On Monday, the Assembly Subcommittee on Health & Human Services met to consider the 10% budget cuts to Medi-Cal providers as well as potential solutions offered by the Legislative Analyst.  President Paul Lofholm and Past Presidents John Tilley and Brian Komoto came to Sacramento to testify about the impact that these provider cuts will have on pharmacists, due to the fact that they cut the dispensing fee and the drug cost reimbursement.  The group, which included Kathy Lynch and myself, Heidi Barsuglia with the California Retailers Association, Jennifer Hendrick Snyder with NACDS and several other lobbyists, met with many key legislators, staffers and decision makers to tell our story. The four hour hearing began at 4 p.m. and was extremely contentious.  The testimony on behalf of pharmacy was very compelling and included excellent testimony by Paul, John and Brian. This was only the beginning of many hearings that will be called in the coming weeks. We have considerable work being done behind the scenes on this issue and we will keep you updated as we move forward.

CPhA's Legislative Day Rapidly Approaching
Due to all the issues facing CPhA and pharmacy right now, we need a huge turnout this year.  While you can register right up to Legislative Day, the earlier you register the better, so that we can plan for space, food and materials, and to ensure that you get a chance to meet with your legislator. To that end, we extended the appointment deadline to March 21, 2008.  If at all possible, please register by that date. You can register for CPhA's Legislative Day, which takes place on April 16, 2008 at www.cpha.com/legday. As you are aware, the 2008 Legislative Session is fully underway and there is great concern regarding the 10% budget cuts scheduled to go into effect on July 1, 2008. These cuts will impact both the ingredient cost and the dispensing fee and will adversely affect every pharmacist practicing in the State of California!

APhA Annual Meeting

The APhA Annual Meeting opened today in San Diego. The program looks outstanding, attendance is anticipated to be high and, of course, the city of San Diego is beautiful.  We will provide highlights of the meeting in next week's message. We wish APhA an extremely successful conference!

NASPA Meeting

In advance of APhA's Annual Meeting, members of the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Association (NASPA) met to discuss a number of important topics and hear outstanding presentations on topics such as medication errors, among others. This group consists of state association executives from around the country. This year, we had a record turnout of over 40 state executives.  As you may recall, NASPA instituted a stronger structure and a full time staff person during the last year. These efforts are paying off and are providing more value than ever to its members . I'm honored to say that I have been elected to the NASPA Executive Committee to help provide guidance and leadership to the group. This is a three year commitment and I'm looking forward to working with such outstanding colleagues.

CPhA Partners with SMCPhA to deliver 4-hour CE on MTM

The two organizations have joined forces to provide a TWO PART dinner CE program at the Coyote Point Yacht Club in San Mateo, CA.  Part 1 will take place on April 17 which will be followed by Part 2 on May 15.  (The program is designed for BOTH sessions to be attended.) Topics to be covered include: the evolution of MTM in and out of Medicare Part D; various models used to facilitate the delivery of MTM; and current opportunities for pharmacists to provide and be paid for MTM. A significant portion of the course will be a workshop where key MTM skills will be taught through a series of interactive case studies. Thanks to the generous support from Forest Pharmaceuticals and Abbott Pharmaceuticals, this program is FREE for CPhA and SMCPhA members. To obtain more information on the program including how to register, please click here.

Outlook 2009 CE Proposal Program

PFC recently sent out a formal "Call for Outlook 2009 CE Program Proposals." The blast email included a link to the CE Program Proposal Submission Guidelines, which can be viewed at: www.pharmacyfoundation.org/ce-proposal.  Again this year, speakers have the ability to submit their proposals electronically from the website (or they can print and submit the hard-copy form, which is also on the website). If you know of anyone who has an interest in being a speaker at Outlook, please encourage them to visit our website and submit a proposal by April 14, 2008.

All proposals received by April 14, 2008, will be reviewed by our Educational Advisory Committee for consideration during the CE program planning process. Applicants will be notified by May 12, 2008 regarding the status of their proposal.  Space is limited and not all of the proposals will be accepted.

