Bruce T. Roberts, RPh
Mr. Roberts is NCPA executive vice president and chief executive officer.
We at the National community pharmacists
Association (NCPA) are focused on an envisioned future
where the pharmacy benefit is broadly recognized for
the value it brings to health care. It is a future where the
services of a pharmacist are central to the delivery of the
benefit and where our health care system embraces the
importance of the pharmacist's face-to-face relationship
with patients.
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NCPA Intern: Iris Kim, PharmD candidate 2009, Washington State University College of Pharmacy |
For a community pharmacist, health care is not about
formularies and copays—it is about the
patient. Community pharmacists are the
last health care professionals a patient sees
before embarking on a medication journey
of a week or of a lifetime. Pharmacists
are on the front lines, and the last lines,
of a patient's health care experience. And
that opportunity—to review, instruct, and
comfort—is more valuable than anything
on which you can put a price tag.
I am an optimist. I readily confess that is
part of my nature. Being an optimist does
not mean you are na?ve to your challenges,
however. Certainly, independent community
pharmacy has more than its share of
challenges. So, why am I so optimistic about
our future?
One reason I am optimistic is because of the growing
use of technology. Today, we are using technology as
never before to improve the quality of care, reduce costs,
and provide a more personalized health care experience.
In 2006, NCPA established a separate technology entity
focused on providing medication therapy management
to Medicare Part D patients with chronic conditions and
multiple medications. It was designed to give patients a
more personalized health care experience and to reward
pharmacists.
The progress made by Mirixa in 2 short years has been
extraordinary. The MirixaPro is not only NCPA's technology
choice, but it is also the platform of choice for all
existing and future American Pharmacists Association
Foundation commercial programs delivered through
community pharmacy.
Seven years ago, along
with the National Association
of Chain Drug
Stores, we established
SureScripts, which we
envisioned as a neutral
platform to facilitate
electronic
prescribing (e-prescribing).
Beyond
that,
however, it was another
element of our strategy to
have the pharmacy benefit
recognized for the value it
brings to overall health—one in which the pharmacist's
role is central. Now,
70% of all community
pharmacies are accepting
e-prescriptions, and more
are connecting to the Pharmacy
Health Information
Exchange every day.
Last summer, SureScripts merged with a rival
exchange, RxHub. The benefits
of forming a single, secure,
nationwide network for e-prescriptions and the exchange of
health information were always obvious. An abundance of
evidence exists that e-prescribing can save time, money, and
lives?our time, our money, our patients. Paper prescriptions
are going away sooner rather than later, and the new
SureScripts-RxHub is there to help you make the transition.
Technological innovations like SureScripts-RxHub and
Mirixa are critical pieces of the puzzle that are helping us
make a difference for our patients and ultimately will lead
us to our envisioned future. They certainly are one reason
for optimism.
But the greatest reason why I am optimistic is because
of students like you. At the 110th Annual Convention
in Tampa last year, NCPA hosted its fifth annual Pruitt-
Schutte Student Business Plan Competition, and each
year the competition just gets better and better. Students
from >30 schools and colleges of pharmacy participated
in this one-of-a-kind competition on independent pharmacy
ownership (with special congratulations to the
2008 winner, the University of Arizona). It does not just
end at the convention. A survey of previous competition
participants found that over one third went to work in an
independent community pharmacy after graduation, and
a whopping 88% plan to pursue independent community
pharmacy ownership in the future.
To help you as future owners, NCPA has created the
new NCPA Ownership Academy, a "go-to" resource for
all phases of community ownership. This one-stop shop
provides valuable information and a networking source—
from tools to assist in buying a pharmacy, making your
practice better and more profitable as an owner, and even
selling your business and transitioning into retirement,
the Ownership Academy has everything you need for a
career in community pharmacy.
Although I am so optimistic about our future, I know
that there are further challenges that lie ahead. In our
nation's capital, we still must battle for community pharmacies'
right to negotiate with pharmacy benefit managers
and a fix to a Medicaid reimbursement system that
proposes to pay us less than the acquisition cost for many
generic drugs. We also anxiously await the beginning of
legislative efforts to overhaul our health care system and
provide universal coverage.
So, how can you help? Become an NCPA member now.
Get involved in the NCPA chapter at your school, or
if one does not exist start one with the help of NCPA's
Student Affairs Outreach Program, which is now working
through 80 pharmacy school chapters to incorporate
entrepreneurship into the educational experience.
Furthermore, help us rally the troops in the weeks and
months to come as we march toward our envisioned
future—a future of having community pharmacists front
and center in the health care system and our industry
recognized as a political powerhouse second to none.
Let us build on our past successes, go forward, and make
sure that community pharmacists are treated like the cornerstone
of our health care system that we truly are. The
future of independent pharmacy is in your hands.
Inside the Issue
