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Comments
by Barry Jacobs R.Ph. Director of Professional Services
Do
you dress for success???????
Many of the pharmacists that I call on quite frankly take "casual
dress" to an extreme. They look totally unprofessional.
Jeans and a tee shirt are not proper dress for a pharmacist.
While some may disagree, the casual look has its place &
it is not at the Pharmacy counter. How a Pharmacist appears,
is a reflection on the Pharmacy to its customers. I always felt
comfortable in a shirt & tie, but that may not be for everyone.
Please look in the mirror.
Want to sell more bathroom safety equipment?
It is profitable and is a cash sale. Why not buy an inexpensive
toilet and/or bathtub at Home Depot and set it up in your Pharmacy
with the various raised toilet seats, bath benches, safety rails
etc. It will give your customers ideas.
Audit Information: from Pharmacist E Link, by Ed Heckman PAAS
National
Q: If a physician writes an Rx for a single source brand
drug & indicates "DAW", should I go ahead &
bill the Rx as DAW 1?
A: NO. Such situations should be billed online as DAW 0. Billing
single source drugs as DAW 1 may flag you for an audit and may
also count against you in tabulating PBM generic utilization
incentives.
Reminder: Our parent company, the PARD offers its members help
and advice with audit problems and has saved stores countless
thousands of dollars.
From Drug Topics Medicare Part B: CMS ups supplying
fees
After getting extensive comments and other information from
the pharmacy community over the past year, CMS has significantly
increased the "supplying fees" it will pay to pharmacists
in 2005 for the anticancer drugs and other medications that are
paid under Medicare Part B. (Note: The new Pharmacy Program in
2006 will be under Medicare Part D)
Beginning January 1, 2005, CMS will provide a $24 supplying fee
as opposed to the $10 it proposed in January 2004.
Legislation:
Bills
will be introduced very soon in the Pennsylvania House &
Senate to stop mandatory Mail-Order Programs. As soon as we receive
the House & Senate Bill numbers, we will pass on to you.
Please contact your Senators & Representatives for their
support. It passed the House last year 97 to 3, but too late
to go through the Senate.
There is much activity going on right now to "Carve Out"
Pharmacy from Health Choices in Pennsylvania and going back to
fee-for-service. We feel this would be a positive for all concerned
and we are receiving much support throughout the State.
Keystone 2004 results:
$1.8 million dollars were disbursed to Keystone stores during
the year 2004 which equals better than 66% of all monies received.
Very few "Buying Groups" could equal these figures.
Year End Participation bonus' were sent out the last week in
January. $268,000 were distributed to stores according to their
volume participation in Keystone. The average check was over
$1000. Thanks for your participation.
COMPLIANCE IS THE
KEY
IN
KEYSTONE
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