NACDS Statement on White House Meeting on Affordable Care Act Implementation

PRESS RELEASE

November 26, 2013 (Arlington, Va.) — The National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) issued the following statement regarding the participation of NACDS President and CEO Steven C. Anderson, IOM, CAE, in a White House meeting today regarding implementation of the Affordable Care Act:

“Patients rely on their pharmacies as trusted sources of information on healthcare topics — even beyond medication issues. To live up to patients’ trust and expectations, pharmacies have taken steps throughout the implementation of the Affordable Care Act to help inform patients on subjects including health insurance exchanges – from distributing information to more formal roles in patient education.

“Pharmacies’ engagement has been very similar to patient outreach and education during the implementation of Medicare Part D. The same can be said for pharmacy’s ongoing work to help patients take their medications as prescribed, to foster awareness and accessibility when it comes to flu vaccinations, and to advance other forms of preventive care that have been identified as national priorities.

“We appreciate that community pharmacy was included in the meetings held today at the White House with groups representing various segments of healthcare delivery — this represents continued progress in raising awareness of community pharmacy’s value as the face of neighborhood healthcare. Pharmacy’s message is simple and remains consistent: every effort must be taken to present clear and accurate information to patients in a highly accessible and credible manner. Community pharmacy is ideally suited to serve as a highly effective partner when patient care and patient empowerment are the goals.”

For additional perspective on pharmacies’ role in patient education regarding the Affordable Care Act, please see the column by Anderson posted previously on NACDS.org.