Nicole Schreiner:
We want patients to optimize how they use their meds, be able to have access to their medications so they can be healthy and well. That is our ultimate goal. When we have policy and regulations that are in the middle that don't allow us to do that job at the ability that we are able to do, it is heart-wrenching. I mean, we've had patients crying in our office, in our pharmacy, just because they either can't afford their medication, and we tell them, "I'm not even getting reimbursed at the cost of this medication, so it's not me making all the money." We had another patient that because the reimbursement was so low, they went to two different pharmacies and then finally came to us to be able to get a glucose monitor for their daughter. And they were denied service by two other pharmacies, because when they sent the claim through for this new patient, they were losing money on it. So, being able to provide that service to patients and to be part of making sure that they are taken care of is really what we want to ultimately do.

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To me, the big thing about the bill is it allows prescription processing to be dispensed to patients in the model that I believe should exist. Which is, one, a patient gets to choose where they want to go, just like they want to choose a health care provider — a doctor, an advanced practice nurse practitioner — that feels right to them, that they mesh and and takes care of them. It would allow them to have access to that type of health care provider, the pharmacy and the pharmacist that they want. I believe it continues to allow us to be able to operate at the top of our scope of practice, to continue to serve our patients in the way that really motivates us. I talk about, we get up in the morning because we want to truly help serve our patient. And, if we get paid fairly for the product that we're dispensing, we can do those additional services that we're asking for.