NASPA CEO Rebecca Snead and National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) CEO Doug Hoey recently penned an opinion piece in Drug Topics on the Allied Against Opioid Abuse (AAOA) Pharmacy Toolkit. Pharmacists are in a unique position to educate their patients on the risks of prescription opioid safety, as well as safe storage and disposal of unused […]
Ohio Bill Allows Pharmacists to Substitute Epinephrine
A new bill in Ohio allows pharmacists to substitute generic epinephrine for brand-name drugs. The Epinephrine Accessibility Act, signed into law earlier this month, allows pharmacists “to substitute a prescribed, brand-name epinephrine auto-injector for a pharmaceutically equivalent epinephrine auto-injector.” This change in the law could potentially save patients hundreds of dollars per prescription. The Ohio Pharmacists […]
Arkansas Issues First Licenses to PBMs
A new state law in Arkansas aimed at regulating pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) went into effect this month. Act 3, crafted during the 2018 special session, authorizes the Arkansas Insurance Department to license and oversee PBMs. This new law includes mandated reporting on spread pricing, hopefully eliminating the practice. “Our understanding is the spread pricing […]
New Idaho Bill Makes Naloxone More Available
A new bill in Idaho aims at making it easier to give out naloxone. The current law states that a “prescriber or pharmacist” must give out naloxone, making it difficult for health systems to hold naloxone outreach programs. The new bill, introduced this week, would replace this with “health professional.” “We want the drug in […]
Mirixa to Merge with OutcomesMTM
Cardinal Health announced earlier this week that it has acquired Mirixa, which will integrate with OutcomesMTM. For 2019, both platforms will operate in parallel, and then over time unify to streamline MTM delivery and documentation. “For many years, OutcomesMTM and Mirixa have shared a common vision to increase healthcare quality and decrease cost through the […]
Engaging and Educating Our Patients to Help Address the Opioid Crisis
As we look to the start of 2019, NASPA is encouraged by the work pharmacists across the country are doing to address the opioid epidemic. Important conversations between pharmacists, patients and their caregivers are helping more Americans understand the rights, risks and responsibilities associated with prescription opioids. Healthcare providers play a significant role in preventing […]