A few days ago, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy Dean Natalie Eddington wrote a thoughtful op-ed that was published in the Baltimore Sun. Dean Eddington does a nice job of striking the right chords and making the case based on her own experiences in Maryland. Bravo!

“If Congress is too gridlocked to make a difference at the federal level, pharmacists can make inroads on the state level,” Eddington wrote. “Maryland and other states such as Florida, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio and Virginia have implemented medication therapy management programs and pharmacy-assisted disease management programs for state employees and Medicaid beneficiaries, which may eventually lead to policy changes to achieve better health, better care and lower health care costs.

Noting the progress in California (which is well described in the current issue of Pharmacy Today), Eddington added, “I encourage our lawmakers to remove the barriers that exist in recognizing pharmacists’ clinical services so that Marylanders can have the same access to care that the citizens of California now enjoy. Enacting laws that recognize pharmacists as health care providers will allow us to meet the increasing health care needs of the citizens of our state by practicing at the top of our license in collaboration with our health care partners, ultimately helping to make Maryland the healthiest state in our country.”

The momentum is building as more and more articles appear in everything from the Harvard Business Review to USA Today touting the benefits of getting pharmacists engaged in helping patients manage their medicines more effectively. I encourage more of you to tell your stories, either to APhA with your permission to use them (no PHI please) or in the near future with your Members of Congress as our major provider status initiative gains momentum on Capitol Hill.

When pharmacists get involved in patient care, costs go down and quality improves! Spread the news!