NCPA Appoints a New Director to the NCPA Innovation Center Board of Directors

In an interview with Pharmacy Times® at the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) Annual Convention, Jeanine Singer, senior vice president of Field Sales and Operations at McKesson, discusses being appointed to the NCPA Innovation Center Board of Directors.

Q: Could you start by introducing yourself and telling us about your background?

Jeanine Singer: My name is Jeanine Singer. I'm SVP for Field Sales and Operations for McKesson’s Community Pharmacy and Health Division. That means that my team's wake up each and every day focus exclusively on community pharmacy and making sure that they thrive. I've worked for McKesson actually for 27 years in a variety of roles and health systems and national accounts and even our corporate headquarters. But more than half of my time has actually been spent in the independent community pharmacy segment.

Q: Why did you choose to get involved in the NCPA Innovation Center Board of Directors?

Jeanine Singer: McKesson is a longtime sponsor and partner of NCPA. In fact, we participate in their Legal Defense Fund on several of the other boards with NCPA. I'm taking over a position on the innovation board that's been held actually by Rex Catton, senior vice president of Independent National Accounts at McKesson, for more than 20 years. He's now retiring, and I'm so pleased and honored to be able to take over this position. I think it is representative of McKesson’s commitment to our partnership and NCPA, but also to our continued effort to elevate the role that pharmacists play in patients’ lives.

Q: How will you use your expertise to implement positive change on this Board?

Jeanine Singer: I've really spent most of my career with independent community pharmacy, working with them to supply them with the tools and technology they need to provide high quality care to the patients and the communities that they serve. It's my hope that my experience and, in partnership with NCPA, will help to facilitate a higher adoption rate for the evolution that community pharmacy has to make so that they can maintain their relevance in the community they serve and in the health care ecosystem.

Q: Why do you think it is important for independent pharmacists to innovate? How does McKesson help support pharmacists in doing so?

Jeanine Singer: It's critically important that pharmacies continue to innovate and adapt. It's important so that they can meet their customers where they are today and stay relevant within their patient community.At McKesson, I think my representation on the NCPA Innovation Board of Directors helps to reinforce that McKesson is focused on driving innovation for all community pharmacies, regardless of whether a McKesson customer or non-McKesson customer, we're anxious to move this industry forward.

Q: How does the NCPA Innovation Center Board of Directors accelerate the evolution of independent community pharmacies?

Jeanine Singer: With a focus on value and quality, the NCPA Innovation Center Board of Directors and partnership with McKesson helps to advocate for community pharmacies. We do that at the local level, the state level, and also at the federal level. It's so critically important that our pharmacy owners have our support.

Being a pharmacist in today's environment, incredibly difficult, and being a small business owner is equally as difficult without help and support.I believe that McKesson along with NCPA can help to advocate on behalf of our pharmacy owners and let them focus on the things they need to focus on, which is their business and their patients care and welfare.

Q: Is there anything else you would like to add?

Jeanine Singer: There's been really terrific energy coming out of this conference and I'm so excited to see the outcomes that will absolutely be created from the collaboration that's taken place over the last several days. I'm confident that we'll continue with our partnership with NCPA to elevate the role that pharmacists play in patients’ lives each and every