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Health Coaches Will Gain Acceptance in Supermarkets Because of PGA Policies
The Australian College of Pharmacy recently held a conference in Hobart. Within the conference structure was a panel of Pharmacy Guild personalities who fielded questions on the future of HMR’s and RMMR’s and what restrictions may be in place within the 6CPA. The general consensus appeared to be that: “It was highly likely that the…
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Patient-Centred Care is Giving Emotional Support – Are You Up To It?
Have you ever wondered why the various polls for different occupations vary when measured against the parameters of honesty, ethics and caring? The top three positions are usually fought out between nursing, pharmacy and medicine. Nursing has consistently come in at number one, with pharmacy a close second, and usually medicine a little further back…
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AMA Declares War On Pharmacists
The recent publishing by the PGA of “A Healthy Future”, a document expanding on the range of activities that can be performed in a pharmacy setting, and possibly written with 6CPA negotiations in mind, has provoked a blunt response from the AMA. An AMA spokesperson issued a statement recently, slamming the initiatives highlighted in the…
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Health Insurance-get involved
With all the debate over co-payments for doctor’s visits and PBS prescriptions it is easy to lose sight of the primary issue of a sustainable and affordable health system. While pharmacists begin to sort out the business model that will sustain them over the next decade. the consideration and problems involved as to what level…
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The Next Battlefield – Patient Diagnostics
Medical apps have exploded into health-related industries in very recent times. So much so, that they have proliferated to the extent they confuse the markets they seek to be part of. Medical apps have also been developed by a range of people, including doctors and pharmacists (one app is publicised in this edition – “Our…
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Our Pills Talk – an Aussie Pharmacist Initiative
Editor’s Note: I recently had contact with an enterprising pharmacist by the name of Steve Cohen. Steve had an idea for a mobile phone app that would bring dispensed medicine directions to life by utilising QR codes to enable a patient to “hear” their medication instructions in a language of their choice. This initiative forms…
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A Great Pharmacy Opportunity – Omnichannel Retailing
Retailing is all about being fast on your feet and unfortunately pharmacy has lost its retail skill set, except maybe in the field of discounting, which is not an attractive model for this point in retail pharmacy development. General retailers are looking (and acting) on a concept called omnichannel retailing which is a trend for…
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Where are all the oldies going?
OK! I’ve had enough. I can’t sit back any longer and watch geriatric medicine become a cash cow for disinterested GPs and uncaring pharmacists. Let me give you a list: Proton pump inhibitors prescribed and dispensed for years at a time, in high doses, given at the wrong times of the day. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatories prescribed…
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MANAGE THE SYMPTOMS OF YOUR COLD OR FLU WITHOUT ANTIBIOTICS:
With news this week that winter flu season is in full swing, NPS MedicineWise is reminding Australians that for most people, resting and treating the symptoms is the best course of action when you have a cold or flu — and that’s because flu is caused by viruses, not bacteria, so antibiotics won’t help. NPS…
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Don’t Stop Taking Anticoagulants Without Talking to Your Doctor: NPS MEDICINEWISE
With anticoagulant medicine dabigatran (brand name Pradaxa) in the news this week following reports that safety information about the medicine had been withheld by the manufacturer, NPS MedicineWise is reminding people not to stop taking it without talking to their doctor. Dabigatran (Pradaxa), apixaban (Eliquis) and rivaroxaban (Xarelto) are newer anticoagulant medicines that have been…