Healthy Dose® with Anthony Bolus, Pharm.D.

A decline in drug insurance reimbursement rates and increased pharmacy fees continue to be a tough pill to swallow for ALL pharmacies across the United States. This issue has forced many pharmacies in recent months to make the difficult decision to limit services or close their doors – leaving a negative impact that is felt by patients both far and wide, as it hinders the access individuals have t...

A decline in drug insurance reimbursement rates and increased pharmacy fees continue to be a tough pill to swallow for ALL pharmacies across the United States. This issue has forced many pharmacies in recent months to make the difficult decision to limit services or close their doors – leaving a negative impact that is felt by patients both far and wide, as it hinders the access individuals have t...

Today we will talk with Dr. Cherry Jackson, professor of pharmacy at Auburn University’s Harrison School of Pharmacy and clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioral neurobiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. Jackson will discuss everything about mental health from what it is, how to help to manage it, and the role that COVID-19 has played in worsening mental health. We’ll als...

We will continue on the second and final part of our Pharmacy In Peril: What’s Really Happening Behind the Counter Series as now we will learn from a front line pharmacist how these fees and reimbursement models from drug insurance companies, in particular the pharmacy benefit managers otherwise known as PBMs, are causing pharmacy services to suffer and overall your safety as the patient is at ris...

Community pharmacy practice has been in the news quite a bit lately due to walkouts happening across the nation. Tensions are also rising about the decade long flawed payment scheme in our nation, initiated by drug insurance companies, which is paying pharmacies less than what it costs pharmacies to dispense the medication. This backward business takes away significant dollars from pharmacies and...

Tune in as Dr. Allison Hill, Pharm. D., RPh, director of Practice and Professional Affairs at the American Pharmacist Association (APhA), discusses the triple virus threat– COVID-19, RSV and flu– that you may encounter when returning back to school or back to the office this fall, as well as what defenses you can employ to protect yourself and others from these bugs! She also discusses the latest...

In this month's episode, host Anthony Bolus talks to Maryam Iranikhah, Pharm. D., BCGP, FASCP, a professor at Samford University’s McWhorter School of Pharmacy. Together, they discuss everything you need to know about vitamins essential to boosting immune health in the fight against COVID-19 and other viruses, including vitamin D, Vitamin C and Zinc.

In this month's episode, we bring back Michael Hogue, an alumnus of Samford's McWhorter School of Pharmacy and dean of Loma Linda University’s School of Pharmacy in Loma Linda, California. He currently serves as president of the American Pharmacists Association, and he brings his expertise as a member of the CDC’s COVID-19 vaccine work group to help us understand these vaccines in more depth: What...

When caring for children, there are unique challenges, including dosage form, flavoring, patient cooperation and education. In this month's episode of Healthy Dose, host Anthony Bolus talks to Sam Blakemore, Pharm. D, M.B.A., the pharmacist manager at PedsRx Pharmacy Solutions, which is an independent pharmacy located within Children’s of Alabama. He shares some tried and true tips and tricks rela...

In this episode of Healthy Dose, host Anthony Bolus talks to Jan Kavookjian, Ph. D., M.B.A., a behavior scientist teaching at Auburn University’s Harrison School of Pharmacy and the incoming President-Elect of the Association of Diabetes Care and Education Specialists (ADCES). November is National Diabetes Awareness Month, and millions of Americans are diagnosed with diabetes and pre-diabetes each...

October is American Pharmacists Month. In this episode, we shine a light on an issue affecting many pharmacists called DIR Fees. These penalties have exponentially increased over the years, adding economic stress to community pharmacists across the country. Not only is this threat very real for pharmacy closings, but your overall safety as a patient is at risk as well. Host Anthony Bolus talks to...

In this episode, Anthony Bolus talks to Michael Hogue, Pharm. D., FAPhA, FNAP, dean of Loma Linda University's School of Pharmacy and president of the American Pharmacists Association. Hogue serves on the COVID-19 Vaccine Workgroup with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and together, Bolus and Hogue discuss potential treatment strategies for COVID-19 and the types of vaccines t...

With its first episode of Season 1, our host, Anthony Bolus, discusses COVID-19 with Jeff Kyle, Pharm. D., BCPS, the vice chair and director of experiential education at Samford University’s McWhorter School of Pharmacy and a clinical pharmacy specialist at a local medical center in the Birmingham area. Their discussion covers the basics of COVID-19, including who it affects, how it spreads, and t...

First published on Novembe 28, 2017: On this episode of Healthy Dose, Dr. Anthony Bolus visits with Dr. Michael Hogue of Samford's McWhorter School of Pharmacy, discussing shingles and new vaccine available to prevent this painful condition.

First published on November 14, 2017: On this episode of Healthy Dose, Dr. Anthony Bolus continues his discussion with Jon Parker, director of admissions at Samford's McWhorter School of Pharmacy. They discuss pharmacy school preparation, admission and pharmacy school programs.

First published on November 7, 2017: On this episode of Healthy Dose, Dr. Anthony Bolus covers the education that makes a pharmacist with Jon Parker, director of admissions at Samford's McWhorter School of Pharmacy. They discuss pharmacy school preparation, admission and pharmacy school programs.

First published on October 24, 2017: On this episode of Healthy Dose, Dr. Anthony Bolus discusses scoliosis with Angela Jones Doctor, B.S.N., RN, CPN, a nurse from Children’s of Alabama. Jones helps run the scoliosis screening program for many children in Alabama, defines scoliosis, and explains who is at most risk and what to do if your child has positive screening.

First published on October 13, 2017: On this episode of Healthy Dose, Dr. Anthony Bolus discusses problems with communication across the health care spectrum, along with Patrick Devereux, Pharm. D. of FMS Pharmacy. Dr. Devereux shares a new innovation to try and help his patients share their drug histories with other health care providers.

First published on October 3, 2017: On this episode of Healthy Dose, Dr. Anthony Bolus discusses opioids with Dr. Jake Galdo, an assistant professor and the director of the Community Pharmacy Residency Program at Samford University's McWhorter School of Pharmacy. Bolus and Galdo discuss the benefits and risks, including the potential for addiction with pain medications.

First published on July 26, 2017: On this episode of Healthy Dose, Dr. Anthony Bolus talks pain management with Dr. Jake Galdo, an assistant professor and the director of the Community Pharmacy Residency Program at Samford University's McWhorter School of Pharmacy. Bolus and Galdo discuss the causes of pain and various therapies and medications to relieve pain.

First published on July 25, 2017: On this episode of Healthy Dose, Dr. Heather Hogue, Pharm. D., EP, director of emergency preparedness and response at the Jefferson County Department of Health, returns to Healthy Dose to discuss how long the virus will stay in your system once you are infected. Dr. Hogue also has healthy tips on keeping mosquitoes away from your home or your body.

First published on July 18, 2017: On this episode of Healthy Dose, Dr. Anthony Bolus speaks with Dr. Heather Hogue, Pharm. D., EP, director of emergency preparedness and response at the Jefferson County Department of Health, on new information regarding the Zika virus. Dr. Hogue will help to answer the questions of who this virus can affect, the number of reported cases in Alabama and Jefferson Co...

First published on July 11, 2017: On this episode of Healthy Dose, Dr. Anthony Bolus speaks with Dr. Patrick Devereux of FMS Pharmacy on runaway drug pricing. Certain medications of seen dramatic increases in cost, and Dr. Devereux explains how this can be harmful to patients and pharmacies...and how they can fight back.