Toastmaster + Big Game

Nov 24, 2016

 

The days leading up to a holiday are always crazy, Thanksgiving was no exception. Despite being late on posting yours past week was actually quite eventful. Last Saturday I got a chance to visit my alma mater for the big rivalry game against Stanfurd ( yes that is the official spelling). It was a cold rainy day but my wife and I were determined to go. We donned our Cal football gear, threw a rain poncho on and made our way to the bleachers. The game started out exciting with Cal scoring a touchdown on their very first try. We were pumped up despite the weather. As the game progressed on, the night grew colder and the rain picked up. Unfortunately this was also the time Stanfurd pulled into the lead. We kept cheering and hollering, pretty much to the point that the guys next to us were getting annoyed. That's okay though, he was a Stanfurd fan. Unfortunately our efforts did not end in a win for Cal but we still had a blast. I was so happy that my wife stuck It out for all 4 quarters and she's not even a football fan.

On Tuesday I had another Toastmasters speech. Unfortunately because I was at the game I did not get to rehearse my speech enough. As such I did not win best speaker for the night. The following was the speech I delivered. My evaluator noted that I had trailed off on parts of my speech. However I did not notice when I had made my delivery; and if I cannot identify the issue then I cannot improve. I will video record my next speech so I can watch it.

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America’s healthcare system is broken. As a country, we spend more on healthcare than every other nation on this earth. We are struggling as a nation to manage long term health conditions like diabetes. Each year the cost of health care just seems to get higher, premiums costs more, and insurances cover less. Every politician has spoken about the danger of this collapsing system, yet healthcare remains unaffordable to too many. Luckily your friendly neighborhood pharmacist can help provide care and bring down the cost. Pharmacists are medical experts that can help save you and the system both directly and indirectly.

Pharmacists are highly trained medical experts that have a doctorate degree focusing on the appropriate use of medicine. That means that pharmacists help to ensure you are receiving the proper type of medication. And if a medication is too costly, many times we can help you find an appropriate alternative. The differences in nearly identical products can be astonishing. For patients with diabetes for example, one type of insulin may cost $270 a vial, while another may be as low as $25, less than a tenth of the price! So in a world of ever increasing costs, wouldn’t you want to have a $25 product if it works just as well? Insulin is just one example, there are dozens if not hundreds of examples where simply talking to your pharmacists can actually save you a lot of money. 

The bigger impact that pharmacists have is actually the indirect cost savings. Study after study have shown that involving a pharmacist in your health can save a substantial amount of money. A recent study where there was a transition of care from a hospital to a community pharmacy like the one next door, there a reduction in hospitalization of 36.5% and the annual cost saving from avoiding readmissions was $6.6 million. This was a pilot program implemented in only one state, imagine what can be accomplished if it was implemented nationwide. Pharmacists are able to accomplish these types of results because we can help people stay on  top of their medications, we know that people who forget to take their medications are more likely to end up in the hospital. We reduce the number of unnecessary medications, medications that may be taken for years without the patient understanding why. And we reduce the risk of dangerous drug interactions, where you may want to know if you heart medication and your asthma medication are fighting each other, or if that supplement Dr Oz is recommending may actually render your birth control ineffective.

However there are barriers to pharmacists providing exceptional care. Part of the challenge is understanding the value that a Pharmacist can bring and fully integrating a Pharmacist in your health. One of the biggest is that we do not have the authority to prescribe. So if I know that you can save hundreds on dollars every month by switching your insulin product, I could not do that for you. I have to ask you provider, who then has to ok it, then I can make the switch. These added steps and inefficiencies end up delaying care and increase the cost of services. Pharmacists around the U.S have been pushing for these types of prescriptive authority so that we can offer better care for our patients. We have seen some success with the introduction of immunizations and providing birth control. The ultimate goal is to get basic care and medication in the pharmacy and make it more cost effective than an expensive hospital visit. Eventually you may be able to get lab tests ordered, get your asthma and allergy therapies, birth control, immunizations, and  more without having the long waits and high costs of an office visit. 

The cost of healthcare in the U.S is far too high. Pharmacists can play a large role in reducing the overall cost and burden to the healthcare system by providing cost effective alternative therapies, reducing medication related errors, and unnecessary hospital readmissions. Hopefully soon, prescriptive authority will allow us to provide greater care for our patients, so that if you have healthcare needs, all you have to do is see your friendly neighborhood pharmacist.
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