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Chairman’s Message

M A R C H 2 0 1 3 V O L U M E 1 7 , I S S U E 3

An official publication of GPhA’s Academy of Independent Pharmacy

The mission of AIP is to ensure the economic viability and security of independent pharmacy, and to

advance the concept of pharmacy care designed to enhance patient quality of life and positive outcomes.

The Independent News

I graduated from Griffin High School in 1974. This makes me younger than a few of you, but older than most that read this. Our school and our town at the time would be considered fairly small in comparison to metro Atlanta. My family was middle class and I was an only child. I was also one of the bigger class clowns for my time. I spent a lot more time on being seen and thinking of my next stunt than I did on my school work. I surely didn’t worry how people looked at me or worry about the recognition I might get. This is the theme of my article this month.

As I am writing, the legislative members are deciding about the proposals we have given them for our yearly agenda. We have two fine lobbyists that work for GPHA and they communicate daily on our behalf. Cindy and Andy stand tall among their peers and are respected. The progress we are hoping to make this year somewhat depends on their effort and their connections. But we are slowly learning that we have to play a part in this process too. In Griffin last week, I sent out two sets of faxes to our nine local AIP members asking them to contact 2 or 3 members of the House via email. I even gave them the talking points and made it as easy as possible to have them or a staff member write the email. I got back 2 phone calls within the hour wanting more information before they wrote. Within 24 hours, six had gotten responses from legislators they had written. All were positive responses of support. Guess what ? The bills made it through the first round and the calls helped. Two of the Pharmacists called and wanted to do more. This was 9 out of about 500 members. I know some of you did the same thing. I know some of you didn’t or plain don’t know how. If we want this bad enough, we have to act on it. We can’t expect Andy and Cindy to carry that load for us. Ask an AIP sales rep or call me or call Jeff and find out how easy it is to pitch in.

The next big wave we will be faced with will be recognition by CMS and the Federal Government as a true Healthcare Provider. Don’t laugh when you see this and think we already are, because we aren’t. We may be well respected year in and year out when Gallup runs their polls, but until we are recognized as players in the game of healthcare, we are merely spectators. The big push will be to contact our Congressmen and women and push for this recognition. Yes, this means that each of you may be asked to make a call or send an email. Read the latest NCPA journal on page 4. When we talk to NCPA, they say how great Georgia is and how they appreciate all we do. They also say we are one of the best groups around the United States. I think it’s about time we quit being “one of the best” and just become “the best”.

It’s not 1974 anymore and I’m not in High School either. The recognition I got back then was usually for something crazy I did. I guess I have grown up a little and have changed my priorities. I want our profession and association to be recognized as the leader of the pack, not one of the leaders. I’m hoping in the next newsletter that we have gotten our bills passed and we are setting the mark for NCPA to recognize us as the State and the Association to follow. The next step will be recognition as true Healthcare Providers. Wow. Talk to you next month.

Drew

2 0 1 3 - 2 0 1 4

B O A R D O F D I R E C T O R S

Drew Miller, R.Ph., CDM Chairman

Mark Parris, R.Ph. Chairman Elect

E. Laird Miller, R.Ph. Secretary

Ira Katz, R.Ph. Immediate Past Chairman

Jim Bracewell

Hugh Chancy, R.Ph.

Ben Cravey, R.Ph.

Carolyn Florence, R.Ph.

George Launius, R.Ph.

Jonathan Marquess, Pharm.D., CDE, CPT

Pamala Marquess, Pharm.D.

Mac McCord, R.Ph.

Ivey B. McCurdy, Pharm.D., CDM

Scott Meeks, R.Ph.

Fred Sharpe, R.Ph.

Tim Short, R.Ph.

A I P S T A F F

Jeff L. Lurey, R.Ph.

AIP Director

Verouschka Betancourt-Whigham

Programs Coordinator

Rhonda Bonner

Member Services Representative

Charles D. Boone

Member Services Representative

Shannon Ferguson

Member Services Representative

Gene Smith

Member Services Representative

P A G E 2

AIP CELEBRATES 20 YEARS

In June, AIP will celebrate it's 20th Anniversary. That's right, AIP will be 20 years old in June. We plan to have a huge celebration at our annual luncheon during the GPhA Convention on Amelia Island (June 21-25).

I hope everyone will plan to attend.

T H E I N D E P E N D E N T N E W S

Save The Date:

GPhA Annual

Convention Saturday, June 22nd

thru Wednesday

June 25th - Amelia

Island Plantation;

Amelia Island , FL

AIP Fall Meeting Sunday,

October 27th

Macon Marriott &

Centreplex,

Macon, GA

CONGRESSIONAL COMMUNITY PHARMACY CAUCUS

Please read the letter below. Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA) has been a strong supporter of Pharmacy since the days he rep-resented Tift Co. in the Georgia House. Now he is a U.S. Congressman and he's still helping Pharmacy. Please take the time to thank Rep. Scott when you see him. I will certainly write him a thank you letter on behalf of AIP.

