Beyond the Prescription: Your Pharmacist as a Healthcare Ally

Is there a secret to finding the right pharmacy? Absolutely! Kevin shares the importance of finding a healthcare team that's truly passionate about your well-being. Personalized service can make a world of difference, and Kevin shares tips on how to find a pharmacy that prioritizes YOU!

We also dive into the world of medication management, especially for older adults and caregivers.  Juggling multiple medications can be confusing, but Kevin sheds light on how to streamline your regimen and avoid unnecessary complications.  Technology can be a helpful tool, but we are reminded that human oversight remains essential for accuracy and safety.

Key Take Aways:

1.  Find a Pharmacist Who Cares: Look for a pharmacist passionate about your care to ensure the best overall patient experience.

2.  Medication Management: Keep an active list of medications and ensure they all come from one pharmacy to avoid polypharmacy.

3.  Review Medicare Plans: Regularly review your Medicare plan to ensure it aligns with your current medication needs and saves you money.

4.  Dispose of Expired Medications: Safely dispose of expired medications to avoid potential harm and misuse.

5.  Advocate for Yourself: Don't be afraid to switch healthcare providers or pharmacies if you feel your care is lacking. Your health is your choice.

Remember, your health is your greatest asset.  Find the Pharmacist and their team who will care you the way you deserve.

Transcript

Kevin: 0:00

again, there's nothing wrong with the big box stores. they provide an excellent service and a needed service in a lot of different ways. but I would find somebody that is passionate about your care. somebody that you can add to your team, and I call it a team because it's your, it's your physician, it's your pharmacist, it's, the nurses, that's everything else that have to come together to provide the best overall patient care. so, yes, finding a pharmacist and finding a pharmacy, that is passionate about your care is, is paramount to your success.

John: 0:41

I'm John,

Erin: 0:42

and I'm Erin. You're listening to connect and power. The podcast that proves age is no barrier to growth and enlightenment

John: 0:49

tune in each week as we break down complex subjects into bite sized enjoyable episodes that will leave you feeling informed, entertained, and ready to conquer the world

Erin: 1:03

kevin Crumley isn't your average PR director. Sure. He spent over 13 years at mountain care pharmacy, making him a true veteran on the team. But what really drives him as a passion for ensuring you get the pharmacy experiences you deserve. As a Boise native now, living in Meridian with his wife, Melissa and therefore kids. Kevin understands the importance of community. That's why he's dedicated to making mountain care. A place where your health needs are met with friendly faces and expert care. Please help me welcome Kevin. Crumley.

John: 1:40

Thank you so much for being here, Kevin.

Kevin: 1:43

Thank you for having me.

John: 1:44

we're excited to have you here. I think it's such an important topic that we're talking about, you know, medication. It's, confusing for a lot of people, especially myself. And, so we want to dive into that, but before we do dive into that, we'd love to hear your story, life, you know, it's all about people's stories and what. Got them into it because you can really tell when somebody has a passion for something and I know that you do have a passion for this.

Kevin: 2:09

I got into pharmacy, gosh, 13, almost 14 years ago now. I started off, my previous career life, if you will, was, all in pharmacy. The, in the UPS realms, I worked for UPS, for a long time, just managing, developing all kinds of different processes and procedures. Just all kinds of different logistical stuff. And then my wife was pregnant with our 3rd child, and went on bed rest and couldn't, couldn't work. So just to pay the bills, I got a part time job as a delivery driver for Mountain Care Pharmacy, and just was doing that kind of in the evenings. and then from there, That turned into running the delivery department at Mountain Care Pharmacy, and then, turned into marketing for Mountain Care Pharmacy, turned into, you know, learning all the ins and outs, and, I, I would say that at the beginning, I was definitely not passionate about pharmacy, but as I've continued to grow and see all the different people that we service and that we help and that You know, empower. it has become a very big passion of mine. to the point where now we are 10 times the size that we were when I first started at the pharmacy. And, we're just looking to continue to help as many people as much as possible.

John: 3:31

That's so awesome. Yeah, I love hearing that. You know, a lot of times we just happen to fall into something and we don't know. We're even going to have a passion for it. But All of a sudden we discover some things about ourselves that we didn't know were there. And it's so great.

Erin: 3:46

If you could really explain what. what the pharmacy does for people, because of course we know you go there and you get your medications, but there's more that they can do for you. There's different services you can provide to them if you could dive a little bit deeper in and share.

