Earlier this year, the Senate passed the Inflation Reduction Act (a.k.a. Build Back Better Act) which was heavily covered in press. I will only focus on what the Act has in store for pharmacies and will highlight the most important provisions for the pharmacy industry.
The Act – at its core – gives CMS ability
Under various state laws and DEA regulations, every pharmacist must resolve “red flags” before dispensing a prescription for controlled substances. Most of the pharmacy state boards have published lists of what constitutes such red flags. For example, the California State Board of Pharmacy has published the following list of red flags (other states use the
Back in 2021, the Secretary of the federal Department of Health and Human Services authorized licensed pharmacists to independently order and administer any COVID-19 therapeutic, subject to certain conditions ( under the Ninth Amendment to Declaration Under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act for Medical Countermeasures Against COVID-19).
Recently – on July 6, 2022
Back in 2017, the California Department of Healthcare Services (DHCS) approved a new methodology – National Average Drug Acquisition Cost (NADAC) – for reimbursing pharmacies for their drug cost. NADAC prices significantly reduced pharmacy reimbursements. See a related blog post.
For technical and financial reasons, the DHCS has not implemented the new reimbursement methodology until
Earlier this year, a client reported a very smooth scam. Someone called the pharmacy and represented to be a California Board of Pharmacy inspector who was investigating an anonymous complaint against the pharmacy. The so-called “inspector” asked the pharmacy to provide its account number with Cardinal, which the pharmacy staff did. The scammer then contacted
Starting February 9, 2022, California pharmacies must submit controlled substance dispensing to CURES through Bamboo Health. The last date to submit data through Atlantic Associates is February 8, 2022. Pharmacies must complete the registration process with Bamboo Health as soon as possible to ensure they are prepared for the switch. Register with Bamboo here.
Keeping accurate records for controlled substances often presents a challenge. The Controlled Substances Act requires every pharmacy to maintain complete and accurate records on a current basis for each controlled substance received, sold, delivered, or otherwise disposed of.
This closed system is supposed to reduce the potential for diversion of controlled substances (“CS”).
But in
Is your pharmacy located in California and selling over-the-counter Covid-19 at-home test kits? If so, you must be careful on how much you charge for these Kits.
On January 8, 2022, Governor Newsom signed Executive Order prohibiting excessive charging for the Kits in order to allow access to these products for as many people as
Back in 2020, I wrote a blog post on potential PBM audit issues and disciplinary actions based on purchasing diabetic test strips from unauthorized wholesalers. The problem is still prevalent. In fact, during these past few months, we have seen several manufacturers sending cease-and -desist letters to pharmacies demanding money for lost sales and threatening
Based on popular demand, we now offer “USP 800 – Hazardous Drugs” policy through our compliance platform RxPolicy.
Starting this year, most PBMs require this policy for recredentialing. In addition, it is a required policy for compounding, retail, LTC, and clinical pharmacies, and any other entities that handle hazardous drugs. There is a mistaken