NCPA Announces Programming, Features for the 116th Annual Convention and Trade Exposition in Austin Oct. 18-22

PRESS RELEASE

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (July 7, 2014) — The National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) today announced the availability of the Preliminary Program for its 116th Annual Convention and Trade Exposition Oct. 18-22 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas, as well as some special features of this year’s event that will help community pharmacies strengthen their business.

“You can’t find a better place to network and learn new business ideas for community pharmacy than the NCPA Annual Convention,” said NCPA President Mark Riley, PharmD, who also serves as Executive Vice President & CEO of the Arkansas Pharmacists Association. “Every year, pharmacists attending the meeting tell us they go home with an idea or tip to improve their business that more than paid for the cost of their trip. This year’s innovative continuing education offerings and opportunities for peer-to-peer networking will help give community pharmacists a competitive edge.”

The meeting’s theme — Meet. Learn. Succeed. – is evidenced by many of the varied offerings designed to help community pharmacies boost their business. The 16-page Preliminary Program summarizes key features, including 19 hours of continuing education (CE) credit learning opportunities and special tracks for adherence and long-term care; General Sessions, which include industry updates from NCPA leaders; and numerous events to socialize and further network with peers. This year’s trade exposition will feature 75 new exhibitors, in addition to the more than 200 vendors who shared the latest products and services with attendees last year. Attendees will hear from keynote speaker Guy Kawasaki, a Silicon Valley author, speaker, investor, and business advisor, as well as Dave Carroll, whose creative response to a bad experience with United Airlines challenged the way companies interact with their customers.

Some of the CE sessions available at this year’s convention include programs on Medicare Part D Star Ratings, regulatory developments affecting compounding, expanding into nutrition niches, and inventory management for a more profitable front end.

In conjunction with the meeting, NCPA is also offering in-depth pre-convention programming sessions. Returning this year is an immunization certificate training program for pharmacists, offered on Oct. 17. To give community pharmacists a pathway toward accreditation and billing for diabetes self-management education/training services, the “Diabetes Accreditation Standards — Practical Applications (DASPA)” program will be held Oct. 16-17. To improve a pharmacy’s front-end offerings to increase store traffic and profits, NCPA is once again offering the popular “Front-End Profit Building Seminar” on Oct. 17. In addition, two sessions on Oct. 18 (in the morning and afternoon) will cover how to create niches in nutrition and wellness as well as wound care. Plus, “Selling Your Pharmacy: Planning for Success,” to help community pharmacy owners plan ahead for retirement, will be held on Oct. 18.

Individuals interested in attending the convention can register online at www.ncpanet.org/convention or by calling 1-800-544-7447.