New Ohio Department of Medicaid rule expands pharmacists reimbursement options
Discount Drug Mart pharmacist Larissa Venditti spends time with a customer.
Though pharmacists are among the most accessible health care professionals, many patients may be hard pressed to name the medication expert who fills their prescriptions. If you ask a patient to name their dentist, name their physician and name their pharmacist, it s harder for them unless they go to an independent pharmacy to name their pharmacist, said Ernest Boyd, executive director of the Ohio Pharmacists Association.
A new rule from the Ohio Department of Medicaid may provide opportunities for them to strengthen their relationships with patients by allowing reimbursement for pharmacists performing certain clinical activities.
Number of COVID-19 vaccine doses going to pharmacies set to double
Number of COVID-19 vaccine doses going to pharmacies set to double By Sara Goldenberg | February 17, 2021 at 8:39 PM EST - Updated February 17 at 8:39 PM
CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - The Biden Administration announced Tuesday afternoon it is doubling the supply of COVID-19 vaccine doses going to pharmacies nationwide.
They sent one million doses of the vaccine to about 6,500 pharmacies last week.
Now they’re promising to ship two million doses to pharmacies per week.
President Joe Biden said the U.S. is now on track to have enough vaccines for 300 million Americans by the end of July.
Ohio pharmacies ready to handle huge demand for COVID-19 vaccines cleveland19.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from cleveland19.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Most independent pharmacies continue to wait on the sidelines of Ohio s COVID-19 vaccination rollout despite their repeated pleas to be included in the public health campaign to end the pandemic.
Barry Klein, president and owner of Cuyahoga Fall s based Klein s Pharmacy, wrote a letter to Gov. Mike DeWine last weekend imploring him to let independent pharmacies do their part. We have been prepared for weeks; however, we continue to be overlooked, putting our pharmacy and our patients at a disadvantage and giving the perception to the public that we are incapable of providing this service, he wrote in his letter.
As Ohio tries to bolster its COVID-19 vaccine distribution, a neighbor to the south may offer a possible strategy.
West Virginia is one of the leading states when it comes to vaccinating its residents and has leaned heavily on its independent pharmacies to make headway. In Ohio, just 20 of roughly 500 independent pharmacies are administering the vaccine so far, said Ernest Boyd, executive director of the Ohio Pharmacists Association.
As of Wednesday, 12.4% of West Virginia s nearly 1.8 million residents had received at least one shot compared with 9.2% of Ohio s 11.7 million residents, according to data provided by each state to Bloomberg s COVID-19 vaccine tracker.