to sell into our marketplace.
29:58
Speaker 9: So you can go in sign up to be a
30:00
Speaker 9: pharmacy on the platform, and then patients will see you
30:04
Speaker 9: as one of the options listed for whatever medications you
30:06
Speaker 9: want to upload, and you can also list in whatever
30:11
Speaker 9: medications you want to put in, and I mean whatever
30:13
Speaker 9: pricing information and whatnot and day supply and then I
30:17
Speaker 9: mean it looks kind of like door dash does, right,
30:19
Speaker 9: Like you can see all the different pharmacies, all their
30:22
Speaker 9: different formulations and what all the products they can see
30:25
Speaker 9: in like a shop format. So you find it to
30:29
Speaker 9: be like a good way for pharmacies to get access
30:33
Speaker 9: to patients, but also be in a little bit more
30:35
Speaker 9: of a direct comparison with other pharmacies in the system,
30:38
Speaker 9: and then add other formulae options to patients' cards. So
30:42
Speaker 9: a lot of patients don't know how many different medications
30:44
Speaker 9: of compounded medications that a pharmacy might make. This makes
30:47
Speaker 9: it easier for patients to see like all the different
30:49
Speaker 9: options that they have as part of the same lendle.
30:53
Speaker 1: So you, like all of our providers out there, understand
30:57
Speaker 1: that there's massive changes helping happening to our health system.
31:03
Speaker 1: There's a revolt of sorts in the in the in
31:08
Speaker 1: the realm of PBM reform. Talk to us about the
31:12
Speaker 1: back end of this, the administration side of this, is
31:15
Speaker 1: this taking middlemen out of the way to get their
31:18
Speaker 1: pharmacies closer to patients in those transactions.
31:22
Speaker 9: Yeah, I think. I mean, pharmacy relationships with patients have
31:27
Speaker 9: always had like PBMs and manufacturers and multiple metal midimen
31:32
Speaker 9: and very opaque pricing. And I think while tools like
31:35
Speaker 9: GoodRx and aggregators of pharmacy pricing have made it a
31:39
Speaker 9: little bit easier for patients to see that it is
31:42
Speaker 9: really only helpful in the retail space and it provides
31:45
Speaker 9: no benefit to pharmacies. Our software's goal is really that
31:49
Speaker 9: it is a tool for pharmacies to be able to
31:52
Speaker 9: manage and run inventory in their business and also make
31:55
Speaker 9: it easier for patients to be able to see all
31:57
Speaker 9: the different products that that pharmacy offers. So this is
31:59
Speaker 9: a tool for pharmacies to be able to grow their
32:01
Speaker 9: revenue and at the same time for patients to be
32:04
Speaker 9: able to shop from different pharmacies for different options and medication.
32:09
Speaker 1: Is it too much to say that this is simplifying
32:11
Speaker 1: such a crazy environment, because to me this sounds so simple.
32:17
Speaker 9: Yeah, yeah, And I think so many marketplaces do right.
32:20
Speaker 9: Like you think of Sephora, you can just pick mascara
32:23
Speaker 9: and compare a whole bunch of different products and a
32:26
Speaker 9: bunch of different prices, and if you like a brand
32:28
Speaker 9: for whatever makeup product you're buying, you can buy other
32:31
Speaker 9: products in that same category from that same Like many.
32:35
Speaker 1: Are you touching any aspect of the telehealth aspect of
32:42
Speaker 1: it where there's a physician that you've chosen to dial into,
32:46
Speaker 1: maybe a specialty because you do very well in obesity
32:50
Speaker 1: medicine assistance. So talk to us a little bit about
32:53
Speaker 1: more of the connections within the system of where those
32:57
Speaker 1: decisions are coming from.
33:00
Speaker 9: Yeah, on the provider side, we also have a provider marketplace.
33:04
Speaker 9: Providers can self onboard and the use this as a
33:05
Speaker 9: way to form their own business. For our providers, they
33:09
Speaker 9: list their different treatment areas and different specialties that they
33:11
Speaker 9: want to be working in, and they list their times
33:14
Speaker 9: and availability, and patients can shop and look at all
33:17
Speaker 9: the different provider options that they have and browse what
33:21
Speaker 9: kind of treatment they're looking for, what times work for them,
33:25
Speaker 9: what specialties they want if they're looking for pediatric providers
33:29
Speaker 9: or special set specialists for if they have GI issues
33:32
Speaker 9: or whatnot, and you set a way to find the
33:35
Speaker 9: providers that are best for them. I don't think on
33:38
Speaker 9: here there's a good screen, but I can send you
33:39
Speaker 9: some screenshots of what that search profile looks like.
33:42
Speaker 1: Sure, we're going to share it throughout our social media reach.
33:46
Speaker 1: And obviously I want to have more pharmacist understanding not
33:52
Speaker 1: only the system, but in follow up with you so
33:55
Speaker 1: that they can ask, you know, additional questions as pharmacy owners.
33:58
Speaker 1: But there's the whole rise of pharmacy consultants. Now we
34:03
Speaker 1: have pharmacy dialing into senior care, pediatrics, sports medicine where
34:09
Speaker 1: they're dialing into the athlete, and I think that this
34:12
Speaker 1: platform is going to open up opportunities for those individuals too,
34:16
Speaker 1: where they have a provider ID, they're known by the state,
34:22
Speaker 1: they have relationships with physicians, they have groups of patients
34:25
Speaker 1: that trust them. So it's like, well, they they could
34:33
Speaker 1: dial into a pharmacy too, because many of them work
34:36
Speaker 1: through pharmacy and be able to bring you know, different
34:41
Speaker 1: connections back through MOCHI and say, hey, here's an opportunity
34:45
Speaker 1: because to them, the dispensing fee might not be what
34:49
Speaker 1: they're after. They might be after the actual consultancy of
34:52
Speaker 1: the actual patient and looking at management and medication suggested
34:59
Speaker 1: changes to the to the physicians. So this gives way
35:04
Speaker 1: to creativity in my opinion from what I'm seeing.
