Quote:
Originally Posted by Ducay
Coming from a family involved in the pharmacy game, a big problem relates to:
-Incentives for switching pharmacies was getting out of hand, people were switching back and forth to get the "bonus for moving your scripts". Leads to patient care issues, things can get missed, etc.
-Unnecessary refills were being taken just to get the points (exceeds meds, narcotics end up kicking around for people to take, insurance costs are higher due to it too).
-Focus goes from getting good care from your pharmacist who gets to know you and your history, into going from place to place back and forth just to get $0.50 worth of more airmiles.
You wouldn't give out AirMiles on hospital visits or GP visits, which are somewhat similar (though not perfect) analogies. They're trying to make it more about health and your overall wellbeing, and into less a commercial dealing.
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I hear those arguments, but I have a few rebuttals.
1) The switching incentive was getting out of hand here in BC too, agreed. However, that was really done for two reasons. Firstly, governments were discussing ending incentives and secondly because they are actually now legislating prices which in many cases make the current system unprofitable. The future is high volume only. The only way to get there is to buy loyalty
2) In all my years practicing I've not once seen anyone fill prescriptions they didn't need, or full them early. Virtually all insurance carriers do not allow early refills anyways so it's a moot point about insurers. Perhaps on 10x air miles days Safeway's patients would wait, but I kind of doubt that. There was no incentive to wait at Shoppers as it's the same amount of points every day.
3) Patients deserve choice here too. Incentives did not diminish that at all. If they had the better relationship, they're not likely to leave. Maybe they find a better relationship?
Either way the points were going. Other provincial governments have abolished the practice and I'm totally Ok with that. It serves no real benefit to the overall profession, and likely casts a negative connotation on our integrity.
I'm NOT Ok with our colleges embarrassing the profession and over reaching their authority in an effort to tip a competitive balance one way or the other. It is dirty backroom politics and is way worse than offering the points in the first place.