John: 4:02

I was just going to say also maybe the difference between your pharmacy and what we all know is a traditional pharmacy, right? There, there's a traditional pharmacy where we go. And so sorry, Erin,

Kevin: 4:14

Yeah, for sure. no, that's a great point because we are kind of a nontraditional pharmacy. We started off as a hospice specialty pharmacy, and transitioned from that into also handling a bunch of long term care, compounding, sterile. so at this point, we do kind of a myriad of services that cover, any and all people that would require medications. but a more traditional pharmacy, like your Walmarts or Walgreens of the world, are. you know, very much based off of, go in there, drop off your script, pick up your script, talk to the pharmacist. If you need to talk to the pharmacist, I'll never talk about another pharmacy because I've been in the world long enough to know that it's not an easy job to be in, but what I would suggest for anybody, whether they're using mountain care pharmacy or they're utilizing any other pharmacy is to find those pharmacies that have passion for you and passion for the people. there are plenty of independent, small. Locally owned and operated pharmacies throughout, the country, not just Boise or not just Idaho, that, do have that passion for those patients and are really looking to provide the best overall exceptional service. what sets us a little bit apart is that, we have, a myriad of additional services, whether it's like I talked about compounding, we can compounded. Patients medications, depending on what their doctors are looking for, where their doctors are meeting. try to get his hands on with the doctors as possible so that we're understanding why they're prescribing things the way they're prescribing things. we offer free delivery. throughout Southwestern Idaho, we're also licensed in Oregon, just got, our application submitted to be licensed in Washington as well. So we're looking to expand some of those services and become. more, more developed, if you will, for patients that might not otherwise understand, kind of what they're missing or what they don't have. so that's, I mean, that's just a little bit about us and a little bit about pharmacy, but I would say, just like anything else in life, I would go find whether it was, know, food service or whatever else I'd go find those people that are passionate about what they're doing, and are looking to provide the best overall. experience or customer service to their patients

Erin: 6:30

Can you explain, in case some people may not know, what is compounding, what does that mean?

Kevin: 6:35

Yeah, so, there's a myriad of different kind of compounds, if you will, that are out there. anything from creams and ointments to liquids or tablets injectable medications. Typically what we're looking at when we're looking at those types of things are, doctors would like to prescribe an ointment for a rash or something along those lines, and they found in the past that, this or that, medication in an ointment, tends to be their favorite thing to whereas that's not something that's typically made in the market by any kind of manufacturer, they're just looking to reach out to. A compounder or a compounding pharmacy that will, make the medication the way that they want to give it to the patient instead of being boxed in, if you will, for a, a specific type of medication. so that can go from anything from, supplements to injectable medications. So we do a ton of different, Different things for, anything from, dermatologist to, wellness, nurse practitioner kind of areas, and kind of everything in between. So, compounding is, one of those on the outer, Echelon of what is pharmacy. but it is, a very powerful and useful tool. we actually started a lot of our compounding with the hospice side of because there's a lot of just aren't made and aren't made specifically for that kind of, population. So, that's kinda how we started and we've grown from

John: 8:12

Wow. so what I understand just to simplify it for our listeners is compounding is you get an order or a prescription from a physician for a person that needs a medication. And then you guys as a pharmacy have the way to modify it, change it or create it specifically for that person based on their weight. Who the you know, whatever they need So it can be trimmed down instead of, you know, going out and buying a generic, Yeah, it's more of a personalized.

Kevin: 8:45

it's significantly more personalized and it tends to be a little bit more personalized from the doctor's point of view as well. we can't obviously just, go in and change anything and everything that we want to change to make it a compound. There's regulations and rules and all that fun stuff, of course. but a lot of the times it's related to, the doctor's preference and what they've seen success for in the past. And. where they've seen patients thrive in the past, where it might not be something that, this giant drug manufacturer is going to go out and make thousands and thousands and thousands of units of this thing. But this 1 doctor seems to like it really well and seems to find success and send their patients So, yeah, there's definitely limiting factors on some of that stuff. but, yeah, the availability of compounding is definitely probably. in this space.

John: 9:32

So talking about medications, how long from start to finish? so if you get a prescription over how long before that patient gets that medication,

Kevin: 9:42

Yeah, great question. for us specifically, I'd say we have 2 separate delivery runs Monday through Friday. that leave the pharmacy at about noon or about 5. So if we get the order before noon, it leaves at noon should be delivered between 1 and 4 for the evening run. anything that comes in before 5 leaves around 6 should be delivered between 6 and so same day delivery service. we do have the availability of shipping U. P. S. or any of that kind of stuff. but as far as time is concerned, we try to get it out as soon as possible with that understanding that typically when you're getting those medications or you're getting those new that, you know, time is, is essential for, the healing process or the, or whatever else to begin. so a lot of the stuff, That we'll see, especially for the hospice patients, is more pain related, but, you know, more retail type of patient is more maybe antibiotic related, stuff that you really should start taking fairly frequently, fairly fast.

