The Test to Treat initiative was launched in March 2022 in an effort to provide Americans with immediate access to COVID-19 treatments. It allows someone who tests positive for COVID-19 to receive treatment at select pharmacies, long-term care facilities, and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC). In response, the American Medical Association (AMA) and American Pharmacists Association (APhA) both issued statements taking a stance on the initiative. Here, we’ll look at the details of the Test to Treat program and also the opinions of the AMA and APhA.

After graduation, many healthcare professionals just starting out in developing financial literacy and planning their own finances might first think of saving for retirement, paying off student debt, or building up an emergency fund. Or, if you have kids, you might also think about saving for their college expenses. However, being insured against life’s many twists and turns is a critical component of financial planning and should be given just as high of a priority as any other financial goal. Here, we’ll look at insurance products to consider after graduating to protect you and your family.

Whether or not you would recommend a career in healthcare to your child, children of physicians are more likely to go to medical school than their peers. As recently as 2015, 1 of every 5 medical students had a parent who was a physician. And while the average student loan debt across all fields is around $38,000, healthcare professionals can rack up much more. Pharmacists had an average debt of $170,000 in 2019, while physicians had an average debt of $200,000 the same year. If you have high student debt yourself, you might find it hard to begin saving for your child’s education. So it’s important to find the best places to put that money and to start early, even if it’s just a small monthly contribution.

Community pharmacy has long been transitioning away from the traditional medication-dispensing-only model to provide non-dispensing services that can play a significant role in patient outcomes. The number of community pharmacies offering these non-dispensing services continues to grow, and, so, it’s a good idea for providers to understand how to take full advantage of a pharmacist’s education and training to help their patients receive the best care possible. Here, we’ll look at community pharmacy services that go beyond dispensing and how people can take full advantage of them.

Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperature and weather patterns. Since the 1800s, humans have contributed to climate change by burning fossil fuels and through activities that add greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere. Climate change is expected to cause more severe droughts, storms, heat waves, rising sea levels, melting glaciers, and warming oceans. It is also a health crisis that may lead to more death and disease. As healthcare providers, it is our responsibility to provide care. So we must act to lessen the consequences of climate change. Here, we’ll look at the impacts the healthcare industry has on climate change and explore ways we can reduce our impacts.

Community pharmacies are those that dispense medications to patients who aren’t hospitalized or in nursing facilities. This series explores how community pharmacy practice differs around the world. In doing so, it allows us to view our own system in a new light and find possible opportunities for improvement. So far, we’ve explored the practice of pharmacy in Japan, Finland, Australia, Switzerland, England, the United Arab Emirates, and Iran. In this post, we’ll look at our first country in Africa: Malawi.

Although medication cost is a common concern for patients, both patients and providers often find it difficult to discuss. According to the Cost Conversation projects, most patients are concerned about cost but many are waiting for their provider to start the conversation. However, most providers don’t routinely ask about cost. That’s a missed opportunity. Patients use different strategies to save money on their medications, including skipping doses or skipping medications altogether. In fact, medication nonadherence has been estimated to lead to 125,000 avoidable deaths annually.

Long before I began pharmacy school I had an itch for adventure, and as I went through school I always kept an eye out for opportunities to either make the most of my summers off (other than my rotation) or to combine my love of travel and the outdoors with pharmacy. I remember one wintery day, when it was snowing hard outside, I logged into the library’s computer and began a search for a summer escape. I don’t quite remember what I typed in, but I discovered a Divemaster Internship on Roatan,

Although financial advisors recommend saving at least 10% of your income for retirement, most Americans fall far short of that. A study by Vanguard found that the median savings among those ages 25 to 34 was just $13,265. People closer to retirement did not catch up, either: Those ages 45 to 54 had $56,722, and those closest to retirement, at ages 55 to 64, had just $84,714. This lack of savings has sometimes been termed the retirement crisis.

GoodRx was founded to help people save money on their prescription medications and improve drug price transparency by allowing patients to shop for the best price. In many cases, the price paid with the GoodRx card is lower than with insurance. Since 2011, GoodRx has helped save people over $40 billion on their prescriptions. Here, we’ll look at the effect that has had on healthcare and on the lives of everyday Americans — what we like to call “The GoodRx Effect.”

