CHANGES TO THE ALBERTA PHARMACY COMPENSATION MODEL: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Feb 27, 2012Posted By: igorUnder: General News, Pharmacy Profession
On February 13th, 2012 Honourable Fred Horne, Minister of Health and Wellness, announced large changes to how pharmacists will be remunerated as of July 1st this year. Pharmacists across the province have been anticipating a change in how they are compensated for the many health services they provide not directly attached to the dispensing of prescription medications, however the announcement last week was disappointing and again leaves pharmacies to grapple with yet another cut in revenues and waiting on a promise to fund professional services that are proven time and again, to be of huge value to patient health outcomes.
The following changes to the compensation framework were made (see AHS news release for full publication):
1) The government will reduce the amount they pay for generic drugs by 85 million dollars. While this looks like it will be a blow to generic drug companies, the financial loss will be to pharmacies across the province.
2) 20 million dollars will be directed to pharmacists for prescription renewals. It was explained that when a patient has a prescription renewed by their pharmacist, the government will pay a fee of $20 to the pharmacy.
3) 5.3 million dollars will go to support rural pharmacies in 2012/2013 as part of a three-year 15.9 million dollar Remote Pharmacy Access Grant This recognizes that this 85million dollar reduction in revenues to pharmacies will have a huge impact on the business of pharmacy. Therefore...
Newest Guidelines for Vitamin D Intake Reflect Debate Among Experts
Jan 3, 2012Posted By: igorUnder: General News, Health News
Although the new Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) values for Vitamin D will apply to both Canada and United States, there appears to be some disagreement among the experts when setting these values. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) in December 2010, revised the DRI's for Vitamin D intake. This was not without much discussion , some of it in support for providing evidence-based deliberations and others being critical of the way in which this evidence, in particular the new roles of Vitamin D were being dismissed. Anyone who has followed the changes in how we view this Vitamin and the increasing recommendations for higher and higer DRI values, can attest to the growing debate among various expert groups.
The newest DRI levels for Vitamin D are based solely on bone health indicators . As a result, the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for infants is 400IU, for everyone else; the RDA is 600IU which covers ages 1 to 70 years of age. Those over 70, have an RDA of 800IU. These are dietary recommendations and are based on the assumption that there is minimal sun exposure and were set to achieve 50nmol/L of plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D. New Upper Levels for Vitamin D are 4,000 IU for ages 9 years and over, with lower levels set for younger ages.
However, there is a need for more research to determine non-skeletal benefits of Vitamin D, and whether different intake levels are needed to satisfy those actions. Why? In the past years, we have growing evidence that...
Trends – Products to Watch
Dec 24, 2011Posted By: igorUnder: Product News, Stafford Pharmacy News
You will be seeing a new topic posted on our site, which we have entitled "Trends - Products to Watch", which will be focused on new and promising products that we have discovered. Before we bring attention to any of these products we will endeavor to do our research, to verify any therapeutic claims or confirm any suggested benefits. As part of this review we will also determine whether or not the product is safe to use and to advise of any precautions with respect to potential interactions with prescribed medications. We remind you however, that no matter how promising a particular product might sound, even if we determine that some or all of the benefits are reasonable, each person should apply their own measure of skepticism as well as consider their personal health status, including medications you may be taking for long term disease management, as well as the short term treatment of disease. Many of the products that are found to show promise will be offered here at our pharmacy. That means you will always have the benefit of being able to ask the pharmacist any questions that might be appropriate about a new product and how it might impact your drug regimen BEFORE you take any off the shelf products.
Never assume that any product is 100% safe, even if it contains ingredients that someone claims are "natural", or that are "herbal". If any ingredient whether it be from plant, animal, or mineral has a measurable therapeutic effect th...
Minor Face Lift
Dec 23, 2011Posted By: igorUnder: General News
For those of you who regularly drop by to see what's new, thank you. We appreciate your loyalty and your sincere interest in what we bring to the internet community.
And a community it certainly is. What with Facebook user numbers creeping ever so much closer to a billion, it's hard to believe there are any people going out to the mall or to a movie or any social gathering that takes them away from places like Facebook. Yet of course, there are the "Smart Phones" that bring all that connectivity to the handheld device. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google + and more, all available to the masses as they wander down the streets of our towns and cities.
What with all these eyes browsing the internet it is certainly a challenge to keep a "fresh face" on and to continue the content improvements that make a site like this of value, if only measured by the number of people who bookmark the site or just a page or two within the site. Not to fear, we are doing both and have been fortunate to have a creative hardworking in-house crew. We have recently updated the top of page banner to reflect the season and as a result of my own whining and whimpering have recently convinced our website architect, Jesse Johnstone to make some behind the scenes changes that might allow us to make it much easier to make certain updates to the website.
Although what I've referred to as our "minor face lift" refers to the look and presentation of the site, the real "heavy...
Information You Can Depend On – Stafford Pharmacy & Home Healthcare Newsletter
Oct 2, 2011Posted By: igorUnder: Our Website, Stafford Pharmacy News
New Website AdverseEvents Focuses on Drug Adverse Effects
Oct 1, 2011Posted By: igorUnder: General News, The Internet
There is a new website, AdverseEvents (www.adverseevents.com) that has been reported to be somewhat troubling for some innovator pharmaceutical companies. These "innovators" are the companies that are involved in the development and marketing of new drugs, and sometimes even the basic research that leads to the new drug. Everyone should know that any and all drugs, new and old, have to be used with consideration given to the benefits of this product measured against the risks. Unless the benefits outweigh the risks, the value of any particular therapeutic agent is greatly diminished.