Erin: 11:32

I thought that was interesting and many people may not know, but the pharmacist can deliver medication to your home. It doesn't need to just come by mail, but you guys are literally hand delivering it. Is that, am I understanding that correctly

Kevin: 11:44

correct. Yeah.

John: 11:46

Yeah. And so can you explain, some of the challenges that. Maybe an older population might have and how you guys can come up with solutions for some of those challenges.

Kevin: 11:57

yeah, yeah. so honestly, one of the biggest things that we found, and it's not just us, it's a, there are national studies done on this, but the number one factor for elderly patients going into assisted living. Hospice, hospitalization, certified nursing, all of those different avenues is basically medication mismanagement. so realistically, what we find is that the better the patient is managed on their medications, the longer they can stay independent, the longer they can, stay in their home or, honestly, even probably survive just in general, because they're actually taking the medications the way that they're supposed to be taking the medication, the way that they're prescribed by their doctor. so there's a myriad of different services that we can provide for that. but 1 and 1st and foremost is our medication management service. it, is basically just managing the patient's medications, and talking with the doctor and being a little bit more involved with the doctor. I mean, ensuring that, all the medications are coming from one location and not, this doctor is sending it to that pharmacy and this doctor is sending it to that pharmacy, and then those pharmacies never talk and those doctors never talk and the patient just ends up on all kinds of different medications.

Erin: 13:13

So there's no crossing of pharmaceuticals.

Kevin: 13:16

yeah, so we're trying to avoid, additional, medications or medication burden that doesn't need to be there, while also ensuring that The doctors are understanding what other doctors are prescribing for that patient, so that they're not on, two or three different blood pressure medications or, whatever else. It's relatively frequent that we run into, when we transition patients over, that they They are almost always on multiple drugs for the same thing because they have multiple providers and they've talked to each provider about it. I would honestly say it's probably 50 percent of the time that we run into. multiple drugs, trying to treat the exact same condition. and, if you think about it, if you're taking, blood pressure medication and you're taking it when you're supposed to be taking it and you're getting it from two different providers, how often, do you need to mess up on that blood pressure medication to have a fall and then be hospitalized and then be, once you're in that system, it's very, very difficult to get out of that system and not get There's nothing wrong with that system. We're trying to help that system. but even something as simple as your blood pressure medication can lead to these adverse reactions and side effects and lead you towards, that final descent, if you will. so we try to mitigate that as best as we possibly can.

Erin: 14:36

So you would encourage the listeners, definitely make sure that you talk to your doctors, that your pharmacist is the same place.

Kevin: 14:43

And if they're not, one thing that I've always suggested to patients is have a full list of the medications that you're taking, take that with you to the doctor's office, especially if you're seeing a new provider, especially if you, have it on you at all times. One thing, they're going to ask you when you get to the hospital. just in general is what medications are you taking, right? So if you have a list or you have, the knowledge base of what you're taking, you can accurately describe that to the physician, and they can prescribe based off of those things. But if they come in and think that you're not taking anything, they're just going to start prescribing this and this and this And all of a sudden you've got 10 extra medications that you don't need. And that might actually be. already being serviced and might cause you to have additional issues. So, that, that's my biggest thing for anybody just in general is to have an active list of medications. whether it's on your phone, in your wallet, in your purse, whatever it is, just have an active list of medications that you're taking at any given point in time.

John: 15:44

what I understand so far is the most important things, of course, is to one, have that medication, the current medication list of all your medications. And if at all possible, make sure they're coming out of one pharmacy, not multiple pharmacies, correct?

Kevin: 16:03

Correct. And part of that too is that if you're going to one particular pharmacy, that pharmacy, Is going to know you and understand you and recognize you after a period of time, especially those smaller independent pharmacies, you're the backbone of their business. So they take pride in, getting to know who that patient is, as opposed to just being a number. And

Erin: 16:24

do you guys offer pill packets or other ways

Kevin: 16:28

Yeah, I actually don't have one sitting here on me, but they're basically bubble packs. It's a week supply in one one bubble pack or blister pack, and it just comes out in a card Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and then it's got four times a day that you take medication morning, noon, evening and bedtime. and it's just set in there and you can pop out, the day or the time that you're on. and if you're concerned about mom or dad or whatever else you can go in and you can actually physically see that they've been taking their medications because that's one of the biggest, biggest. Issues with trying to stay independent is just not knowing that you're taking your medications and my grandmother was a case in point for this for sure. You would ask her, hey, have you taken your medications yet today? Well, yeah, I took my medications. Well, then why are there still 15 tablets left in this bottle? And you should have been being in a refill, you know. Last week. so obviously at some point in time, you're not taking your medications and then you can never pinpoint back to when they haven't been taking their medications. Right? So having that visual cue where you can actually look and see, is very, very handy. And we don't charge anything extra for any of our medication management services. it's literally just basically the same copays that you would be paying if you're going to a big box store. same thing for the delivery. We don't charge for any of that kind of stuff. We're just trying to be out there and help the patients That otherwise can't or, otherwise you're kind of getting missed by by the. services that are out there.

John: 17:53

one question I'm curious about. So say you have somebody that comes on service with you, you're providing them their medication and they don't have anybody around. They don't have any friends that are monitoring. They're not working with a home health agency. Their family lives out of state or whatever they get. The medication's delivered. It's a new medication to them. They have the medications at home. They take the medications and there's an adverse reaction. And so do they call you? Do they call their primary physician? if suddenly they're starting to have something happen they don't feel good, they pass out, it's making them dizzy or whatever. How do they handle that?

Kevin: 18:32

I'd probably say put that on kind of a scale of, of concern for yourself, right? If you're passing out, you should probably call 9 1 1, get it figured out. that's never a good sign. if you're feeling a little itchy or you're feeling, something that's just a little bit out of the normal, for sure, call the pharmacist, call your physician, let them know how you're feeling. Because they do need to know there's additional medications for almost every different kind of, symptom that's out there, right? So if this one medication isn't working for you, call and talk to your pharmacist, call and talk to your doctor, get the knowledge to them that it's not making you feel good or that it doesn't seem to be working or whatever else. They can't read your mind, right? If you go in there, you know, and say. Hey, this blood pressure medication. I feel really weird on it. Okay, cool. Let's let's switch you over to this or try that or whatever else. There's thousands of different options and thousands is probably an exaggeration. Right? But there's there's there's multiple options for almost any kind of symptom that you actually have.

John: 19:32

Great.

Erin: 19:32

Well, that brings me to generic versus brand drugs, right? How do you choose? And can I, as a client go, I prefer to have a brand name versus generic. Is it based off of what insurance covers?

Kevin: 19:44

Yeah. Yeah. The fun the fun. I word right insurance. it is. Yeah. It is 99 percent of the time, yes, based off of what insurance will cover. You always have that right, to, request the brand drugs. that doesn't necessarily mean that the insurance will cover the brand drugs. basically, generics have to be something like 95 percent as equal to brand drugs, formulary as possible. so they're very, very, very close to what the brand drug actually is. and honestly, at this point, the majority of insurances will only cover brand name drugs if there isn't a generic drug available. so that's not to say that you couldn't say, I want the brand, whatever it is and specifically asked for it. It just means that. Most of the time, your insurance isn't going to pay for it. most of the time, it's probably not worth the extra cost to do that because it is so similar to the generic. and, is it really worth it? Is it really not? Honestly, for, if it were me specifically, I would be with the generics all day, every day because they are so similar and the cost seems to be significantly lessened.

Erin: 20:57

That's good to know. Thank you. I, I never knew

John: 20:59

myself. I even do that at the store. If I'm going to get a simple aspirin or whatever. I look at the ingredients and sometimes they're identical to one that costs half the price. Right? And so for our older population, if they are on a fixed income, maybe they don't have a lot of money to spread around. They need to understand that just because, you think that you're going to have more success on, the name brand that's, yeah, that's not necessarily,

Kevin: 21:23

Advil or whatever. yeah,

John: 21:25

that's not necessarily true. So, so

Kevin: 21:28

And that'd be a great point, honestly, John, to just interrupt you a little bit there. Grab both of those bottles and walk up to the pharmacy counter. Any pharmacist in the world is going to tell you exactly the difference between the two. And if there's zero difference, any decent person in the world would probably tell you to buy the cheaper of the two versions. Because you're not wrong, Tylenol is the same as acetaminophen. If you're going to buy the difference, you're literally just buying the name. It's no different than, it's probably a little bit different than, going to Costco or something and getting a big bulk supply But, as far as the medication is concerned, it's all regulated, right? So it has to be so close to what the brand is. there is almost zero difference between the generics and the brands.

