Bruce Winston
ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR
- 10/27/2024
Let's talk PPNs!
Normally, I go out of my way to point out my blog comments are my own and not necessarily shared by any organization with which I am professionally affiliated. However, while the views below are certainly my own, I find it difficult, in today’s blog, to distance myself from my employer, Neighbourly Pharmacy. - 7/15/2024
Smartening your lease logic, Part 2
Here I will cover the Notices section, the Option to Renew, and the Relocation clause. Generally, once both parties have entered into a Banner Agreement and Lease, the next time those documents ever get pulled out of the filing cabinet are at term renewal, at time of sale, or when something has broken down in the relationship between the parties. - 7/8/2024
Smarten up your lease logic to negotiate pharmacy ownership
Like the banner agreement, the lease is a complex legal document, and generally never balanced in the way it is drafted. It always reads very much in favour of the landlord. When I review a lease, I think of it the same way as when I read an insurance policy. There is nothing drier on the face of the earth, but you need to understand it because the next time you pull it out to refer to it, it is because something really important is going on in your world. - 7/1/2024
The importance of the banner agreement and lease when opening a pharmacy
I am preparing to precept my next fourth-year University of Alberta PharmD student for their non-patient care rotation. I highly recommend becoming a preceptor for students. I learn from each of them and I get energized by their enthusiasm for the profession. My rotation is an elective with a leadership/management focus, and I often match with students who express an interest in becoming a pharmacy owner down the line. - 12/26/2023
The Express Scripts discussion is broader for Canadian pharmacy
I am firm in my belief that community pharmacy in Canada is part of the solution to the challenges that Canadians are facing in accessing primary care. Crippling pharmacy through the imposition of fees and limiting patient choice of healthcare provider through PPNs is something I am prepared to invest my energy and time to prevent. - 12/17/2023
Would Canadian pharmacy employees vote for pay and submit?
I recognize that pharmacies are businesses, but pharmacists are frontline healthcare providers. The pharmacists, technicians and support staff who spend countless hours each day helping patients navigate their benefits plans don’t want to put their patients through the inconvenience of having to pay out-of-pocket and submitting. - 12/14/2023
Pharmacists, it's time to follow the money!
I am so appreciative of all the comments (both private and public) that followed my blog from December 11th regarding the monthly user fee being imposed on community pharmacies by Express Scripts Canada (ESC). - 12/11/2023
Is it possible Express Scripts Canada will break the camel’s back?
Wow, there has been a lot going on in pharmacy in Canada. I was starting to write a completely different blog, but that update simply had to wait, given the recent communication from Express Scripts Canada (ESC) introducing a monthly service fee to pharmacy providers beginning January 1, 2024. - 12/10/2023
Is it possible Express Scripts Canada will break the camel’s back?
Wow, there has been a lot going on in pharmacy in Canada. I was starting to write a completely different blog, but that update simply had to wait, given the recent communication from Express Scripts Canada (ESC) introducing a monthly service fee to pharmacy providers beginning January 1, 2024. - 7/17/2023
Advocacy for the pharmacy profession is really up to all of us
A friend of mine, who shall not remain anonymous (Tracey Phillips), mentioned something to me that really resonated the last time I saw her. She said so many of our leaders talk about advocacy from any number of daises, but the way it is presented by them makes the concept intimidating, perhaps overwhelming, to the average pharmacist.