35:08
Speaker 9: Yeah, a lot of the goal of this software is
35:11
Speaker 9: that this should be an ad tool and act as
35:13
Speaker 9: a consultant for these pharmacies. And we have no explusivities
35:16
Speaker 9: that we're signing or anything, so pharmacies can choose to
35:20
Speaker 9: use whatever consultants that they want to and they can
35:22
Speaker 9: still also use the software and still also.
35:24
Speaker 2: Be on the marketplace.
35:25
Speaker 9: And if the marketplace they don't like it, they don't
35:27
Speaker 9: want to be there, that's totally fine.
35:28
Speaker 1: So now is the world of specialty medications. I know
35:35
Speaker 1: that those networks are sometimes closed, but are you doing
35:40
Speaker 1: any specific disease state capturing for not only education to
35:45
Speaker 1: the patient, but also ease of accessing the medication.
35:50
Speaker 9: Most of the medications on the platform right now, so
35:52
Speaker 9: you over one hundred and fifty plus classes of medication.
35:59
Speaker 9: Most are non specialty drugs and things that are not
36:03
Speaker 9: being reimbursed by insurances. It's it's a lot of different
36:06
Speaker 9: compounded formulations of skincare and hormone replacement therapy and obesity
36:12
Speaker 9: medication and that kind of thing where there is a
36:15
Speaker 9: lot of customization required for patients. And also there's a
36:18
Speaker 9: lot of pharmacies that have a lot of different combinations.
36:20
Speaker 2: So excellent, excellent.
36:22
Speaker 1: So are there do you first see, based on the
36:26
Speaker 1: tracking of your success, are you going to think you
36:29
Speaker 1: think you'll add other specialties because you're doing very well
36:33
Speaker 1: with helping people that are suffering with obesity. Is there
36:39
Speaker 1: is there other segments that you're like, really, I want
36:41
Speaker 1: to dial into this like some of the other organizations
36:45
Speaker 1: are like HYMNS and hers wants to go after you know,
36:48
Speaker 1: sexual health per se. Is there any specialties that you
36:52
Speaker 1: guys are looking at.
36:54
Speaker 9: I think we want to leave the marketplace open to
36:57
Speaker 9: what providers see there is a need for, and what
37:00
Speaker 9: patiency there's a need for. And I think that while
37:03
Speaker 9: as a platform we see growth in advertising for different
37:06
Speaker 9: types of things, we really want the reason that patients
37:09
Speaker 9: stay to be more driven by pharmacies and providers.
37:13
Speaker 7: Right.
37:13
Speaker 9: So, I think obesity and some of these and skincare
37:16
Speaker 9: and whatnot are great places that we can advertise to
37:18
Speaker 9: bring patients into the marketplace. But the reasons they stay
37:21
Speaker 9: maybe that they're also getting their acid blockers and birth
37:24
Speaker 9: controls and whatnot from this marketplace.
37:28
Speaker 2: Very cool.
37:29
Speaker 1: I like this, so our pharmacists shout out to our
37:33
Speaker 1: pharmacy owners, a shout out to technicians who are managing
37:37
Speaker 1: in their inventory and looking for other ways to connect
37:40
Speaker 1: with patients across the country. Check it out, go to
37:46
Speaker 1: join Mochi dot com once again, that's join Mochi dot
37:51
Speaker 1: com and we want to invite Mayra back for a
37:56
Speaker 1: follow up twerks and put some pharmacists in the in
38:01
Speaker 1: the mix too, and and just do almost like a
38:03
Speaker 1: panel discussion of where the future of tech is going
38:06
Speaker 1: to eliminate once again the bottlenecks. And one of those
38:09
Speaker 1: bottlenecks is the PBM world has has kind of beaten
38:13
Speaker 1: up our pharmacy industry long enough. So having creative options
38:17
Speaker 1: like Mochi Health is pretty exciting to me.
38:21
Speaker 9: Yeah, we want to supercharge the growth of the pharmacies
38:25
Speaker 9: on the platform. That's kind of the goal with the software,
38:28
Speaker 9: and so the more partners there are and the more
38:30
Speaker 9: different types of medications, the more access or patients have
38:32
Speaker 9: to all these different types of different medications.
38:36
Speaker 1: All right, Well, we didn't make you Torques on twerqus,
38:39
Speaker 1: so got away with it. But you promised to come
38:43
Speaker 1: back at some point in this week in Pharmacy and
38:46
Speaker 1: we'll extend the conversation with some with some pharmacists.
38:50
Speaker 2: Yeah, of course that sounds good. Thanks so much, thank
38:53
Speaker 2: you for being on twerks.
38:55
Speaker 1: Please hang on and we'll be right back with more works.
38:59
Speaker 7: Hi.
39:00
Speaker 3: Bruce neland I get to be the host of the
39:02
Speaker 3: Pharmacy Crossroads podcast.
39:05
Speaker 7: Pharmacy Crossroads is proud to be a member of the
39:08
Speaker 7: Pharmacy Podcast Network and I can't wait to listen to
39:13
Speaker 7: the next episode of This Week in Pharmacy