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PHPR 665/667 Advanced Specialized Clerkship I/II
Background
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMS, has oversight over federal expenditures on healthcare. The Kansas City Regional Office is located in the Richard Bolling Federal Building in the downtown Kansas City government district. January 1, 2006 was the historic start of the Medicare Drug Benefit. The result is that over 30 million Medicare beneficiaries now have some type of prescription drug coverage. Goals Gain a broad understanding the Medicare Benefit Gain an understanding of Medicare Part D, especially as it applies to pharmacy and medical providers Gain an understanding of CMS’ role in the U.S. federal government Understand how to research and respond to provider, beneficiary, and congressional queries about Medicare issues Objectives This rotation will provide the student a solid understanding of the Medicare Program. This rotation will provide the student with an in-depth knowledge of Drug Policy has it pertains to Parts A, B, and D. More emphasis will be placed on Part B and D since these are the programs that most pharmacists are exposed to in their career. The student will be trained on basic Medicare program requirements and be expected to explain those requirements to pharmacists throughout the four state region via email and phone inquiries. This rotation will require the student to come to the CMS Regional Office for a typical 8.5 hour day in downtown Kansas City. After initial instruction the student will answer incoming provider and/or beneficiary questions and research Medicare drug policy questions for pharmacy and Division of Medicare Operations staff. The student will be assigned weekly readings in addition to daily work assignments. There will be weekly examinations and/ or discussions with Medicare Pharmacists to ensure learning and comprehension of reading material. Based on previous student experiences, typically readings and presentation preparation are done outside of the 8.5 hours in the office, since the student is given a standard workload for completion. The student will be expected to create and/or provide one 30 minute presentation on a current pharmacy issue that impacts Medicare Beneficiaries and present to Medicare staff. The student will leave the rotation with a solid understanding of how drugs are covered and paid for under the Medicare Program and will have the knowledge of where to go for answers to Medicare Drug Queries throughout their pharmacy career.
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