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LONG-TERM CARE PHARMACY OPERATIONS

Author: L.Saini, St.Pauls college of pharmacy.

ABSTRACT

1. LONG TERM CARE provides a diverse array of services to the people of all ages with some chronic conditions, functional limitations and some
2. It provides and gives all personal care and assistance to the people with all their basic needs and
3. From a total of 190 million people of 18 years old, nearly 9 million people were using paid (formal) and unpaid (informal) long-term
4. Long-term care reported the users of informal care who dropped from 51% in 1984 to 40% in 1994 and during the same period of time institutional care increased from approximately 26% to 30%.
5. Needs can occur at any age so, this long-term care creates an image for all elderly people with no age limits in a nursing
6. With psychological and physical impairments the advanced medical and surgical technologies allowed many children who had died in previous
7. LTC pharmacists are an essential provider for the ageing populations by providing LTC
8. Policymakers and researchers should ensure that LTC pharmacies receive appropriate reimbursement for the medications and services they

INTRODUCTION

Normally , a patient is picking up a prescription at a retail pharmacy from a pharmacist who only has an occasional need of medications.But here the retail pharmacy will not only give a prescription, they also care for patients by offering many needs of an individual, it means there is an interaction between the pharmacist and a patient. Here the retail pharmacies are switching to long term care pharmacies so the retail pharmacies business will switch up into more higher stages.

Yes, it is an article which you are reading now, which contains a lot of information about long-term care pharmacy operations.

• What is long-term care(LTC)?

An LTC pharmacy is a business of pharmaceutical specialization that is specifically designed to support individuals or seniors living in a long-term care community, such as senior living. Long-term care involves a variety of services designed to meet a person’s health or personal care needs during a short or long period of time. These services help people live as independently and safely as possible when they can no longer perform everyday activities on their own.

When Should You Choose a Long-Term Care Pharmacy?

Most LTC(Long-Term care) pharmacies are located in places where skilled nursing facilities toward patients are geared. However, some may choose which type of pharmacy fills your prescriptions . And here is our choice and some skilled nurses to choose which type of pharmacy either retail pharmacy or an LTC pharmacy, are required for prescriptions, and some retail pharmacies include an LTC pharmacy among their services.

But in general, it’s best to choose an LTC pharmacy. If you have an ongoing and any symptoms for upcoming disease and other health issues then an individual i.e a patient chooses and has a thought to be monitored and cured over time. Which is possible through the LTC.

If you need multiple medications for a variety of ailments and health issues. An LTC pharmacy will look at your health history and current issues holistically rather than a

prescription at a time. Additionally, the LTC pharmacies will also deliver prescriptions as needed,and they can ensure the patients with mobility issues get proper medications on time.

Types of Long term care pharmacy (LTC)

1. Closed-door pharmacy
2. Open-door pharmacy

1. Closed-door pharmacy–A closed-door pharmacy is a type of pharmacy that serves long-term care facilities, like nursing homes and assisted living
2. Open-door pharmacy– A open-door pharmacy is a type of pharmacy that serves long-term care facilities, like one-stop shop to be able to get medical, dental or behavioral health services and also then their pharmaceutical needs all at one

• Some different kinds of LTC facilities

1. Assisted living communities
2. Independent living communities, one of the most common independent living communities is the continuing care retirement community
3. Nursing homes
4. Alzheimer’s care
5. Residential care homes

Becoming a long-term care pharmacy(opportunities and considerations)

Yes, your hard work and consistency makes you choose a long-term care pharmacy. Nowadays many challenges for independent retail pharmacies are well known like the reimbursement is decreasing day by day, broad national chains continue to flex their muscles and a downfall of the margins.

The entrepreneur by nature (Who is an owner of an independent pharmacy. This entrepreneur is now reinventing a business of pharmacy, by providing new types of services like medication therapy management and medication synchronization. In addition, retail pharmacies are exploring new growth opportunities and looking to diversify their revenues, with a particular interest in high-margin, growing markets. Because of the opportunities presented, one area of significant interest is long-term care (LTC) pharmacy.

• Personnel, Quality control, IT Operations and legal affairs should be allocated by the project
• Where the pharmacies are present in a state, apply for the business incorporation where it is
• Check the rules and regulations while you are filling which is relevant to the It gives an appreciation and determines the time frame for their portion.
• Confirm that a new corporate name should be filled or you should fill our foreign corporate name. Because it later affects i.e how the pharmacy applications will be
• Call and set up all available services and find a lease to enter into a lease Then Verify the lease which services are and are not included.
• Develop a security which is set up for the location, IT timeline for some factor wiring and
• Immediately when a physical location was secured, then you should determine the type of pharmacy applied for state based on the incorporation
• Further, make sure to apply for a controlled substance license. And it can take two to seven weeks for their
• This approval will be done based upon the physical inspection of the pharmacy license and of their premises. Prior to this all IT security must be completed because the inventory may not be brought for approval from the board of
• After the pharmacy application was approved, immediately apply for the NCPDP and DEA numbers. And for approval DEA registration will take three to six
• After the approval, contact the corporate for the transportation and set up
• The process of recruiting should begin approximately for five weeks for the arrival of the
• Then start posting ads and begin interviews because it may permit any candidate to arrive and employer notice will get after two

How does an LTC pharmacy make money?

