CEO Message January 4, 2008

Author: Lynn Rolston
Dear Member,

Happy New Year!  This is going to be an exciting year for so many reasons.  We are looking forward to a lot of great things for CPhA and its members.  This week started out with a bang, as a series of major storms have blown through Sacramento, preventing many of the staff members from making it to the office today.  We are not complaining too much as we need the rain.  We will be back in full swing on Monday when the Legislature reconvenes for 2008.

Outlook 2008 Laptop Winner
CPhA is excited to announce the winner of the new Dell Laptop Computer. This year's winner is CPhA member Ronald Keil from Rescue, CA. The laptop winner was selected from those members who registered for Outlook 2008 by midnight on December 21, 2007. A number was randomly selected and the winner chosen. Congratulations Ron!
 
Outlook 2008 Early Bird Registration Extended
The early bird rate for Outlook 2008 has been extended until Friday, January 11! CPhA hopes this four-day extension provides everyone with enough time to register for Outlook at the reduced conference rates. If you have not registered yet, go to www.cpha.com/outlook to register today! Each year Outlook is bigger and better, and this year is no exception. We have some terrific events and great continuing education programs that will keep you on the forefront of your profession.

Extended Early Bird Discount for Pharmacist Members!
If you have not renewed your membership yet, now is the time. CPhA has extended our $30.00 early bird discount for Pharmacist Members for one week, until January 11, 2008! We have extended the early bird discount as a courtesy to those who may have tried to reach us during the holiday period with questions and were unsuccessful. So, be sure to take advantage of the extension and renew your membership today! If you have any questions or issues, please contact Theresa Andrews, Director of Membership at tandrews@cpha.com or (916) 337-8877.

Reminder- Register your NPI Number ASAP
According to EDS, almost 50% of providers have not registered their NPIs with Medi-Cal.  As a result, electronic claims submitted through Computer Media Claims (CMC) cannot be accepted for processing. To ensure uninterrupted claim payments, all providers must register their NPI with Medi-Cal as soon as possible.  Notifications are being made to the submitters, billers and/or clearinghouses; however, it is the provider’s responsibility to ensure their NPI is registered with Medi-Cal.  Once NPI registration is completed, the batches must be submitted again.  Providers can register their NPI with Medi-Cal using the National Provider Identifier Collection (NPIC) tool on the Medi-Cal website or through hardcopy or bulk registration. Providers who obtained subpart NPIs from NPPES must register each NPI with the appropriate Medi-Cal provider number at a one-to-one ratio. Failure to use the corresponding NPI registered for a Medi-Cal provider number may result in denial of claims.  Should you need assistance in registering your NPI number, you may contact the NPI Helpdesk at 1-800-541-5555, option 16 and then option 18 for NPI registration.

Wanted: Moderators for Outlook 2008 CE Programs
The Pharmacy Foundation of California is seeking volunteers to moderate CE programs at Outlook 2008.  Responsibilities include introducing the speaker, making special announcements as needed and ensuring that the program starts/ends on time.  Moderators will be provided with a "script" and the speaker’s bio prior to the conference.  There are currently 30 continuing education sessions that still need moderators, so please contact Shannon Presidio at spresidio@pharmacyfoundation.org if you would like to help out this year.  Thank you!

New Member Benefit!
We’re pleased to announce a new partnership between APhA and CPhA.  CPhA members may now purchase APhA pharmacy books and informational resources at a substantial savings. These discounts were typically reserved for APhA members only but are now being offered to CPhA members as a new benefit.  Follow the provided link, CPhA/ APhA Book Program, and begin saving today!

Medicare Part D Update
Very soon, we will be providing you with a new data sheet listing the contact phone numbers and BIN/PCN number to cross reference for current Medicare plan providers because many of these plans have three different names they go by.  Additionally, ARGUS is having time out issues (10-20% of claims were timed out prior to processing). Representatives have been working diligently to rectify the situation and it appears they have resolved most of them.  There have also been reports of problems with transition fills for roll over patients (i.e., if new patient to the plan, the transition fill would process; if in same plan, but formulary changed – transition fill was not processing)…if you hear of this please let Veronica Van Orman know specifically what plan (BIN/PCN) is having the issue.

