Here in Arizona, pharmacists can administer vaccines (well, inactivated vaccines). However, we need a prescription to give the shot. This is all fine and good the rest of the year, when people are just wanting TD boosters and the like. But during flu season….it becomes a pain.
For one, people don’t understand how it works. My company sends out big advertisements to the newspapers; it’s all over the radio. “Come to Pharmacy X and get your flu shot!” Nowhere in the advertisements does it mention the prescription requirement. People get this confused look when I tell them that before I administer the shot, I will have to contact their physician for approval. Even with all this extra paperwork, I have given 182 flu shots this year so far.
I have a love/hate relationship with the influenza vaccine. For one, the flu shot “prescriptions” take longer than a regular prescriptions to get authorized and fill. And are trickier to bill (anyone else hate Medicare Part B, Medicare Advantage plans, and the like?). And I feel bad when my regulars (who I take extra care of) have to wait for their prescriptions longer than usual because I’m administering shots.
On the other hand….
People don’t think pharmacists can administer shots. They think that only nurses and doctors have the ability to give an IM injection. I assure them that I took the APhA immunization training and am certified by the state board of pharmacy to give immunizations. I feel like I am contributing to the health of my patients. I am helping them PREVENT disease, rather than just giving them drugs when they are ill to make the infection go away and make them feel better. I don’t know if it’s just me, but this seems somehow more honorable. I feel like I’m making a difference.
And I’m pretty good at giving shots, too. At least that’s what my patients tell me.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment