INNOVATIVE PRACTICE FORM

Name: Joseph Mosso

Address: 1006 Ligonier Street, Latrobe, PA 15650

Phone #: 412-537-6841

FAX #: 412-539-9486

E-mail/Information service: NONE

Briefly describe innovation

In this pharmacy, there are two main venues of innovative practice currently being utilized. One is in the form of fee-for-service workman's compensation, and the other is in the form of compounding. In the area of workman's compensation, the pharmacy sent out brochures to the steel mills in the area which is a major industry there. These documents were distributed to the workers to explain to them that the pharmacy could provide services directly to them without having the employer take any money out of their pocket to pay for these services. To provide workman's compensation, the pharmacy must follow Act 44 which tells what the state of Pennsylvania allows including reimbursement rates. Because of these restrictions on reimbursement schedules, it is very important for the pharmacy to buy competitively. Compounding has helped the pharmacy to sustain a great deal of business also. This is somewhat of a specialty practice for this pharmacy. It is the only pharmacy in the county that does compounding, and therefore everyone around the county is referred to Musso's pharmacy for compounding. There are two other pharmacists besides Musso involved in this. The newest item in the compounding area is flavoring for suspensions. There are approximately sixty-seven different flavors one can choose from to have suspensions flavored (e.g. watermelon-flavored Biaxin). This is a franchise business. While these are two very innovative practices that are newer to the pharmacy, there are other things that Musso has been doing for years that are also innovative. He has two working stations in his pharmacy to allow close contact with patients. They allow a distance of no more than three feet from the patient so that the pharmacist can talk to the patient while the prescription is being filled. Also, there is a Health-Com computer in the pharmacy. This is an information tool for patients that allows patients to learn about their disease states more in depth and also gives addresses for where to write to get additional information. There is also a health screen machine that can take blood pressure of patients while they wait for their prescription to be filled. This feature has been in the pharmacy for fifteen years. Musso also tailors dosage schedules to individual patient needs while counseling patients. His computer allows for a personalized printout of dosage schedules for up to fourteen days including time to take the medication, how to take the medication, and when to take the medication. At this time, there is no formal approach to follow-up care being implemented because time does not allow for the pharmacists to provide this service.

Method of Reimbursement

Payor(s): Bills approximately fifty-six different insurance companies at this time

Reimbursement rate: Reimbursement is set at AWP + 10% for workman's compensation in the state of Pennsylvania by Act 44. For compounding, the pharmacy does its own pricing scale depending on the nature of the product.

Is documentation required? Yes

There is a generic workman's compensation form used for billing purposes.

Specialized training required?

Software/instrumentation required? Yes The computer system used in the pharmacy is PDX from Texas. Included in it is a workman's compensation screen for billing. The pharmacy also has a Health-Com computer which provides disease state information for patient use.

Interviewed by: Janna Griffies