Carol Ukens

Pharmacist salaries are still climbing, but at a slower rate. Our exclusive survey shows who gets top dollar.

Public and private payers seemingly intent on wringing the last bit of profit from drug distribution have forced pharmacy to a "critical juncture," according to Bruce Roberts, R.Ph., executive VP/CEO, National Community Pharmacists Association. He believes that if the profession is going to survive, let alone thrive, it must erect a new model built around paying pharmacists for providing face-to-face medication therapy management (MTM) services.

A pharmacy in Philadelphia has carved out a niche by dispatching a staffer across the street a couple of times a day to deliver prescriptions to patients scheduled to be discharged from a behavioral health hospital in the City of Brotherly Love.

Pharmacy students who think retail is the setting for them but who would also like more postgraduate training are being offered a chance by a California company to become residents in a community pharmacy.

A 90-day field test of paperless labeling solutions is under way at 126 pharmacy sites. One tester, Thomson PDR, has improved its PDR On-Demand appliance, which consists of a small, bar-code-enabled, touch screen kiosk that is up dated daily with the latest product information. Etreby Computer Corp. has opted for a Web-based solution in the race to win PhRMA's backing for the paperless label system to reduce those pesky paper patient inserts. Regardless of which firm comes out ahead, the technology is not supposed to cost pharmacies.

Building on their rousing diabetes disease management success with the Asheville Project, North Carolina pharmacists have been given another opportunity to strut their patient care stuff. State officials have set up a pilot program in two counties using pharmacists to help state employees manage multiple medications.