John: 22:10

yeah, totally makes

Erin: 22:11

That's good to know. Cause I mean, how do you know if you don't ask?

John: 22:15

don't have. No, I want to, I'd like to just touch base quickly on this too. Medications, right? When, when somebody is going to a physician, maybe they've been prescribed a certain type of medication. Maybe it doesn't work with him. The doctor needs to make a change, make a switch because they're having adverse health issues with the other one. How does that, do they have to send the medication back to you? Is there somebody that picks it up? yeah, I, yeah, I'm a little concerned with, you know, sometimes what will happen is they'll leave that many, they'll keep that medication. They paid for that medication. They're a little bit concerned. What if I run out of money? At least I have that. Right. So how do you advise people that are older to help? Kind of keep in check with some of those medications and to make sure they're not keeping around medications for long periods of time

Erin: 23:04

And do they expire,

John: 23:05

right? Yeah. Yeah. All those.

Kevin: 23:07

Oh, for sure. Yeah, it's like anything else, right? It's food and drug administration. So it's the same kind of thing as food. there's expiration dates, on all medications. Nothing's going to last forever. And oftentimes, the longer that a medication has, kind of been sitting there, the less effective it actually is. So. yeah, you're not wrong. we see it all the time from the from our aspect. I mean, it was probably four or five months ago. I saw was something from 1993 or something like that. Come back in from a patient. So please, please, please don't be taking medications from the mid nineties. you will not find success with

John: 23:44

We're eating food that's been sitting in the fridge and it has an expired date on it.

Erin: 23:47

That's you. How about from the early 2000s, I must confess, I've had this drug and it just keeps moving with me. I don't ever use it. It just keeps moving with me.

Kevin: 23:57

Get rid of it, Erin. wine. It's not getting better with time. this is, this is different. but great question as far as, take back services, right? Most pharmacies aren't actually set up to receive medications back. There's different rules and regulations that the FDA puts on, what are called, I can't remember what they're called. They're called like med take back programs. But basically, if you, if you apply to be one of these take back. Locations, you have to take back any medication at any point in time. Basically be open 24 7. Oftentimes, what happens with these places is they end up being places like police stations. I've seen people that do the medication take back programs, like out in front of. You know, Walmarts and those kinds of things. a simple Google search of medication take back near me, will let you know. But oftentimes, yeah, your local police station, fire station, those kinds of things will take those medications back for you. there used to be a thought process to just flush stuff down the toilet. I think they've gotten away from that as much as possible as far as destroying medications is concerned. We don't want to, dose everybody up on the water supply. so, yeah, definitely take a look at the medication. Take back or just a simple Google search should get you the information you need for that stuff. But, yeah, get rid of it, Erin. There's no reason to

Erin: 25:16

And don't flush it down the toilet.

John: 25:17

No.

Kevin: 25:18

don't flush it down the toilet.

Erin: 25:19

Well, I've also heard too, for your pill bottles, like scratching off your name or your information too, you know, so somebody doesn't get a hold of it.

John: 25:27

How about some of these controlled medications? high potency pain medications and different things like that. If somebody is prescribed, a bunch of those, and then all of a sudden they pass away on hospice or something, how is that taken care of? how is that process controlled? So that medication doesn't get into the wrong hands.

Kevin: 25:47

Yeah. so it used to be that the hospice agencies would destroy those for you. Nowadays, they are only required to show you how to destroy them or tell you where you can destroy them, without actually destroying them themselves. So, Similar kind of situation. I would definitely anytime you have extra controls in the house, any of those narcotics, you're not wrong. I would get them out as soon as you possibly can. You never know who's running around kids, grandkids, is even as diligent as you think you might be keeping those under wraps or keeping those under control. There's never a situation that you wouldn't be able to get that medication again. you know, if you absolutely needed it, right? So I hear it all the time from people. Well, just in case, you know, somebody breaks their arm or something, well, you're not going to give them a tablet of something or some oxycodone or whatever else in that situation. Take it back to the medication, take back program, get rid of it, get it out of your house. honestly, that's one of the biggest areas of diversion that there is right now is just grandparents and parents and people like us that are just leaving those medications in their med cabinet. And then somebody comes in, it doesn't even have to be somebody you're related to. A friend comes over from 1 of your kids, and they're looking through your medication cabinet and they grab it. When was the last time you saw that medication from the early 2000s there? And, you know, would you. even know if it was missing at this point? Right? so think about those kinds of things. Get them out of your house. If you broke an arm or something like that, the emergency room will still be open. They'll still give you more medication. I mean, I had my appendix out, right? Two years ago, I didn't take any controlled substance. I got to the emergency room, they dosed me up and all of a sudden I was feeling a lot better. it's very infrequent that you should ever be trying to dose yourself in those types of situations either, right? if it's above something that's over the counter, there's a reason that it's a prescription. They want people that have the education, have the knowledge base to, prescribe those things and to educate people on those things to be giving the medications to the patients. so don't ever think, hey, I. I was a marketer for a pharmacy, so I should know exactly what's going on and should be able to take this, medication. No, never, never a good idea to try and self dose yourself, for anything that's above probably an OTC kind of item.

