The Virginian-Pilot
©
CHESAPEAKE
The problems it faces are the same as virtually every other big employer: rising health care costs, a tight budget.
The solution at Chesapeake Public Schools, however, is a little different. The division proposes opening two of its own pharmacies.
One would be in a group of administrative buildings in the Great Bridge area of the city. The other would be at a middle school. In a trailer. Near the football stadium.
"We've been thinking about all kinds of things, and this one came across our desks and it really was intriguing," said Vicki Lucente, assistant superintendent for budget and finance. "It's kind of out of left field."
Large, private employers started getting into the pharmacy business some time ago. But Chesapeake - if the School Board approves - would join just a handful of municipal organizations that have taken the step of opening pharmacies specifically for employees, retirees and their dependents.
The school division expects to follow in the footsteps of Colorado Springs, Colo., and El Paso County, Colo., which together run a pharmacy for their employees. The Lubbock Independent School District in Texas also recently decided to establish its own pharmacy.
One city, Chattanooga, Tenn., has branched out even further. In addition to pharmacies, it opened clinics, where employees can visit city-employed doctors.
"There's a lot of organizations that have done some very, very creative things to try to manage health care costs," Lucente said.
The Chesapeake school division spent more than $56 million on health care last year, with drug claims and expenses accounting for about 23 percent of those costs.
On-site pharmacies save money by allowing organizations to buy prescriptions closer to the manufacturer, eliminating some of the markups along the way that employees face when they buy from conventional pharmacies.
The start up costs would amount to about $500,000 in the first year, Lucente said. The division expects to save more than $3 million over the next three years, but only if enough employees - betwe en 50 and 75 percent - use the pharmacies.
The school division would contract with On-Site Rx - the company that worked with Chattanooga - to handle the day-to-day management, providing a pharmacist and a pharmacy technician, and making inventory decisions.
The company would buy the prescriptions from a wholesaler - but Chesapeake schools would pay it back, meaning the drugs would be sold by the school division to its own employees.
Employees would have a lower co-pay than at a standard pharmacy, however, because the drugs would have been purchased cheaply, Lucente said.
There have been some concerns about security at the Deep Creek Middle School location, and the school division is still working out the details. On-Site Rx would be responsible for security as part of its contract, said Steve Gilbert, assistant superintendent for operations. The trailer would be on a part of campus that's away from classrooms and fenced off, he said.
The division picked that location because research showed most employees were using pharmacies in the Great Bridge and Deep Creek areas of the city. The division didn't have any other space in the Deep Creek area, and renting space would cost more.
"It sounds like a really great resource," said Malia Huddle, president of the Chesapeake Education Association. "And if it's one of those things that reduces money in one area so it can go to what students and teachers need in another, I'm certainly all for that."
The school division would decide which drugs it wants to stock, and right now it's leaning away from "the heavy-duty stuff," such as Xanax and Vicodin, Lucente said.
Lucente said the division is tentatively exploring what might eventually be a next step - buying the drugs directly from manufacturers, without On-Site Rx as a go-between. But that would be "a huge step," she said, one that would require school division employees to have knowledge about the pharmaceutical industry, and it's one she's not sure they want to take.
But, she said, if initial pharmacies run by the contractor work well, the division might consider expanding, with pharmacies at sites in Western Branch or the Indian River area.
Pilot researcher Jake Hays contributed to this report.
Alicia Wittmeyer, (757) 222-5216, alicia.wittmeyer@pilotonline.com
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
Twitter
Google
Yahoo
Pills or Pencils
This is the stupidest thing I've ever heard from a bunch of educators. Great! Not like there are not enough illegal pharmacists selling in the school system, now you want to employ legals ones. Zero toleance means zero tolerance. No drugs in, on, or near the school zones. If a student wants to take a tylenol then you want to suspend/expel them. No means no. AS fas as saving money...what's the point of saving? I would say to reduce your costs. The head of CEA suggests we take the money saved and spend it somewhere else. What's the point if not saved? Spend your money and time doing what it is that you were hired to do. EDUCATE! Don't get into the drug business.
Chesapeake school system pharmacies
Oh dear, doesn't "saving money" on drugs require the purchase of generics?
Generics may be great for the majority but for a minority they can mean terrible chemcial reactions to something in the medicine.
A few months ago I heard about a woman who had such a bad reaction to the generic form of her medicine that she would always wind up in the hospital if she took it. And the health insurance company would just claim that it was some sort of coincidence and still require it. As long as she took the regular nongeeric form, she was okay even though it costs something like about a few thousand dollars a month.
Of couse the pharmaceuticals company must have been thrilled to get the full cost. But you'd think that the health insurance company would have noticed the increase in costs when she had to go to the hospital.
Generic drugs are copies of
Generic drugs are copies of brand-name drugs that have exactly the same dosage, intended use, effects, side effects, route of administration, risks, safety, and strength as the original drug. In other words, their pharmacological effects are exactly the same as those of their brand-name counterparts.
Generics are not the same as branded!
You are absolutely incorrect regarding the generic to branded match. Incorrect. Incorrect. Your Chinese rolex is not the same as the real thing.
i agree with you....
especially with pain meds. Generic might contain the same ingredients but there's something missing because brand name lasts longer and helps more with the pain.
Oh...okay...
So this is why childrens Tylenol is being pulled from the shelves and it is being said to use the generic at this time? All medications have risks...generic or otherwise. Where are you getting this information: "Generic might contain the same ingredients but there's something missing because brand name lasts longer and helps more with the pain"? That is not true. Generic manufacturers have stringent standards too. I'm not talking about the stuff you buy off the internet. I'm talking about real certified pharmacies.
If my Chinese Rolex was made
If my Chinese Rolex was made out of the exact same materials, the exact same way as a Rolex, the only difference would be who made it. As a matter of fact you can buy a Rolex that is made in Hong Kong that has fooled some experts.
A man made synthetic diamond, [not a CZ or imitation], has exactly the same chemical and physical properties as a natural diamond, so much so that a company that produces them is required to have the girdle [the small area around the diameter of the stone] laser etched so it can be identified as being such.
Right...
I'm sure the "Chinese Rolex" can tell the time just the same as the real deal. While the Rolex is a beautiful watch, if you are on a budget, you go with what you need and not a label. Generic Tylenol gets rid of my headaches every bit as much as the real thing. The shelf life is the same. The price tag is different.
silly comment
You obviously know nothing about Rolex, either.
So Preston?...
Are you saying a Walmart watch can't tell time just the same as a Rolex? I mean, if I went up to someone wearing a Walmart watch and asked for the time I should not believe him or her? By them stating it is 12:00, it really could be 4:30? I should only go to someone wearing a Rolex for the time? A Rolex could never, ever, ever, break, slow down, or *gasp* be a minute or two off? Wow!