Attention Academies! 

For Outlook 2009, we're hoping to make the Saturday afternoon CE programs "academy-interest specific" and, therefore, we invite all of the Academies to develop programs and submit them for consideration.  Academies that have identified a program with a speaker and funding should complete the attached form and submit it no later than April 14, 2008.  While we cannot guarantee an Academy's program will be selected, proposals that have compelling topics, secured speakers and identified sponsors will be at the top of our list for review. 

Medi-Cal Proprietary Forms Cutoff Date

Medi-Cal proprietary forms were updated to accommodate the 10-digit NPI. Beginning April 15, 2008, only the updated proprietary forms will be accepted for processing. Since July 2007, the updated proprietary forms have been available for ordering from Medi-Cal. These include, but are not limited to, Pharmacy and Long Term Care claim forms, Treatment Authorization Request, Claims Inquiry, Appeal and CHDP forms. This information is available on the Medi-Cal web site in the following link: http://files.medi-cal.ca.gov/pubsdoco/npi/articles/npi_9208.asp.  If providers currently have an inventory of the old proprietary forms, they may continue to use those through April 14, 2008.  Should you have any questions or need additional information, please call the Telephone Service Center (TSC) at 1-800-541-5555 or visit the Medi-Cal Web site.

FDA Advisory Committees: Nomination Opportunities
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) utilizes advisory committees to provide FDA with independent advice from outside experts on issues related to human and veterinary drugs, biologics products, medical devices, and food. Generally, the advisory committees: are comprised of representatives for industry, patients and providers; serve up to a four year term; and meet one to four times a year in the Washington, DC area. Although the advisory committees provide advice to the Agency, final decisions are made by the FDA. Anyone interested in serving as a member of an FDA advisory committee is encouraged to self-nominate or nominate a colleague by submitting a cover letter and curriculum vitae or resume to FDA. Information can be emailed to cv@oc.fda.gov or mailed to:

Food and Drug Administration
Advisory Committee Oversight and Management Staff (HF-4)
5600 Fishers Lane, Room 15A12
Rockville, Maryland 20857

For a listing of current FDA advisory committee vacancies go to: http://www.fda.gov/oc/advisory/vacancies/acvacbycenter.html.

In the News

The University of the Pacific's Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences offered free health screenings at the Pacific Family Health Fair. To read the Stockton Record article, click here.

The Associated Press recently ran a story about medicine in our water supply. The U.S. World & News Report has run a follow up story on how to properly dispose of medicines. To read the article, click here.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an alert today on the safe and correct use of Tussionex Pennkinetic Extended-Release Suspension in response to numerous reports of adverse events--including death--associated with the misuse and inappropriate use of this potent cough medication. Tussionex is a prescription cough medicine containing hydrocodone, a narcotic ingredient, and the antihistamine chlorpheniramine. The product is approved for use in adults and children over the age of six years old, and should be given no more frequently than every 12 hours ("extended-release"). To read the entire news release, click here.

Question of the Week

Dear Lynn,

With all the recent talk in the media about medication errors, would it be possible to help us get the word out on some great web resources that pharmacists should know about?  In addition to our website (www.PharmacyFoundation.org), people should be encouraged to explore the following:

Medication Errors (FDA)
www.fda.gov/cder/drug/MedErrors/default.htm

Reporting Adverse Experiences to FDA
www.fda.gov/medwatch/how.htm

Institute for Safe Medication Practices
www.ismp.org

And if people are in need of some consumer-oriented information on the subject, they should check out www.fda.gov/consumer/updates/medtips062107.html, and www.mypharmacist.com.

Thanks!

Michael J. Negrete, Pharm.D.

Chief Executive Officer

Pharmacy Foundation of California

Answer

Dear Mike,

Thanks for this great information.  I'll be sure to pass this along to all our members so they can take advantage of this important material.