Medical mistrust in the U.S. stems from long-held practices and now widely publicized events that have shaken communities throughout our history. Although the U.S. was founded on the principles of freedom and equal rights for everyone, it has not always delivered that promise for everyone living within its borders. The transatlantic slave trade, the Trail of Tears, and the practice of eugenics are just a few examples that illustrate the origins of medical mistrust. Groups that have historically been marginalized, taken advantage of, and wronged in the U.S. are more likely to mistrust medical and public health authorities. This mistrust is deeply rooted and will take time and effort to address.

Anyone who runs a business should have a basic understanding of accounting. And healthcare professionals are no exception. Whether you work in an office, a pharmacy, or a hospital, all healthcare facilities must keep up with their finances. Here, we’ll go over some accounting basics so you can feel more confident about speaking with your accounting teams and understanding the financial statements they produce for you.

The U.S. has by far the highest per capita healthcare spending in the world, with no signs of slowing down. In 2020, healthcare spending in the U.S. reached $4.1 trillion, or $12,530 for every person in the country. Medicare and Medicaid expenditures collectively made up 36% of that cost, or $4,510 per capita. That’s nearly the same as the 2019 per capita spending of the U.K. ($4,582) and Finland ($4,450) both of which insure every resident of the country. Yet Medicare and Medicaid combined only insure about 40% Americans.

Community pharmacies are those that dispense medications to patients who aren’t hospitalized or in nursing facilities. This series explores how community pharmacy practice differs around the world. In doing so, it gives us the opportunity to view our own system in a new light and potentially find opportunities for improvement. So far, we’ve explored the practice of pharmacy in Japan, Finland, Australia, Switzerland, England, and the United Arab Emirates. In this post, we’ll look at pharmacy practice in Iran, a health system rarely studied by Americans. Iran’s approach to regulation, pharmacy practice, and education, though, is surprisingly quite similar to that of the U.S.

In the U.S., antitrust laws grew out of growing consolidation and control of entire industries by single companies in the 1800s. Prices could be fixed by these companies with no control or competition to stop them, and, as a result, prices skyrocketed. After becoming president in 1901, Theodore Roosevelt began a campaign to break up monopolies, and, today, there are both federal and state antitrust laws in place to protect consumers and promote competition.

Despite the U.S. having drug utilization similar to other developed nations, its high drug prices have resulted in the highest prescription drug spending in the world. In fact, a widely cited report from the Rand Corporation found that our prices averaged 256% of those seen in 32 other countries included in the study. For branded medications, that cost difference jumped to 344%. To the public and also to much of the healthcare community, drug pricing is shrouded in mystery. The complexity of the U.S. system, combined with the fact that major players in the system negotiate contracts behind closed doors, makes unraveling that mystery challenging.

Community pharmacies are those that dispense medications to patients who aren’t hospitalized or in nursing facilities. This series explores how community pharmacy practice differs around the world. In doing so, it gives us the opportunity to view our own system in a new light and potentially find opportunities for improvement. So far, we’ve explored the practice of pharmacy in Japan, Finland, Australia, Switzerland, and England. In this post, we’ll look at our first Middle Eastern country: the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Insurance rejections are an unfortunate but necessary part of daily practice for pharmacists and providers alike. While rejections are an important cost-containment tool for payers, they can add a significant administrative burden for medical offices. Understanding insurance rejections can help offices improve workflow and communication, saving staff time and ensuring patients get the medications they need. In this article, we’ll look at the most common types of medication-related insurance rejections and discuss ways providers and pharmacists can handle them.

Community pharmacies are those that dispense medications to patients who aren’t hospitalized or in nursing facilities. This series explores how community pharmacy practice differs around the world. In doing so, it gives us the opportunity to view our own system in a new light and potentially find opportunities for improvement. We’ve crossed the globe, covering countries as diverse as Japan, Australia, and Switzerland.

Ideas and execution to identify and serve the most vulnerable, featuring: Alex Evans, Medical Writer, Pharmacy Project Manager, Ascension Florida Pam Toney, Executive Director, Bluffton Jasper Volunteers in Medicine Taylor Reed, Executive Director, Charitable Pharmacy of Central Ohio