Welcome to PLAID Day at the University at Buffalo School of Pharmacy!
Thank you for coming!
We will be asking several of the following questions as time permits, as well as taking follow-up questions from the
student body. Feel free to talk about any health care issues independently of these questions!
1. Wes Kufel: New York State Education laws permit licensed pharmacists who obtain an additional immunization
certification to administer influenza, pneumococcal, and herpes zoster vaccinations to adult. Flu and pneumococcal
vaccines can be administered either with a patient-specific order or prescription, or under collaboration with a
physician or nurse practitioner without a patient-specific order. This non-patient specific order must come from a
physician or nurse practitioner practicing within the same county. This has severely restricted pharmacists’ ability to
immunize. Additionally, immunization status for flu and pneumococcal vaccines sunsets in 2016, and for shingles in
2015. Do you feel that pharmacists as immunizers are valuable assets to the community, and would you like to
support pharmacists as these sunset dates approach? Do you think pharmacists should be required to obtain
non-patient specific orders to administer flu vaccines in the future?
2. Kevin Chilbert: Pharmacies are quick and convenient places for patients to receive flu shots without paying an
office visit copay or making an appointment. Last year, due to the drastic shortage of primary health care providers,
pharmacists were authorized to immunize patients under the age of 18. This resulted in an increase in immunization
rates of children and adults in New York State. Do you think that pharmacists should be able to immunize children
under the age of 18 now? How do you think this will improve health care in our communities?
3. Ali Scrimenti: Collaborative Drug Therapy Management (or CDTM) was signed into law by Governor Cuomo in
2011. It is due to sunset next September unless state legislature acts to extend or expand it. Under CDTM protocol,
pharmacists are empowered to implement, modify, and manage drug regimens. CDTM reduces hospitalizations,
length of stay, health care costs, and improves patient care. Currently, CDTM is limited to pharmacists in teaching
hospitals and their affiliated outpatient patient care centers. Under the strict requirements, only about 100 hospitals
qualify to provide CDTM services. What is your stance on pharmacists practicing under CDTM law, and will you
support extending or expanding CDTM in the coming year?
4. Ryan St. James: 11 states in this country have implemented laws that classify pharmacists as providers. This means
that patients have access to clinical services from pharmacists, and if accepted nationally, pharmacists would be
reimbursed for services under Medicare and other insurance payers. What effect do you believe this will have on
patients, and do you plan to advocate for pharmacists to have provider status?
5. Corey Wells: New York State is one of 16 states that do not allow pharmacy students to administer immunizations,
even after successfully completing immunization training and certification. Pharmacists are considered the most
accessible health care providers in the community, and pharmacy students represent a large body of professionals who
can contribute to increasing immunization rates. What is your stance on student pharmacists who have completed
pre-requisite training immunizing in New York State?
6. Mia Magliazzo: Anti-Mandatory Mail Order (or AMMO) was signed into law in 2011, and was designed to empower
patients to select a community pharmacy from which to get their medications if they so desired. Pharmacists
supported this law in the hopes that it would prevent insurance companies from forcing patients into using mail order
for their prescription medications. Unfortunately, because of loopholes in this law, patients still have found
themselves forced to have prescriptions filled through mail order, often waiting days or weeks for their refills. What
is your opinion of this issue, and how do you plan to support your constituents’ right to choose their pharmacy?