In an interview for the All-In podcast last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Mehmet Oz, administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, spoke on the importance of incorporating artificial intelligence into the country's health care system, specifically mentioning the vital role pharmacies play in caring for rural communities and how AI could help them in their practice.
"You have to engage [with] it. We cannot stick our head in the sand on this one. But do it in the right way; allow professionals to function at the height of their licensure.
"Why don't we use pharmacists better? There's probably 70,000 pharmacists. Think about it this way: Almost all Americans, 95 percent, live within five miles of a pharmacy. They don't live near a hospital, usually," Oz said. "If we just took AI and allowed pharmacists and doctors, GPs, to function at a higher level, it itself would be worth the opportunity. ... At its very practical level, we do not have enough practitioners. There just aren't enough people to take care of rural America."
Speaking of AI, did you know that NCPA membership gives you access to Prescryptive's AI-powered pricing model for cash prescriptions? Learn more about that, and other membership benefits, here.
