According to the top 22 results from a Google search for “patient choice Colorado” it does NOT mean a patient’s choice of pharmacists or pharmacies. Twenty-one of the top twenty-two search results refer to the numerous marijuana dispensaries in the state. One refers to a disability coalition.
In results position 23 I found Patient Choice in Pharmacy, also known as HB 16-1361, as tracked by the Denver Post newspaper. Only after 30 or so responses will you see the smattering of health-care topics you may desire with fewer cannabis-related sites.
Health-care, hospitals, physicians, Obamacare, end-of-life, surgical vs non-surgical topics are results within the first twenty Googles when “Colorado” is omitted from the search term. These answers make more sense to me.
By simply adding “pharmacy” to the phrase “patient choice Colorado” Google downloads a plethora of responses related to the legislation and additional health-care topics.
So why this blog post?
The exercise of searching for more on-line “patient choice” information exposed a truth to me. In Colorado, the public perception – as demonstrated by the metrics collected and displayed by Google – is that pot is primary when it comes to the topic of patient choice. Not physicians. Not hospitals. Not pharmacies.
Here, the societal norm has shifted quickly and significantly away from what was considered mainstream medical care to the Rocky Mountain High alternative. Will it swing back when more potent prescriptions are needed? How concerned are Colorado voters, and therefore legislators, about patient choice in pharmacies? Guess we’ll wait and see.