I am honored to be placed in the position of president of the Missouri Pharmacy Association during the 2012-2013 year.  The profession of pharmacy is changing right before our eyes and we now have the opportunity to be recognized as the health care practitioners to receive compensation for services other than dispensing medications.  New mandates are currently being put in place to include compensation for pharmacist's intervention in patient care.  It's time for ALL pharmacists in Missouri to step up to the challenge. 

It is so important that we as pharmacists communicate with one another as well as the public about what pharmacists do every day to improve the lives of patients in our state.  We are the most accessible healthcare practitioner for patients.  As the number of primary care physicians continues to decrease, pharmacists will be needed even more.  It is vital that our profession step up and accept the challenge of non-dispensing services for our patients. 

Recently, the Missouri State Board of Pharmacy released the rules on Medication Therapy Services (MTS) (see http://pr.mo.gov/pharmacists.asp). MTS is different from MTM in that MTS is defined as "the designing, initiating, implementing, or monitoring of a plan to monitor the medication therapy or device usage of a specific patient, by a pharmacist who has authority to initiate or implement a modification of the patient's medication therapy or device usage pursuant to a medication therapy protocol."  This is yet another avenue for pharmacists in our state to provide care to patients.  With the formation of the Missouri Pharmacist's Care Network (MoPCN), pharmacists in our state now have the opportunity to work with a network as an independent practitioner, a network that can provide non-dispensing opportunities to members. I would encourage you to check out www.morx.com/pcn for more information on this opportunity for pharmacists of all practice settings.  The State of Missouri also has an opportunity to pay pharmacists for cognitive services to Medicaid patients.  Direct Care Pro currently has dollars to pay pharmacists for non-dispensing services.  Call 1-888-581-9797 for more information.

Another important program I'd like for you to look into is Generation Rx. Generation Rx is an online turnkey program that is available to any pharmacist that would like to use it at NO CHARGE.  Generation Rx presents an opportunity for you to have access to great presentations that you can use to present to schools, churches, community groups, etc... on Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention.  I encourage you to check out Generation Rx and consider doing a presentation in your community.  If you aren't comfortable with speaking in front of a group of people, call one of our School's of Pharmacy about sending a couple of students to your community to help you with doing a presentation.  It's a great opportunity to do something positive in your community and show your knowledge of prescriptions to the public.  It will also give you some good karma with your community!

I would like to put forth four challenges to every MPA member pharmacist.  

1. Join the MoPCN today.  Go to www.morx.com/pcn and JOIN today!  
2. Enroll in Direct Care Pro.  Please call 1-888-581-9797 or email cyberaccesshelpdesk@acs-inc.com for questions on how to enroll.
3. Enroll in Generation Rx on www.cardinalhealth.com/generationrx and find at least one opportunity in your community to present information on the values of a pharmacist in your community and inform the audience about Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention using Generation RX.
4. Step out of your comfort zone and make a difference in your community.

I look forward to serving the pharmacists in the state of Missouri and continuing to contribute to health care.  Please feel free to contact me directly at timfamilyrx@gmail.com or call me at 417-389-1899 about any questions or issues that you might have.  Also feel free to call the MPA office at 1-800-468-4672 for additional questions.  

WE ARE PHARMACISTS MAKING A DIFFERENCE!!!