Indispensable advisory service of the pharmacies

Federal Minister of Health with a greeting to the German Pharmacist's Day

09/19/2014

The Federal Minister of Health Hermann Gröhe (CDU) has highlighted the importance of consulting services in pharmacies in his speech to the German Pharmacists Day 2014. „Especially when it comes to the intake, but also to interactions with other drugs, the consulting services of pharmacies are particularly in demand“, so great.

In the welcoming address for the German Pharmacists' Day, the Federal Minister of Health expressed his appreciation for the work of the pharmacists. This is indispensable. At the same time, however, he also recognizes that there is still a need for optimization in some areas, reports „German pharmacist newspaper“ (DAZ). In particular with regard to the remuneration of pharmacist services, there has been increased discussion in recent years. Overall, the Pharmacists' Day offers him a good opportunity to find out about the concerns of pharmacists on site, emphasized the Federal Minister of Health. Gröhe also used his word of greeting to express his gratitude to the pharmacists for their performance and their personal commitment.

Pharmacies important for good health care
„Pharmacies are the central point of contact for people if they need a prescription drug“, explained the Federal Minister of Health and added: „We owe it to the pharmacists in our country that we can rely on very good health care today.“ In the interests of the patients, the high-quality supply of medicines on site must be maintained in the future as well, which is why, for example, the governmental groups in the coalition agreement have also explicitly made themselves known as the owner-managed pharmacy „German pharmacist newspaper“ from the greeting of the Federal Minister of Health. He also referred to measures that were already implemented in the past year, such as the introduction of an emergency flat rate. He was well aware that from the point of view of the pharmacist there is also a need for further optimization here, reports the „DAZ“. The Federal Ministry of Health will therefore continue to examine the quarterly figures with regard to the emergency flat-rate and, if necessary, decide again on their amount.

Increases in the remuneration are checked
Furthermore, according to Gröhe, an increase in the fixed supplement should be examined jointly with the Federal Ministry of Economics, according to the announcement of the „DAZ“. „For this, however, we need from you further reliable data on the change on costs and revenue side“, the trade paper quotes the greeting of Minister. This applies equally to the required remuneration of delivered formulations. In addition, the Federal Minister of Health has agreed to legislate, the prescribed by the GKV-Spitzenverband and the German Association of Pharmacists (DAV) together stipulating the cash discount to 1.77 euros, reports the „DAZ“.

Mail order pharmacies can not offer appropriate advice
In his greeting, the Federal Minister of Health also advocated the preservation of the existing pharmacy structure. This is indispensable for the near-residential, nationwide 24/7 supply of pharmaceuticals, quotes the „DAZ“ the minister. These services of local pharmacies could not replace mail order pharmacies, said Gröhe. In addition, there is an increased risk of counterfeit medicines in the online mail order pharmacies. The Minister hopes to avoid Securpharm's increased safety in the legal supply chain, he says „DAZ“ At the same time, they are looking for ways to make parallel distribution significantly safer overall.

Medication plan provides an overview of the medications taken
In terms of patient safety, according to a report by Gröhe, the Federal Ministry of Health is currently also testing the introduction of a medication plan that offers a complete list of the medicines taken. Here doctors, pharmacists and patients could quickly recognize which medicines are taken and avoid unnecessary risks in this way. The minister cited, for example, hospital discharge management, demographic problems, urban-rural problems, supply bottlenecks, antibiotic resistance, and the preservation of Germany as a research and production location „DAZ“. In order to successfully master the difficult tasks, intensive cooperation between pharmacists and health policy is required. (Fp)