Erin: 28:11

There is a new term I discovered having you on the show. I've never heard of it. It's called polypharmacy.

Kevin: 28:18

Mm

Erin: 28:19

And I do believe that's where you're treating the same condition with multiple different drugs. And I didn't know if you could talk about that a little bit more or. Help us understand it

Kevin: 28:33

Yeah. so that would just be again back to that same type of situation. Oftentimes when you see something like that, it's because you're going to multiple different pharmacies and multiple different providers, and that they're just not talking to each other. that would get back to that. Make sure that you have that medication list. Make sure that you are trying to get all your meds to one pharmacy. Make sure that you are, avoiding, paying cash for different items. If you have that prescription insurance, that's another way. That's a safety net. that's in there. if you're going to multiple different pharmacies and the prescription comes back as being filled too soon or being, some other medication that's similar to that has been filled somewhere else, those are keys that we see on the insurance side of things that are trying to let the pharmacy know that. they probably shouldn't be taking this medication. oftentimes what we're dealing with is technicians or billing people that aren't paying as much attention to that stuff. so again, that goes back to get that local pharmacist that Cares about you and cares about what's going on, to avoid that poly, that multiple medication, for the same exact condition. Because oftentimes, like I said, it comes down to it's multiple providers, multiple pharmacies that just don't communicate with each other. That's causing. Bulk of those issues.

John: 29:54

one of the things I'd like to ask is it better to go through a smaller pharmacy or a larger pharmacy, big box? or do they all pretty much charge the same thing? Because I know that, sometimes, we don't know the answers to those. And so we just assume, well, since it's a big, huge corporate chain, we'll go there because it's gotta be cheaper.

Kevin: 30:14

it's a great question. I'll say that we're part of a buying group that allows us to buy medications that are relatively low price. Obviously, we can't still buy them for what, Walmart or Walgreens or whoever else buys for, but we're part of a group that allows us to contract a similar copay basically, rates as some of the big box stores. now that's not to say that they don't have, I know for a while there, Walmart was doing like their 90 top generics for 3 or something along those lines, right? nobody can compete with that. They just buy. 10 million units of something at a ridiculously low price and then they're constantly updating those things. that's not to say that if it's going through insurance that it's not going to have a very similar copay with us that it does with the big box store. Additionally, one thing that I would always recommend as far as the money side of things is concerned is be talking to your Medicare representative on an annual basis. It's something that we harp on very huge here at the pharmacy. It's 1 of our biggest billing customer service tactics is to take a look at What those Medicare patients and Medicaid patients are on and really dive into have they updated their service any given point in time. And since they've basically been on Medicaid, and we work with a couple of different. Medicaid partners that are excuse me, Medicare partners that help us with this, but a lot of it just goes back to constantly checking in on your health care, right? if it was your money that was involved and you had all your money in the stock market, are you ever just going to leave it all sitting in the same place for the next 50 years and never look at it? No, you're going to go in. You're going to. Do some research about it. You're going to trust an advisor that's going to make sure that your money's there in a while it's the same kind of thing with your insurance find a good Medicare insurer that is going back and looking at your plan on a yearly basis that can say okay These are the medications that you're on if I put you on this plan, it would cost you this much And there's there's a couple of them out there that are specific to here in the valley, but there's. There's so many good ones out there that if you just, just pay attention to it, don't just sit on the same plan forever and ever and ever. I just transitioned my grandfather into a brand new plan. He's been on Medicare for gosh, 15, 20 years and he had never looked at his plan. And all of a sudden his co pays are costing him a ton of extra money, because he's, all of a sudden he went from not taking any medications to now he's taking, Eliquis and he's taking this really expensive inhaler and he's got all these new medications. Well, the plan that he was on and signed up for had him at zero medications. So they're going to try and do what they can, to. Lower those costs, but you're not signed up for the plan. That's best for you and understands the medications that you're taking now. So if you get on to those plans, I would just say, please, please, please keep on those. Look at those. The majority of the Medicaid plans out there have additional coverages and services for over the counter medications for all kinds of different health care things related things. that if you're not knowledgeable about call your Medicare provider, get a hold of them, figure it out. Like, there's no reason to be spending extra money on medicine. I promise you there's there's so many different plans that you can be on that medicine should be the last thing that you worry about spending money on.