LTC pharmacies make money through rebates, dispensing fees, profits based on the facility charge, minus the acquisition cost, medication costs, and business. The profits based on facility charges are different because the cost of closed-door pharmacy may be different from an open-door retail pharmacy but the medication costs and dispensing fees are similar for closed-door LTC pharmacies and open-door pharmacies. Rebates are determined through contracts that a closed-door pharmacy may have a GPO(General post office), a wholesaler or a manufacturer and a pharmacy network.

Financial decisions for long-term care-

• Veterans
• Personal funds, including pensions, savings, and income from stocks
• Private financing options, such as long-term care
• Government health insurance programs, such as Medicaid (Medicare does not cover long-term care but may cover some costs of short-term care in a nursing home after a hospital

Who needs LONG-TERM CARE?

It is difficult to choose and predict what type of LTC a person needs and how much people may need. Here several ways are there were it increases the risk of needing long-term care:

• Gender – Women are at higher risk than men, it is because they have many hormonal changes and often live longer with some health
• Age -The issue and risk will generally increase as the people get
• Family history and health issues -It also increases the effect of
• Marital status -Married people are more likely to get the disease as compared to single people because as the pair live together it may generate some genetic issues and some hormonal
• Lifestyle -Poor diet and malnutrition children mostly present in slum areas and some exercise habitats may increase a person’s

TOP 5 –

Some top 5 companies and profiles of long-term care pharmacy which provides a better results from their experiences are,

A . Top 5 Nursing facility companies

1. Genesis Healthcare
2. The Ensign Group
3. Life care centres of America
4. Pro-medical senior care
5. Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society

B . Top 5 senior living facility companies

1. Brookdale senior living
2. Life care services
3. Atria senior living
4. Holiday Retirement
5. Sunrise senior living

C . Top 3 Long-term care pharmacies

1. LTC Non-Discounted pharmacy spending
2. Total Adjusted dispensed prescription
3. LTC Adjusted dispensed prescription

D . TOP 5 National LTC Pharmacy profile

1. Alixa Rx
2. Ameripharma
3. Giant eagle LTC Pharmacy
4. Grane Rx
5. Guardian pharmacy

Benefits

• The inclusive inventory of the drug products are commonly used in LTC facilities.
• Includes drug utilization, monitoring and ordering and distribution of drug products for LTC facilities, and trains the pharmacy staff members.
• Packing drugs.
• Has the capacity to provide some parenteral, IV medications and home infusion drug access.
• Provides On-call services for pharmacists.
• Provides some delivery services of drugs and some LTC facilities.

Steps to grow a long-term care pharmacy

STEP-1 Acquire a mindset as an Entrepreneur.

STEP-2 Make a new niche.

STEP-3 Make a road map and business plan.

STEP-4 Evaluate the differentiation and competition.

STEP-5 Promote and market your

new business.

STEP-6 Modernise the internal process.

High-paid long-term care pharmacy JOBS

★ Account executive LTC pharmacy

★ Pharmacy technician

★ Pharmacist – clinical advisor

★ Clinical associate

★ RX Tech Front end

★ Patients associate

★ General manager LTC

★ Pharmacy assistant

★ Collection specialist

★ Long-term care trainer etc

SUMMARY

LONG TERM CARE provides a diverse array of services to the people of all ages with some chronic conditions, functional limitations and some diseases.Over next 20 years, in baby borning age over 85 will grow at least 90 percent of the diseases.It provides and gives all personal care and assistance to the people with all their basic needs and activities. Without any support, need, and providers the LTC itself cares a patients. From a total of 190 million people of 18 years old, nearly 9 million people were using paid (formal) and unpaid (informal) long-term care. Long-term care reported the users of informal care who dropped from 51% in 1984 to 40% in 1994 and during the same period of time institutional care increased from approximately 26% to 30%. Needs can occur at any age so, this long term care creates an image for all elderly people with no age limits in a nursing room. With psychological and physical impairments the advanced medical and surgical technologies allowed many children who had died in previous eras.LTC pharmacists are an essential provider for the aging population by providing LTC facilities. Policymakers and researchers should ensure that LTC pharmacies receive appropriate reimbursement for the medications and services they provide.

REFERENCE

Abt Associates, MA: Abt Associates, 1996.

Adler, M.Population Estimates of Disability and LTC 1995.

Bahr, R.T.Mechanism of Quality in long-term care service and clinical outcomes, 1991.

Home and community-based services 1915; Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

ShiL, Singh D December 8, 2015.Essentials of the U.S Healthcare system[4th edition]Jones and Bartlett Learning

L-T Facilities- Based care Health Canada, 3rd April 2003- Retrieved 3 January 2012.

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