Dear Colleague:

We invite you to join the Congressional Community Pharmacy Caucus. Independent community pharmacies play a critical role in our health care system. They are the

trusted front line providers, particularly in rural areas, who are consulted for their expertise in the management of medication and drug interaction. However, community

pharmacies are finding it extremely difficult to serve the people who have depended on them for years.

The caucus will advocate for important issues facing community pharmacies and serve as a clearinghouse for members, staff and other interested parties about the im-

portant role community pharmacies play in the delivery of health care. The coalition will host staff and Member briefings, work with the committees of jurisdiction on relat-

ed hearings and legislation, and serve as a resource for Members and staff.

Please join us in supporting community pharmacies in your district by joining the Congressional Community Pharmacy Caucus. To join, please contact Jessica Robertson in

Rep. Austin Scott’s office at jessica.robertson@mail.house.gov or 5-6531 or Tom Cheney in Rep. Peter Welch’s office at tom.cheney@mail.house.gov or 5-4115.

Sincerely,

Austin Scott—C0-Chair Peter Welch—Co-Chair

NCPDP WARNING WARNING NOTICE! Be on alert for anyone calling and claiming to be from NCPDP and

requesting sensitive pharmacy data over the phone.

NCPDP has been notified that dozens of pharmacies have received phone calls from people with heavy accents claiming to be with NCPDP, or some other similar organization, stating that they

need to verify their pharmacy information. This is a notice to let you know that these callers ARE NOT NCPDP employees and are most

likely phishing for information about the pharmacy. NCPDP is based in Scottsdale, Arizona, with

an unblocked phone number from area code 480, and would not hesitate to give you a call back phone number.

The callers are coming from blocked or withheld numbers and are asking questions regarding the pharmacy’s information; such as the owner’s name, EIN number, NPI number, home phone

numbers, cell phone numbers, email addresses, etc. The callers have been known to call numerous times in a day and can be very aggressive. If the pharmacy is not forthcoming with

the information they are asking for, the caller says that they will report the pharmacy to the

Better Business Bureau. NCPDP does internal audits that can occasionally lead to pharmacy calls to verify specific fields

or determine if the pharmacy is still open and operating, however NCPDP would not be asking for large lists of data fields due to the fact that it should already appear on your NCPDP profile.

If you are not comfortable with giving your pharmacy information to NCPDP over the phone, you

can request an official email from NCPDP. NCPDP email addresses end in @NCPDP.ORG, and we would be happy to correspond with you via email.

If you are a chain pharmacy representative please forward this email to your locations to alert them of this issue.

If you have any information that may be helpful in identifying these callers, please contact Rick

Reed, Senior Manager, Pharmacy Database Services, with NCPDP at (480) 734-2869 or rreed@ncpdp.org<mailto:rreed@ncpdp.org>.

P A G E 3 V O L U M E 1 7 , I S S U E 3

AIP & NCPA Build Store Traffic, Build Profits: Front-End Overhaul

One Day Intensive

AIP is very excited to bring to the east coast NCPA’s one day intensive CE program on front-end business. Gabe Trahan will

put on this dynamic CE program; Build Store Traffic, Build Profits: Front-End Overhaul One Day Intensive. AIP wishes to

thank its meeting sponsors. Without their support and the support of its members AIP could not continuously offer such

excellent programing.

Surescripts and NewCrop to Expand Care Collaboration and Coordination Across the U.S Healthcare System MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2013

Surescripts and NewCrop, LLC, a leading provider of technology relied

on by more than 130 electronic health record (EHR) technology

providers and 30,000 healthcare professionals, today announced that

NewCrop will connect to The Surescripts Network for Clinical

Interoperability™. This connectivity will enable physicians using EHRs

with NewCrop technology to reliably and securely exchange clinical

information across practices, hospitals and other healthcare entities

nationwide.

AIP DIRECTOR SPEAKS TO

UGA STUDENTS

Jeff Lurey spoke to the entrepreneurial class at the

UGA College of Pharmacy.

KEEP INDEPENDENTS INDEPENDENT

Please don’t forget, if you have a desire to sell your pharmacy or if you

have an interest in buying a pharmacy, please contact Jeff Lurey at

404-419-8103. We have been quite successful during the past several years

at keeping independents independent. We maintain a list of pharmacists

who want to buy additional pharmacies and we also keep a list of young

pharmacists who want to own a pharmacy. All information is kept strictly

confidential.

White House Directs Agencies to Expand Access

to Research The Obama administration directed the heads of federal agencies to

develop rules requiring public release of all federal funded research

within one year of being published in scientific or technical journals.

The directive applies to all federal agencies conducting $100 million or

more in research annually. The directive comes after an online petition

was signed by 65,704 individuals demanding no-cost access to

federally funded scientific articles.

Sequester Cuts Hit Medicare Part B DMEPOS

CMS has announced cuts in addition to the 14.5% reductions to Part B DMEPOS that will go into effect on April 1. The Budget Control Act of 2011 requires

that all Medicare fee for service claims (Part A and B) with dates-of-service or dates-or-discharge on or after April 1 will incur a 2% reduction in Medicare payment. Claims for durable medical equipment (DME), prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies,

including claims under the DME Competitive Bidding Program, will be reduced by 2% if the date-of-

service is on or after April 1.

Beneficiary payments for deductibles and coinsurance are not subject to the 2% reduction. Thus, the claims payment adjustment will be applied to all claims after determining coinsurance, deductibles, and any Medicare secondary payment

adjustments. For unassigned claims, Medicare's payment to the beneficiaries for those claims will be subject to the 2% reduction.

P A G E 4

T H E I N D E P E N D E N T N E W S

PUSH TO END MANDATING MAIL ORDER

PHARMACY USE GAINS TRACTION

By B. Douglas Hoey, RPh, MBA, National Community Pharmacists Association CEO

You cannot have free market competition if the rules are stacked in favor of one entity over another. That is why in the early 20th century, for example, President Theodore Roosevelt spearheaded efforts to break up the corporate trusts that manipulated the system to run roughshod over their competitors. Challenges persist throughout the economy, in other ways, to this day.

For instance, independent community pharmacies’ patient-friendly business model must survive the aggressive tactics of pharmacy benefit managers (PBM). These billion-dollar drug middlemen routinely distort the marketplace by convincing health plan sponsors to mandate that patients use PBM-owned mail order pharmacies for maintenance medications.

While the federal government provides the most sweeping avenue for regulatory relief, the legislative sausage-making process in Washington can be painfully slow. Often the quickest avenue for reform comes at the state level. Efforts to level the playing field by stopping mandatory mail order pharmacy dictates have seen real progress in New York and Pennsylvania.

In December 2011, Governor Andrew Como (D-NY) signed into law Assembly Bill 5502-B, an Anti-Mandatory Mail Order (AMMO) pharmacy bill. The law grants most patients to ability to choose the best pharmacy option for their personal health needs and preferences by preventing them from being forced to use a particular pharmacy, such as mail order, or being financially punished for using the pharmacy of their choice.

In November 2012, Governor Tom Corbett (R-PA) signed into law Senate Bill 201, which addresses many of the same concerns as New York experienced. It goes into effect on March 1, 2013. The law allows retail pharmacies to match the reimbursement terms and conditions that mail order pharmacies negotiate exclusively with health insurance plans.

Other states are in the process of introducing AMMO pharmacy bills and we hope that Georgia undergoes such an effort. When making your arguments please feel free to refer to a study NCPA recently released showing that Medicare beneficiaries oppose mandatory mail order.

Hamacher, HDMA report analyzes

front end as profit driver for

independent pharmacy By Michael Johnsen

WAUKESHA, Wis. — Over-the-counter products across the front-end are becoming a more and more

important profit driver for independent pharmacy operators, Hamacher Resource Group and the

Healthcare Distribution Management Association revealed Wednesday as part of new research titled

"Independent Pharmacy Shoppers: Who, What, and Why?" The report places a spotlight on the

independent pharmacy front-end customer and helps identify shopper behaviors, purchase

preferences and potential barriers that stand in the way of further engagement with independents.

According to the 48-page report, as many as 73% of pharmacists surveyed reported their front-end

businesses were either growing or holding steady . And according to the research, as the frequency of

shopping trips increased, so did the corresponding percentages of OTC and personal care purchases.

In other words, the more often an independent pharmacy patient visited the store, the more likely

they were to walk out with an OTC or beauty-care item in their shopping bag each trip. "The average

independent [made] 10 recommendations per day for OTCs," Dave Wendland, VP, told attendants to

a webinar hosted by Hamacher and HDMA Wednesday afternoon.

To help maximize productivity of an OTC set within the independent setting, set planograms and point

-of-purchase materials are a good starting point, Wendland suggested.

