Katie Trotta, PharmD, BCACP

🎧Health & wellness community (+ podcast!)
🥼Board certified ambulatory care pharmacist
💊Advocate for community pharmacy + appropriate med use
#StopPBMAbuse

[Katie Trotta, PharmD, BCACP @HealthFormPod]

Hi #TwittRx - allow me to (re)introduce myself. I am a community pharmacist with a passion for all things education: pharmacy students, wellness, lifestyle medicine, appropriate medication use, and how PBMs are negatively impacting our (broken) healthcare system.

[Katie Trotta, PharmD, BCACP @HealthFormPod]

LONG TERM strategy: improve insulin resistance
- increase muscle
- lose weight through calorie restriction (sorry! That's what the data supports)

SHORT TERM strategy: blood glucose control
- balanced meals
- increase fiber
- walk after eating

Both important for health!!!

[Katie Trotta, PharmD, BCACP @HealthFormPod]

@chrisrcloud @nhhorton When your employer redoes their benefits package for 2026, your preferred pharmacy will likely no longer be CVS. Not a difficult problem to fix 🤷🏽‍♀️

[Katie Trotta, PharmD, BCACP @HealthFormPod]

"you should not wait until you are sick to start caring about your gut health. This is so important for digestion... For brain health, but also for our brain health, our hormones, our hormonal balance" - @theguthealthmd

[Dutch Rojas @DutchRojas]

𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐃𝐨𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟖 𝐰𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐞.

𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟖, 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐬 ����𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝟖𝟐.𝟏%.

Medicare’s physician payment formula (the Conversion Factor)?

Down 9.9%.

That’s not “fiscal responsibility.”
That’s institutional gaslighting.

𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞, 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬, 𝐂𝐄𝐎 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡.

But the doctors treating Medicare patients?

They’re being asked to do more with less, year after year, because “𝐡𝐞𝐲, 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞”, while the cost of running a practice skyrockets.

If the American people want Congress to preserve access to care for aging Americans, it’s time to speak up and tie Medicare’s payment formula to inflation, just like their own salaries.

𝐔𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧, 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐥𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐝𝐨𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐨’𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞.

They’re busy trying to survive the 20th century in the 21st.

#HealthcarePolicy #Medicare #PhysicianBurnout #InflationMath #FixTheFormula

[Katie Trotta, PharmD, BCACP @HealthFormPod]

Health effects of these bugs:
- strong immune system
- improved gut lining (no leaky gut!)
- great digestion
- reduced inflammation
- weight maintenance
- longevity

Biggest gut benefits are seen on those who eat at least 30 different plant foods each week
🍓🍅🍊🍌🫛🥝🥑🫐🍆🍠🫜

[Katie Trotta, PharmD, BCACP @HealthFormPod]

What happens when you eat a diverse diet:
1. Each plant food brings its own mix of fibers, micronutrients, and polyphenols
2. Diversity in the diet = diversity in the microbiome
3. All of the bugs in the gut have unique health benefits for the body
🍓🍅🍊🍌🫛🥝🥑🫐🍆🍠🫜

[Katie Trotta, PharmD, BCACP @HealthFormPod]

@mcuban @realDonaldTrump I do think there is a role for Specialty pharmacies due to the increased care pts receive from a Specialty pharm. Pharmacists actually have the time & support to do their jobs, patients benefit bc of the increased oversight companies want when they pay for these expensive meds.

[Katie Trotta, PharmD, BCACP @HealthFormPod]

Two things to remember about protein:

1. Focusing on fiber at each meal is just as important as protein for blood sugar, maintaining feelings of fullness, reduced risk of cardiovascular disease...just to name a few.

2. A high-protein ultraprocessed food is still ultraprocessed.

[Katie Trotta, PharmD, BCACP @HealthFormPod]

Bipartisan healthcare issues for 2025:

- fruits & veggies are healthy
- movement throughout the day is great for blood glucose
- obesity can't be blamed solely on genes
- restful sleep is essential for health
- being in a constant state of stress will dampen your health progress

[Katie Trotta, PharmD, BCACP @HealthFormPod]

This man must be in my head because these exact words have come out of my mouth. In the drug pricing world today, pharma needs to price their drugs high to make the same amount off their brand name drugs they made 10 years go. The rest goes back to the PBM in kickbacks.

[Pharm Biz Guy @pharm_biz]

It’s a breath of fresh air to see a Governor without his head in the sand on PBMs

[Katie Trotta, PharmD, BCACP @HealthFormPod]

@stacyfmitchell But call them ✨ rebates ✨ and make it legal

[Katie Trotta, PharmD, BCACP @HealthFormPod]

Monday reminder 🔆

Minimal effort does not yield maximum results. To be the best version of you, you have to try your best. Health included.

[Katie Trotta, PharmD, BCACP @HealthFormPod]

Don't be a customer!

When your wellness girlies tell you to let that sunshine hit your eyeballs, focus on fiber, get those steps in, and sleep a solid 8 hours every night...we aren't elitist. We just want you healthy.

We don't want you to be a customer.

[Katie Trotta, PharmD, BCACP @HealthFormPod]

Quick reminder that the US spends $4 trillion on healthcare annually. Big business = big money.

But businesses can't make money if they don't have customers.

So what does this mean for you?

[Katie Trotta, PharmD, BCACP @HealthFormPod]

@mcuban @BrandiChane @pelterkevin @TruthRX @theangrypharm @RepJamesComer @FTC @linakhanFTC @RonWyden @SenTedCruz @MarkCuker @DGlaucomflecken for president

[Katie Trotta, PharmD, BCACP @HealthFormPod]

@OtherPharmacist @BoesingLoretta Is that still the case in most places? We're begging for pharmacists to go into retail here, and pay is insane. With sign-on bonuses. Retail is riddled with issues, but I'm not seeing lack of hours or pay as one of them right now.

[Katie Trotta, PharmD, BCACP @HealthFormPod]

@AccPharmacist Honestly if there were no phone calls coming into the pharmacy, even with the counseling/IMZ/questions, probably ~300. But the dang phone reallllly slows a grl down.

[Katie Trotta, PharmD, BCACP @HealthFormPod]

Longevity biohack, fitness edition: increase your cardiorespiratory fitness.
VO2 max, or peak oxygen uptake, is the max amount of oxygen the body can use during exercise.
Studies show "below average" VO2 max influences 50% mortality reduction over a decade compared to "low".

[Jordan Marie Ballou @jordan_ballou]

Worked with some awesome colleagues and former students on this scoping review of literature related to the impact that PBMs have on community pharmacies.
https://t.co/jo3tjRUiVv

[Katie Trotta, PharmD, BCACP @HealthFormPod]

Sad truth: Big Food WANTS you to be confused about what's healthy.

The relationship between research funding + bias is clear: studies funded by a food/beverage company are more likely to show positive health effects from consuming their products.

Solution? Eat real, whole foods