Some of these risks are in the form of adverse effects, also known as side effects. Anyone who has taken most any prescription medication will have been counseled about these risks, which can range from relatively common to darn right rare. As healthcare practitioners we usually take the position that the better a patient understands the medication they are taking the greater the benefits at the same time, the less likely these adverse effects will cause serious problems.
This is because many of the adverse effects are of low incidence or are of short duration. We commonly explain that some of these effects are a result of your body learning how to behave in the presence of that new medication. Any new drug is a “foreign” chemical which your body has to learn how to absorb; how to metabolize – how to detoxify; how to eliminate and of course, how to function given the parti...
Snake Oil Salesman – The True Story
Aug 5, 2011Posted By: igorUnder: Complementary Alternative Medicine, Historical Notes
The term “Snake Oil Salesman” for most people brings to mind notions of a “charlatan”, the “huckster” who years gone by was noted for his peddling of worthless nostrums and quack remedies that made all manner of health claims. The salesman’s character was that of a fast talker who with a certain twisted charm and verbal misdirection, could convince the consumers of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s that his medicinals were capable of curing all manner of disease or for that matter, regain lost youth and grow hair on a billiard ball.
It’s unfortunate that the term “snake oil” became associated with that description of salesman, because snake oil per se, has a very different story, based on some good science. Historically, snake oil saw use by the Chinese who immigrated to North America, many to labour on the building of the railways. Their labours were very physical, as they worked to lay the track that gradually connected all of North America.
Of course, as a result of their labours, they found the need to alleviate muscular and joint aches, a result of this very physical work. What they brought with them was in fact snake oil, that when rubbed on the skin above the area of pain brought relief, or at least as it was reported. This story had to wait until 1989 before a nutrition-oriented physician from California; Dr. Richard Kunin decided to find out just what was in snake oil that may have given it this pain relieving ability....
New Feature – Online Video Clips
Jul 5, 2011Posted By: igorUnder: Stafford Pharmacy News
We've just finished adding a new page to our website and personally am very excited by the addition. We have taken our current offering of television commercial spots and displayed them on our website under the heading of "About" . So, if you nagivate to: http://www.staffordpharmacy.com/about-stafford-pharmacy/our-tv-ads/ you will find several video selections that include a 30 second introduction to "Compounding", another that for many people is their first introduction to "Customized Dosage Forms for Veterinary Medicine". In that particular video clip, you will meet "Nova" our seven year old, pure bred, German Shepherd female who is being treated with some of our "doggie" flavoured treats, one of several unique dosage forms that we prepare for companion animals.
Other dosing options may simply be a beef flavoured suspension for a medication that otherwise is not available or just not very palatable for your furry member of the family. So for your dog we might flavour with beef or liver or chicken; and for your cat it might be fish flavour such as Tuna, Salmon or a combination. We even have a "ham" flavour for the discriminating canine or feline. You can start to appreciate the options available. In fact, we now have flavoured oral capsules that will be used to incorporate an animal's medication, as we find that the taste of a medication actually begins with the "smell" of that oral dosage form.
The selection of video cl...
Pharmacists in the Top Five Trusted Professions
Jun 24, 2011Posted By: igorUnder: General News
The recent issue of the Reader’s Digest that we regularly receive at the pharmacy, included an article that shared the results of their recent survey of readers, to see what professions have earned the trust of their readership. This is not the first such survey done, as I am aware of at least three other such surveys done in the past five years. The format of each is slightly different but what is in common is that the Pharmacist has consistently placed in the top ten and like the Reader’s Digest Survey, the last two survey’s I have been aware of, have found the Pharmacist to be in the Top Five.
So, what does that mean?
Well, to a pharmacist such as myself I’ve taken that to mean that consumers have come to trust pharmacists for their knowledge, honesty, integrity and professionalism. That’s a mouthful but it says that consumers look to pharmacists as reliable sources of accurate health and drug information. This hasn’t happened over night by the way, as the profession has been working for years to establish a professional culture that includes raised standards of practice as well as new practice authorities.
Before entering the profession pharmacists must complete five to six years of University study to gain the knowledge base and the clinical background necessary for a pharmacist. After completing their education they must then pass a comprehensive national exam that tests their knowledge from those four years. Finally they m...
Calcium Supplements and Cardiovascular risk – What does it mean for you?
May 3, 2011Posted By: igorUnder: Health News
If you have been watching the news, you may be wondering if you should continue to take the calcium supplement in your medicine cabinet anymore.
Recently published studies have stated that supplementing with calcium can increase the risk of cardiovascular problems. In particular, these studies found that in patients over the age of 40 taking 500 mg or more of calcium may experience increased cardiovascular risk. They found that supplementation with calcium significantly increased the risk of heart attack by 27-31% when compared to those who were not supplementing with calcium.
Most of the studies that have been done to date have limitations. They were not originally done to directly measure the risk of cardiovascular risk that arises due to calcium supplementation. Additionally, these studies did not look at whether using calcium supplements in combination with vitamin D supplementation lowers this risk in any way.
In conclusion, we need more studies to look directly at the cardiovascular risk that may be associated with the use of calcium supplements. The study should also look at whether or not concurrent supplementation with Vitamin D yields the same risk as calcium supplementation alone.
Current recommendations suggest the following amounts of calcium and vitamin D be consumed on a daily basis via a combination of diet and/or supplements:
Adults <50: Calcium 1000 mg/day and Vitamin D 800-2000IU/day
Adults >50: Calcium 1200 mg/da...
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