Rusty Keith
SureScripts-RxHub

The federal government is locked in on what it has identified as a new front in the war on drugs: abuse of the prescription and over-the-counter drugs that teens can find in their own homes.  Public and private initiatives are looking to the entire supply chain, including retail pharmacy, to be part of the solution.  This session will focus on the dynamics that have created this new drug abuse concern, and what retail pharmacy realistically can do.

All AMP, all the time!  That has what it has felt like for pharmacy for the past year and a half.  During that time, the industry has aggressively challenged and sought to reform the faulty Average Manufacturer Price (AMP) methodology for pharmacy Medicaid reimbursement.  Last December, we successfully halted the implementation of the CMS AMP Rule, but we still are seeking a federal legislative remedy and working to limit its impact in the states.  This session will give a comprehensive update on what is happening in Court, on the Hill and in the state capitols as pharmacy continues to try to right the wrong of AMP.

Advances in health information technology and new electronic prescribing regulations are changing the landcscape of patient care.  In this session, speakers will provide an overview of the changing landscape of e-prescribing and opportunities for community pharmacy and payers to play a key role in the advancement of interoperable health information technology.  

Over the next 15 years, millennials, the largest generation in history, will continue to enter the workforce with the strength and impact of a tidal wave - and these emerging adults are NOT adapting so readily to business as usual.  Instead, they're shaking up the way companies do business.  If you haven't seen it already, rest assured, you will!  In this session, attendees will discover who the millennials are and what makes them tick, as well as explore what they don't understand about you, your company and your opportunities, and what you can do about it.

Edward J. Svihra, RPh
Walgreen Co.

Significant Trends Affecting the Pharmacist Shortage

This session will include a Wall Street analyst's view of current retail pharmacy trends, as well as insight on current issues impacting the industry such as retail clinics, AMP, Medicare Part D, RFID, and specialty pharmacy.  Investors' views of primary success factors for retail drug stores and the outlook for retail drug chains will also be discussed. 

Frank W. Carsonie, Esq.
Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff LLP

Christine C. Rinn
Crowell & Moring

Retail Clinics 2.0: New Business and Care Models (presentation)

This session will discuss the legal and regulatory lay of the land for pharmacy’s new venture - retail clinics.  Speakers will report on the current state of this growing field and the different business models out there as well as discuss contracting and regulatory issues that may arise when setting up and running a retail clinic.  In addition, potential fraud and abuse concerns that may arise in the retail clinic setting and the latest on successful and unsuccessful state efforts to regulate retail clinics and the federal response will also be discussed.  Lastly, this session will explore what the future holds for retail clinics. 

This session will address legislative and regulatory efforts for requirements to track and trace prescription drugs including recent federal legislation to mandate tracking and tracing of prescription drugs and FDA's request for information on setting standards for a unique identifier and for track and trace systems. In addition, the session will discuss recent state legislative activity.

Mark Fendrick, MD
University of Michigan

Interest is growing in the Value Based Insurance Design (VBID) concept – a concept in which financial barriers to “high-value” drugs are lowered in hopes of raising Rx compliance and avoiding more expensive medical costs later on.  According to research from Hewitt Associates, almost one in five (19%) of large companies in the U.S. have implemented a value-based plan design, and another 40% are interested in learning more about them.  Come hear an expert in the field of VBID discuss employer innovators and implementers that have promoted long-term adherence to personal health management with value-based design initiatives. Also reviewed will be strategies for building a value-based health care culture, advantages of shifting to a co-pay redesign, how this growing trend affects community pharmacy, and what roles pharmacists can play related to VBID.

Jeffrey S. Baird, JD
Brown & Fortunato, P.C.

CMS has embarked on a new program that requires Part B suppliers in certain parts of the country to competitively bid to provide certain durable medical equipment (DME), limiting the number of suppliers that might be able to provide these products.  Although the recently enacted Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA) of 2008 delayed the competitive bidding program, the program’s threats remain as, the competitive bidding process will be restarted in 2009.  This session will focus on what retail pharmacy operators need to know about the competitive bidding program and the impact of the delay.  Some issues that will be addressed in this forum will include which products and services will be subject to a fee schedule cut to fund the delay, how the delay affects providers who may have won or lost contracts in the first round, how the delay affects patients that were told they would need to use a contract supplier, the policy and legal challenges providers should be aware of to remain competitive in the upcoming bidding program, and what the new competitive bidding program will look like.