John: 33:41

Thank you for talking about that because, I, for one think that sometimes, as you get to that, Page of medic where you qualify for Medicare, you get that. Then you might pay for a secondary policy. And a lot of us we have, we're trying to think, gosh, I just want to figure out how I'm going to make dinner tonight or get from this side of the room to that side of the room. And knowing that it's important that you review your policy based upon your needs each year is something that's probably out of sight, out of mind type thing. And so, you It's so, it is. So thank you for bringing that up because it's so important for people to be aware of that. And, and the people that maybe are their children or grandchildren or whoever that's helping them navigate those things and do that.

Kevin: 34:26

And that's where it goes back to get that team together, find that team that's going to be your care team. And that can include people that are, you know, that aren't, you know, aren't necessarily skilled or, or educated in that workspace, but that are going to go and try and work for you, whether that's a family member or a neighbor or whatever else it is that kind of helps you along in some of those aspects. I'm fortunate enough to have those resources built in just with the community that I work in. but if you ever have questions about it, please just reach out to whoever you think you can reach out to. most people are genuinely nice people and will try and get you to the appropriate answer. you know, you're smiling because you know exactly what I'm talking about, John, especially in the community that we're in. if I was to ask. Anybody in our community, for services on, personal care or something along those lines, I could find dozens of different, people that would help out in that area. So I would just say, don't be quiet about it. just be vocal, be, a proponent for yourself, but find that team that can really, Really help you and assist you in that

John: 35:29

Yeah. That's what it takes. so many people, that I've heard of too, that they become really reclusive. So it is important to have those connections, to have those teams, to have a plan. we're all about that with our company here, just educating people on the importance of that, because it's going to save you money. It's going to save time and it could save your life really honestly.

Erin: 35:47

What advice would you have for someone that is taking care of a family member or someone when it comes to medications?

Kevin: 35:55

Oh, gosh. there are resources out there for you. Like I said, I keep saying it and I'll say it over and over and over again, find that pharmacy or that pharmacist. That's going to be. of value to you. just because grandma or grandpa or mom or dad or whoever else has been getting their medication from Fred Meyer or Walmart or whatever for 15 years, doesn't mean that that's where they have to get it for the rest of their lives. So, find those resources and find those people that are, you know, passionate about helping. Gosh, caregivers for medication. it's going to be daunting. I mean, the first time you go in there, I don't know if you guys have ever done this, but the first time you go in there and see all the different beds that they're taking, if they haven't been keeping it under control. It's going to be very daunting, and if they haven't been destroying their medications, you're not going to be sure what's going on or what what they should be taking or anything else. So get a hold of the physician, get a hold of the pharmacy, get a hold of whomever else you can, and and figure out what the patient or your loved one should actually be on. would be a great first starting step that way. You can look at each individual bottle and each individual drug and say, no, they don't need this. Throw it away. No, they don't need this. Throw it away. and we can get down to kind of the nitty gritty of what the patient should actually be taken. But that would be my advice is just get a hold of the people that should know, get a hold of the physicians, get a hold of the pharmacy, and go from there. But it just goes back to that care team.

John: 37:20

Yeah.

Erin: 37:21

That sounds great.

John: 37:22

what about, technology? Is there any type of technology out there that can help support medication management that you recommend people

Kevin: 37:30

Yeah. I mean, there's that's a good question. you know, technology is gosh, it's great when it works and it's terrible when it doesn't right. So things like setting alarms on your phone are always a great, indicator. there's definitely a lot of that stuff out there right now, as far as technology is concerned. And The thing that I would say is a lot of it can cost a lot of money and still requires a lot of manual, input. whereas if you, for instance, like our bubble pack or our Mediset packs, They're very, rudimentary, if you will. but you can still physically see them and you can see what's going on and you can set alarms on mom and dad's phone and then you can check back on them. whereas there's definitely different medication dispensing systems that are out there, but then you still have to go out to the. home and pack everything yourself and make sure that the alarms are set and that it's all dialed in appropriately and everything else. So, yes, technology is definitely a positive thing in a lot of ways. especially since it allows us to, get that information from those doctors and those kinds of things. But as far as, actually aiding in giving people their medications, I'm not sure it's there yet. I think there's some really cool things that are coming. but I'm just not sure that I'm not sure it's there yet. It doesn't it, you know, there's still way too much manual and potential for human error kind of things that are going on right now with some of those systems. So,

Erin: 38:57

be those little robots that are going to bring it to you,

John: 39:00

right at the right time with a glass of water.

