Find your own path
2013; Elsevier BV; Volume: 19; Issue: 7 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1016/s1042-0991(15)31254-8
ISSN2773-0735
Autores Tópico(s)Pharmaceutical studies and practices
ResumoAre you doing things because that’s “the way we’ve always done it?” If so, I’d like you to consider “The Calf-Path.” That’s a poem by Sam Walter Foss that describes how many of today’s roads follow the winding paths originally carved by calves of centuries ago. It reads in part: Each day a hundred thousand rout Followed that zigzag calf about, And o’er his crooked journey went The traffic of a continent. A hundred thousand men were led By one calf near three centuries dead. They follow still his crooked way, And lose one hundred years a day, For thus such reverence is lent To well-established precedent. In a June 14 article in the New York Times, Judge Edward R. Korman mentioned this poem in explaining his decisions in the Plan B case discussed on page 58. Precedent is critical in judicial decisions, but he added, “I think judges don’t stop often enough to think about whether the path should be followed. I try and straighten the calf’s path.” Korman has certainly set a new path when it comes to judicial review of FDA decisions. Randee Bowder is also developing new paths through an innovative medication therapy management (MTM) program in Oregon. Read her story in this month’s MTM profile (pages 34–36) and think about how you could be coaching patients all over the country who need MTM. Then turn to a new section of Pharmacy Today on specialty pharmacy (pages 39–44). Jennifer Hagerman and her colleagues at Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy will provide news and information about this growing practice segment on a quarterly basis. Regardless of where you practice, specialty pharmaceuticals are important because they are expensive and complex. In addition, they are growing in number as medical research produces increasingly specific therapies for human disease. On page 47, we begin a three-part series on MTM programs that address the recommendations made by the IMS Institute for Health Informatics report, The Responsible Use of Medicines: Applying Levers for Change. Consider how you can better serve older patients in your practice based on the MTM innovations developed by Vanita K. Pindolia of Detroit’s Henry Ford Health System Health Alliance Plan. Implications of the Affordable Care Act will be detailed in another series beginning this month. We begin on page 56 with opportunities for pharmacists as 2014 brings implementation of major provisions of this landmark law, for better or worse. It’s a new day, one that calls for breaks from the past. Creativity will be as important as business acumen as health care is reformed, and following the path of long-dead calves won’t get us there. Enjoy your July Today!
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