Although New Year's resolutions can quickly become forgotten, the beginning of a new year still offers a time to look forward to new opportunities. After 4 years of rapid changes and evolution in pharmacy, those shifts show no signs of slowing down.
Pharmacists are taking on many new roles, from immunizers to pharmacogenomics (see this month’s Editor’s Note) and beyond. At their core, these tasks all revolve around heightened patient care. Counseling patients on their medications and conditions will always be the bread and butter of pharmacy, and with exciting new potential FDA approvals ahead, pharmacists are in a great position to educate themselves and prepare patients. This month’s Cover Feature, written by Jennifer Gershman, PharmD, CPh, PACS, reviews 5 key potential new drugs and vaccines we could see this year, including treatments for multiple sclerosis as well as vaccines for COVID-19/ influenza and respiratory syncytial virus.
Of course, this year will also bring some new challenges to pharmacy. Changes to the landscape of direct and indirect remuneration (DIR) fees could have drastic impacts on pharmacies in the next 2 to 3 months, particularly independent pharmacies. One of the most significant changes is the elimination of retroactive DIR fees. Although this is intended to increase transparency and predictability and reduce the financial burden for pharmacies, it also means doubled fees at the beginning of the year, resulting in potential cash flow burdens.1 Pharmacy Times will cover all of these changes and their implications throughout the year.
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