Erin: 39:04

Here you go.

John: 39:04

Yeah.

Kevin: 39:05

when it gets to that point, I'm all in. Let's do it.

John: 39:09

Well, you know, I've been excited. You've your wealth of knowledge and I appreciate all the information that you've shared with us today. So, so thank you for your time.

Kevin: 39:19

Yeah.

Erin: 39:19

there any other tips or anything maybe that we didn't discuss that you feel are super important?

Kevin: 39:26

no, I think we hit pretty much everything that I would suggest. One thing that I just I feel like I've gone back to a couple different times is that it doesn't have to be with our pharmacy. It doesn't have to be, in Boise or in Idaho find that pharmacy or find that pharmacist that's passionate about your care, that you will find a lot of success, In your treatment and your care. If you just find those people that want to help you as best as possible and that don't let you just be another number. It's something that happens in our realm. Sometimes we allow patients to become numbers and to become. just different fills or different appointments or different, whatever else it is, find those good, those good people. And if you don't feel comfortable with the people that you're with, go to another person. There's nothing that says that just because I've seen this doctor since I was 25 years old, that you have to continue seeing that doctor. If you feel like your care is not there, you feel like their passion is no longer there. Find those people that are passionate about your care and about your success.

Erin: 40:30

well, I'd say what you said is very powerful and aligns with us. You need to advocate for yourself. You need to know what's best for you. And if at any point you're not comfortable or you don't feel you're getting the service that you need for your life, it's okay to leave. It's okay to search elsewhere. And we encourage you to do so. So thank you for saying that. On to my

John: 40:54

favorite question. your life, your choice.

Erin: 40:56

Well, that's not my favorite question.

Kevin: 40:59

Oh, look, that's a weird question.

Erin: 41:00

I was like, wow.

John: 41:01

your life, your choice is our tagline and going back to, being able to advocate for yourself, you know, and not being just a number. So on to Erin's favorite question,

Erin: 41:12

So your favorite place you've traveled to or someplace that is on your adventure list of where you want to go.

Kevin: 41:22

gosh. so I actually majored in political science when I was in college. so we had the opportunity. With some of my kids to go back to Washington, D. C. for a soccer tournament. And I tell you what, I think we spent probably two or three days going to different museums and different, that kind of thing. I could spend years, I mean, legitimately like years being in that space and going to all the different locations and things and spaces. it was fantastic and I would, I would do that again in a freaking heartbeat. It was awesome.

John: 41:56

So a history history guy you loved

Kevin: 41:58

Yeah,

John: 41:59

that history and being part of it very cool

Erin: 42:01

It is cool. I lived right outside of DC and so it is a lot of fond memories of the amazing things that are there to do.

Kevin: 42:07

Oh, yeah. So you know what I'm talking about. You could go, I mean, you could literally go to something new every single day for, I mean, it seems like forever.

John: 42:16

Yeah. Yeah. We were just in London and, it was neat to, to see a lot of their history and the architecture and the bill old buildings and just sit there and go, wow, I'm staying in a place that's been here for 300, 400 years,

Kevin: 42:30

Mm hmm. Yeah, we don't have a lot of that around here,

John: 42:32

No, no.

Kevin: 42:33

especially not in Idaho.

Erin: 42:35

Well, maybe the rocks, right? The city of

Kevin: 42:38

you go.

John: 42:39

Yeah. well, well, thank you for your time today. And yeah, it's, it's been fun and you're an amazing guy.

Erin: 42:46

Thank you, Kevin.

Kevin: 42:49

Awesome. I appreciate that.

John: 42:50

Thank you for tuning in to another episode of Connect Empower. We want to express our gratitude to you for being part of our community, and we hope today's episode has provided you with valuable insights and inspiration to enhance your life and that of a loved one.

Erin: 43:04

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John: 43:26

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Erin: 43:41

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John: 44:01

I'm John.

Erin: 44:02

I'm Erin. Until next Wednesday.