NACDS President Discusses Themes, Highlights of Total Store Expo

In a thought-provoking interview with Pharmacy Times® at NACDS Total Store Expo (TSE) in Boston, Massachusetts, Steve Anderson, FASAE, CAE, IOM, president and CEO of NACDS, looks back on the weekend and discusses some of the important sessions that took place across TSE. Anderson also advocates for pharmacists and health care professionals to attend conferences for the fruitful networking and intellectual opportunities.

Pharmacy Times®: What would you say is the “theme” of this year’s Total Store Expo (TSE), and why?

Steve Anderson, FASAE, CAE, IOM: Well, there's a lot of themes. There's a lot of discussion going on here. But if I were to capture that, I would probably use the word innovation. You know, when people ask me, “how does NACDS foster innovation?” I tell them that, this is it. They're here at TSE, and then also the NACDS Annual Meeting that we have in April, and it's where the industries come together. And there's so much excitement. We have so many new exhibitors here, a lot of new startup companies that are innovating health care. And, you know, everybody is really focused on health care right now, and delivery, and the role that technology can play in helping Americans lead healthier and better lives. And they're right here exhibiting, so it's very exciting. I mean, it is the future.

Pharmacy Times: Can you discuss the importance of conferences such as TSE? What is the value for pharmacists and health care professionals to attend these conferences?

Anderson: It's really interesting. Joni Mitchell had, in one of her lyrics, “You don't know what you got until it's gone.” We couldn't have our TSE, we couldn't have our annual meeting because [of] the pandemic, like almost every association. And it was fascinating to me when we came back in 2022, which is our first TSE since the pandemic, we were here in Boston, and people were so excited to be with each other. And you know, it just shows that this industry is a relationship-built industry. The networking here is spectacular. And I think the strength of this is that we're focusing on innovation and how to help people live healthier lives, but at the same time, it's that interaction of doing things. So, it's a win-win for everybody. We want everybody on this floor and to come to this meeting to be successful. That's our role, and we play it really well, and it's happening every minute here on the trade show floor.

Pharmacy Times: There were a lot of important sessions this weekend at TSE. What were some of the sessions you were interested in the most?

Anderson: I loved the Insight Sessions and the other programs that we have beyond our Business Session on Monday. But they're on the issues that are front-of-mind for people that are in our membership, and particularly for pharmacy and front end as well. As an example, a lot of focus here on artificial intelligence (AI). You know, we had somebody come in from Microsoft, and there's so much that AI can do, not only in health care and finding probably solutions and helping prevent the most intractable diseases that we have, but on store operations. Supply chain will be hugely impacted on AI. We've got a issue on the importance of gender diversity in companies, which is very valuable. We have a session where we were focusing on what we're doing as part of our “food is medicine” initiative, and the related Nourish My Health public awareness campaign, so we can get to the heart of diseases, chronic diseases, before they become chronic diseases, by helping people lead healthier and happier lives. And you know, those are just a couple in terms of what they have. And they're very well attended. I mean, they're standing room only in the rooms that we're holding them. So, it's really exciting. And you know, people like the intellectual stimulation of this meeting. They're naturally curious people, if you're in health care and you want to find new ways to not only help your company, but really on a higher plane, is to help people live healthier lives for longer. And you know, that's about as noble of a profession that you can find.