[Music plays throughout video]
David Kaufman: Something as complex as Part D and prescription drug coverage, um, is not necessarily well-suited to be fleshed all the way through in a 15-20 minute doctor’s visit. There are so many options between the way the deductible may vary, the co-pay may vary. I think the challenge sometimes is for doctors to actually know what those resources are that are out there, um, and find a way to actually take advantage of
them.
Student Pharmacist [at blackboard]: Right now, I’m talking about Medicare Part D from the patient’s perspective. Let’s make sure we all know who the Medicare Part D patients are and why this is relevant to you as future healthcare providers.
Angela Dai Zovi: The program here today is put on by Partners in D peer-to-peer educators who have gone through an extensive elective course, been taught about Medicare Part D, and they go forth, and they talk to other professionals—such as medical students, nurses—about and how we can all work together to make changes for patients to help improve their lives and their medications—and their overall well-being.
Heather Hertema: We’re going to pay attention to challenges and barriers that affect low-income individuals, in particular, as they try to navigate Medicare Part D.
It’s extremely important to share the information that we have about Part D with medical students and physicians because of the very simple fact that, if it hasn’t already, Medicare is going to affect both their practice and their patients.
Medical Student: One thing I’ve seen a lot of is a patient goes into the hospital, and the team will change their medications while they’re there—and often, they’ll go home on whatever they were on in the hospital. And I was just wondering how all of that plays out with this Medicare Part D.
Joseph Letourneau: What we learned today will affect the way that I provide future care, particularly in the sense that I’ll try to be more aware and cognizant of what type of insurance people have and how that might affect, uh, their ability to purchase their medications. The example where we changed from brand name to generic drugs and saved the patient $2,000 instantly was pretty telling.
David Kauffman: One of the biggest take-aways for me today was that pharmacists are particularly well-suited to help manage the patient’s drug coverage and their reimbursement structure and helping the patient just understand sort of the nuts and bolts of their pharmaceutical—of their drug coverage, um, because the pharmacy is where that drug coverage is most delivered.
Medical Student: I think that pharmacists are the key people to be providing this education and this community outreach and support to Medicare beneficiaries because they are the most knowledgeable about these issues.
Student Pharmacist [at blackboard]: Medicare Part D is the perfect opportunity for healthcare providers to collaborate. Each one of us has a unique skill set that complements the others—so by working together, we can further improve healthcare.
Joseph Letourneau: I have no doubt that I’ll work with pharmacists in the future, and I think the lecture today further informed me that it will be a big part of my career.
Angela Dai Zovi: We’re clinical, we’re trained, we’re advocates, we’re policy-makers, we’re passionate, and we’re ready to help patients.
[Music continues playing through closing credits.]