"Among all shoppers interviewed, those who spent approximately 15 minutes in the store made the

most OTC purchases," the report noted. "Those who spent less than 15 minutes in the store made the

most purchases of personal care products. The lesson to independent pharmacies is to ensure those

15 minutes are 'productive' time. For example, they could train staff to interact with customers by

recommending companion purchases. The goal is to match the speed of front-end service with the

speed of prescription transactions." Continued on Page 8

P A G E 5 V O L U M E 1 7 , I S S U E 3

CVS APPEAL REJECTED IN RICO LAWSUIT

What a great win for Pharmacy! We applaud our colleagues at APRx for winning an important battle against CVS/CM. We have supported APRx’s efforts against CVS/CM from the very beginning and we will continue to support their efforts. Please read the article below and I hope you feel some satisfaction for a job well done. Of course, the battle is still being waged, but it’s nice to win one occasionally.

P A G E 6

T H E I N D E P E N D E N T N E W S

Walgreens is First Pharmacy Chain Approved for CMS ACO Program Written by Heather Punke | January 11, 2013

In partnership with physician groups in three states, Walgreens became the first national pharmacy chain to be approved by CMS to participate in accountable care organizations. Advocare Walgreens Well Network in New Jersey, Diagnostic Clinic Walgreens Well Network in Florida and Scott & White Walgreens Well Network in Texas were all selected by CMS to participate in the Medicare Shared Savings Program. Walgreens and the physician groups will work together to provide personalized pharmacy care.

P A G E 7 V O L U M E 1 7 , I S S U E 3

To advance the concept of pharmacy care. To

ensure the economic viability and security of

Independent Pharmacy; To provide a forum for

Independent Pharmacy to exchange information

and develop strategies, goals and objectives; To

address the unique business and professional

issues of independent pharmacies; To develop

and implement marketing opportunities for

members of the Academy with emphasis on the

third party prescription drug program/benefit

market; To provide educational programs designed

to enhance the managerial skills of Independent

Pharmacy Owners and Managers; and, To establish

and implement programs and services designed to

assist Independent Pharmacy Owners and

Managers.

AIP Mission Statement

CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE:

1. Go to www.gpha.org

2. Go to Navigation on the bottom left hand side

of the page and click Academy Central

3. Click AIP

Compounder’s Corner Dale Coker, RPh, FIACP, Compounding Section Chairman

The second annual IACP educational conference was held this year in Dana Point, California at the

beautiful St. Regis Monarch Beach hotel. This was an historic event as is was the first time for a joint

conference between IACP, ACA (American College of Apothecaries) and ACVP (American College of

Veterinary Pharmacists). There were three days of outstanding continuing education and time in the

afternoon to enjoy the warm California weather. This was also an opportunity for each organization

to hold their respective board meetings.

The main topic on the IACP Board meeting was office use compounding. The irreparable harm caused

by the pharmacy in New England has created a frenzy of legislative action at both the state and federal

level. There is a lot of talk about a separate class of compounding that could possibly have FDA

oversight. There is also talk about requiring certification to be able to participate in certain aspects of

pharmacy compounding, particularly for office administration of sterile preparations.

On the home front, a huge issue that has surfaced is Ophthalmologist’s ability to obtain compounded

Avastin for office administration. Ophthalmologists have turned up their lobbying efforts to make

meaningful changes in Georgia law to allow them to provide re-packaged Avastin for their patients.

This will be a huge year for change in compounding laws, rules and regulations. This is why it is so

important that we have input into the process.

Make plans now to attend the third annual IACP education conference in Ft. Lauderdale, FL next

February. While you have the calendar out, don’t forget about the GPhA convention at Amelia Island,

June 22-25 (I can remember this one because I almost always celebrate my birthday at the convention).

Dave Miller, EVP of IACP, will provide a CE program immediately following our annual Compounding

Section breakfast.

RxAlly, Kerr Drug Team to Boost Pneumonia

Immunization Rates

Rx Ally is partnering with Kerr Drug and Shenandoah University's

Bernard J. Dunn School of Pharmacy to increase pneumococcal

vaccinations for adults over 65 and high-risk patients beginning at

age 2. The program is made possible through a Pfizer grant to the

university.

Hamacher, HDMA report analyzes front end as profit driver for independent pharmacy- Continued from Page 4

Even as OTC grows in importance for independent operators, the

greater incursion of the dollar channel into health and beauty items

has emerged as a direct competitive threat to independent pharma-

cies.

In addition to HDMA, "Independent Pharmacy Shoppers: Who, What,

and Why?" was made possible through the sponsorships of Amer-

isourceBergen, Cardinal Health, H. D. Smith, Johnson & Johnson Sales

and Logistics Company, McKesson, Mutual Wholesale Drug Company,

Novartis Consumer Health, Smith Drug Company and Value Drug

Company.