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The Des Moines Register names Pharmacists Mutual Insurance Company a winner of the Iowa Top Workplaces 2022 Award

Algona, IA – Pharmacists Mutual Insurance Company received a Top Workplaces 2022 award by Iowa Top Workplaces for the sixth consecutive year. The award is based solely on employee feedback gathered through a third-party survey administered by employee engagement technology partner Energage LLC. The anonymous survey uniquely measures 15 culture drivers critical to any organization’s success, including values, communication, and connection, just to name a few.

Tropical Depression Nine currently moving in the Caribbean could approach Florida next week as a major Category 3 hurricane. This storm, soon to be named Hermine, is expected to increase in intensity to hurricane strength as it approaches warmer Gulf water.

School has started, and the air is getting chilly. In the pharmacy world, that means it is flu shot time! While pharmacy has been in immunization mode with COVID-19 for the past couple of years, this is a great time to review your policies and procedures for providing vaccines. The public health emergency declaration is still in effect, meaning there are fewer restrictions on who can provide immunizations. Over the past year, some states have updated laws to reflect opportunities provided to pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in the immunization and testing space. Reviewing the rules in your practice state is vital to ensure compliance.

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, overturning Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey. The ruling means laws regarding abortion revert back to the states. As practitioners who may encounter prescriptions for medication abortion that you understand the law and how it applies in your state. Some of you may not have any changes to your practice based on state law. Still, other practitioners may be required to provide additional documentation on prescriptions dispensed or even turn patients away who are requesting these medications for the purpose of abortion.

Hurricane Preparedness

Alert – Members in New Mexico

As a member of Pharmacists Mutual Insurance Company, you are invited to the annual meeting on Friday, May 20, 2022, at 9:00 a.m CDT. The meeting will be held virtually and at the home office at 808 Highway 18 West in Algona, Iowa. If you are interested in attending the virtual meeting, please register at AnnualMeeting.phmic.com by May 19, 2022, at 12:00 p.m. CDT.

Click here to read Pharmacists Mutual Insurance Company’s 2021 Annual Report.

While health care professionals do not commonly face criminal charges for cases of negligence, the following cases show the possibility exists. For example, a nurse in Tennessee was recently convicted of gross neglect of an impaired adult and negligent homicide as a result of a medication error.  The nurse intended to withdraw Versed® from a medication cabinet on the floor, but retrieved vecuronium instead.  Criminal charges were filed after the patient died.  This case is similar to the case of the pharmacist in Ohio in 2006.  In that case, an 18 month old patient mistakenly received her chemotherapy treatment in a bag of concentrated sodium chloride instead of normal saline.  After the patient’s death, the pharmacist faced criminal charges, was convicted, and served more than a year in prison.

Malicious attacks on your business can cripple operations. With the recent tensions in the Russia-Ukraine crisis, those crippling effects are closer than you think. At Pharmacists Mutual, we take government warnings seriously and aim to circumvent any malicious attacks upon our members. Federal cybersecurity professionals have issued warnings to American businesses that we should all heed.