HHS to Hold Public Summit
HHS is hosting a public summit on January 8, 2008 in Mountain View, California.  The topic is “Wired for Wellness - Advancing 21st Century Medicine with Electronic Health Records.”  To learn more about this summit, click here.

Pharmacy Technician CE Update
On Wednesday, we included information regarding changes affecting Technician CE with our “California CE Options” blast email.  Based on your feedback, we researched this issue further to help alleviate any concerns that Technicians would be unable to attend the CE classes at Outlook 2008.  It is true that the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) now requires ACPE-accredited providers to designate their CE programs separately for pharmacists and technicians (with a “P” or a “T” at the end of the Universal Program Number).  While this new designation may affect Technicians in other states, it does not seem likely that Technicians in California will be affected unless the California State Board of Pharmacy and/or the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB) change their current regulations.

At this time, the California State Board of Pharmacy does NOT require Technicians to submit CE statements for license renewal.  Technicians that are certified by PTCB must complete 20 hours of CE every 2 years for recertification but those hours do not necessarily have to be from ACPE-accredited programs.  PTCB is not requiring Technicians to only submit statements with the “T” designation; they will accept statements of credit that have a “P” designation as long as the program falls within the scope of practice for Pharmacy Technicians.  PTCB certified technicians should visit the PTCB website or call (800) 363-8012 if they need further clarification. We will continue monitoring this situation and will report any new information to you as soon as possible.

FDS Medwatch: Alaris Pump Module Worldwide Recall
Cardinal Health notified its customers of a voluntary recall for all Alaris Pump modules, model 8100 (formerly known as Medley Pump module), shipped prior to September 27, 2007. The product is an infusion pump used to dispense various medications. The recall covers Alaris Pump modules that were distributed to 46 States, the District of Columbia, Canada, Guam, Puerto Rico and Saudi Arabia. The pump module was recalled because the unit may contain misassembled occluder springs (bent, broken, nested or missing) that occurred during manufacturing. Misassembled springs could lead to overinfusion that could result in serious adverse health consequences or death. Overinfusion may be difficult to detect because the misassembled springs can work intermittently, and there is no warning or notification of an overinfusion. See the manufacturer's press release for a list of the serial numbers for the devices affected by this recall and how the manufacturer will work with customers to minimize disruption while completing an inspection of the devices. Read the complete 2007 MedWatch Safety Summary including a link to the manufacturer’s press release regarding this issue at: http://www.fda.gov/medwatch/safety/2007/safety07.htm#cardinal

In the News
The January Pharmacist's Letter analyzes the new DEA ruling that allows prescribers to write multiple C-II Rxs on the same day if you meet certain conditions.  To receive timely updates on this DEA ruling and more, visit the Pharmacist’s Letter website today, or subscribe to receive e-newsletters directly.

Bloomberg ran an interesting article on the Governor’s health care plan and how presidential candidates are watching closely how things unfold.  Here’s an excerpt: All of the candidates for president left standing after yesterday's Iowa caucuses have offered proposals to improve the nation's health care, and their campaigns may be keeping a close eye on Sacramento. Schwarzenegger's effort, whether it succeeds or fails, exposes the roadblocks that any attempt to revamp the current U.S. health-care system will have to overcome.

Question of the Week

Dear Lynn:
 
I have tried logging into the CPhA website to register for Outlook 2008 and my user name and password are no longer valid. Was there some sort of communication put out by CPhA telling members that their user names and passwords have changed that I may have missed? Please provide me with information regarding how to log onto the CPhA website in order to register for Outlook 2008.
 
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
 
Sincerely,
 
George Yasutake
Past President
 
Answer

Dear George:
 
Thank you very much for your question. We removed the login requirement from www.cpha.com approximately one year ago in an effort to make our site more user-friendly and accessible to members. CPhA is also currently in the transition of moving our website to another company. Part of this transition was the creation of the Outlook 2008 registration website (www.cpha.com/outlook). CPhA Members were assigned a new username and a temporary password to this new site. Your user name is FirstnameLastname and the initial password is “cpha”.  This username and password will remain the same even after we transition the entire website over. We hope that this will be much more convenient for our members. But in the meantime, if you go to the CPhA Homepage, you do not need to login to view news or other information. The only time you need to login is when you register for Outlook 2008 which is located at www.cpha.com/outlook.

Rating: Not rated yet
1	2	3	4	5
Number of ratings: 0