Doctors not prepared for new prescription pad rules

[Newsjock]

Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- Millions of Medicaid patients and their pharmacists could be in for a nasty surprise Oct. 1.

A tiny provision tucked into a spending bill for Iraq requires that prescriptions for Medicaid patients be written on "tamper-resistant" pads. But most doctors do not use such pads.

The law is designed to make it harder for patients to obtain controlled drugs illegally and easier for the government to save money. The quick start date leaves little time to educate doctors and pharmacists.

"Our members are absolutely flabbergasted that they're going to be put on the hook for denying prescriptions if something is not on a tamperproof pad," said Paul Kelly, vice president of government affairs for the National Association of Chain Drug Stores. "Our biggest fear is the negative impact this could have on patient care and access to prescriptions."

Read more: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/324220_medicaid19.html

[Donnachaidh]

1. I can see having tamper-proof for controlled substances

My pain med doc has been using this sort for almost a year -- but ALL meds? Big Pharma must really want a strangle-hold on the market.

[Warpy]

8. Right, I can't see them for normal meds, either

but I guess some misanthropic right winger has decided that Gramma might put a "1" in front of the # and get an extra hundred blood pressure pills to sell to seniors who aren't eligible for Medicare yet and can't afford to buy their own medicine on that part time job they took at Wally's when they got axed from the corporate job that paid the bills when they turned 55.

Gotta watch out for those Grannies turning a compassionate buck for their younger and less fortunate neighbors, right?

[Seedersandleechers]

15. Medicaid and Medicare are different

[Skip Intro]

2. Excuse me but this is FUCKED UP!

addited more than edited:


The exact opposite of what we should be doing.

The exact opposite of what a government of, by and for the people should be doing.


We should be making it easier for people to get life-saving, life-sustaining medicines.

If we could make people understand that their own health is for sale. Their lives, and the lives of their loved ones are a commodity. Change is vital. Change is imperative. People are dying. For the almighty-fucking-dollar.


Its so damned blatant.


Focus attention on it.

Offer solutions that work for the people, not the corporations.


Who knows, the way things are going, we might not have another chance.

[OzarkDem]

16. It shouldn't be that difficult for docs to comply

Sorry, but I don't have that much sympathy for the physicians here. It shouldn't be that difficult to put in an order for some of these pads and start using them.

Sometimes doctors just don't like change imposed by others. In this case, they need to go along with it.

[ThomCat]

3. This surprises me.

All my prescriptions from all of my doctors are written on tamperproof pads. I guess I thought that was standard practice. Maybe it's more common here in NYC than in other areas. Or maybe it's just because all of my doctors are affiliated with the same hospital, and it's hospital policy.
:shrug:

I like that all of my doctors are affiliated with the same place, and they can all look up what meds I am proscribed by all my other doctors. It prevents mix-ups and complications. But it also makes the tamperproof pads redundant. Nobody is going to proscribe something that someone else is already proscribing.

I guess I have it well, all things considered.

[Liberal Veteran]

14. That's because the STATE law in NY requires it.

[Scooter24]

4. I like the idea...

but this needs to be given more time to roll out. A few months seems short given there is no advanced notice of the provision. Hopefully, state agencies will get the word out to doctors to order these materials in time so patients can get their medicine.

[Maddy McCall]

5. Why MEDICAID patients, only?

That's wrong.

[jwirr]

6. Medicaid patients are usually either young families, disabled or

elderly. I suppose they think that because they are poor they are somehow criminals.

[Big Pappa]

7. It may be wrong

but we have many different rules when it comes to Medicare/Medicaid. JACHO was set up for this purpose. I think this is why so many physicians have opted out of traditional medicine and taken up things like cosmetic surgery which is basically cash up front.

[Maddy McCall]

9. It IS wrong.

Period.

[BlueIris]

11. Just another punishment designed to "encourage" people to get or stay off Medicaid.

'Cause people are "abusing" it, doncha know.

[cutlassmama]

10. without exception EVERY ONE of the medications my disabled

son has gotten through Medicaid, they initially denied. They would make the doctor jump through hoops and do paperwork. In the meantime my son was sick. Sometimes it would be a week or two before he would finally get medication. Bottom line, don't be poor and disabled in America.

[customerserviceguy]

12. Why not just move into the 21st Century

and do away with the prescription pad altogether? Doctor has a handheld device that sends a digitally signed authorization to the pharmacy of the patient's choice, and bingo, no 17th Century scrap of paper to lose or alter. If the pharmacy of choice is a mail order firm, free samples can get the patient through till the FedEx driver arrives with the package. Having corner pharmacies where they count pills that go from the big bottle to the little bottle is pretty darned inefficient, anyway.

[Liberal Veteran]

13. Except of course, if you need Plan B, antibiotics, pain pills for an injury, accutane....

...allergy medications due to an acute outbreak, asthma medications, emergency replacement supplies of medications, and a host of other situations I can think of.

Mail order is great for maintenance medications, but doctor's offices aren't stocked with every pharmaceutical in order to give out samples, and when you need certain medications, you need them today....not 10 days from now.

[customerserviceguy]

18. I can't believe

that there are not more than a relative handful of drugs given out of a corner pharmacy on an emergency basis as a result of a normal doctor visit. Certainly, I expect hospitals to continue to have pharmacies to cover inpatients, outpatients, and emergencies. People who are subject to outbreaks of an acute situation are smart to have such things on hand, anyway.

Still, the idea of an electronic link from a doctor's handheld device to a pharmacy of choice is a good idea, isn't it?

[Randomthought]

17. and put the rest of the independent pharmacist out of business?

I don't want to deal with Walgreens or Wallymart.
My independent is already struggling and has to charge a higher copay because the insurance companies don't give him the same deal as the corporations.
As for the tamper proof pads it would be a problem for my doctor. She uses a computer program that prints the 'script which she then signs.

[customerserviceguy]

19. The automaker

put the buggy whip manufacturer out of business, too. Walgreens and Mal-Wart are inefficient suppliers of prescriptions, too, that's why Wallyworld is just using them as a loss leader (in the $4 market areas) to drag in business to buy their cheap crap.

Surely, soon there will be electronic transmittal of most prescriptions to a facility that can automate counting from the big bottle to the little bottle, then overnight delivery can get it to someone's home or work. Having glorified gift shops with drug counters in the back of them is soooo 20th Century. Your independent is on the bleeding edge of this technology, but the big boys will feel the cut next.

[yardwork]

20. What company makes these tamper-proof pads?

Wanna bet they are a big contributor to bushco?

[thecrow]

21. My Kaiser doctors use a computer printout

for diagnosis, instructions, tests, and prescriptions.
The prescriptions are sent at the same time to the pharmacy, and the pharmacy can see if what you have and what the doctor sent match.

That pretty tamperproof.