Winfield inches closer to opening a Telepharmacy

BY KARYN SPORY

Mt. Pleasant News

WINFIELD ? Almost a year after the Winfield City Council gave the go-ahead for a Telepharmacy to be developed in the city it looks like it will finally become a reality; at least in a couple of months.

There were five Telepharmacies in Iowa running as pilot programs; Winfield was looking to become the sixth. However, in November, the Iowa Pharmaceutical Board informed Winfield Mayor Chris Finnell that no other communities would be allowed into the Telepharmacy pilot program until the Iowa Legislature passed a law permitting Telepharmacies.

Greg Janes, director of marketing for Telepharm, describes a Telepharmacy as a pharmacy that has been specifically designed for rural areas. ?The idea behind the Telepharmacy is that communities or areas that can?t support a full-time pharmacist are still able to get access to a pharmacy and to the services provided through a pharmacy,? he said.

The pharmacy would be run by a pharmacy technician on site, while oversight of the prescriptions and speaking with the customers would be done remotely through a live video link, much like Skype.

The Telepharmacy bill had been passed by the Iowa Senate in 2015, but not the House. Nevertheless, everything came together in 2016, as both the House and Senate passed the bill, which was signed into law by Gov. Terry Branstad in May.

Janes said the law is to become effective on July 1, 2016.

?The caveat to that,? Janes said, ?is the legislative and rule making process is a two-step process.?

First is the statute, which was signed and authorized by the House, Senate and Governor. ?That was a huge hurdle and we?re really happy,? said Janes referring to having the bill passed by the House, Senate and signed into law by Branstad. The bill passed with overwhelming support in both the House and Senate.

?The next phase, which should be happening over the next few months is the administrative rule making process,? said Janes.

According to Janes, the Iowa Board of Pharmacy will create the rules and regulations on how the Telepharmacies should be implemented and regulated. ?It will still be a couple more months down the road before there is a total green light to move forward, but this is a huge step in the right direction.?

Janes said the next big step is seeing what the draft rules and regulations will be. ?That will give everybody a much better idea of the direction that the Board of Pharmacy is going,? he said. ?Once we see the draft, I think things will start to pick up a little bit.?

Janes said he was thrilled with the amount of support the legislation received from Iowa?s rural communities. ?Their support has been an absolutely invaluable asset to this whole process and continues to be the driving force behind why we?re involved with it,? he said. ?Serving the rural communities is where our passion is and why we want to do this.?

As for Winfield, Janes said he was excited to be moving forward and helping to bring a pharmacy back to the community.