Drug Topics (Oct. 19) – A collaboration between veterinarians and veterinary pharmacists is key for the health of pets when those pets need medicine, but it’s not always a smooth process. U. of I. veterinary clinical medicine professor Lauren Forsythe says that identifying numbers can be an issue. “National provider identifier numbers are used to indicate those that are eligible to prescribe for Medicare/Medicaid patients but since animal patients aren’t eligible for Medicare/Medicaid and veterinarians are only legally allowed to prescribe for animal patients, veterinarians don’t have NPI numbers,” Forsythe says.
Obstacles for Veterinary Prescribers
