NCPA Honors Adherence Efforts of Max Caldwell and Dr. David Holdford

PRESS RELEASE

Austin, Texas. (October 19, 2014) — In recognition of their commitment to improving medication adherence, Max Caldwell and Dr. David Holdford, were honored today at the

National Community Pharmacists Association’s

(NCPA) 116th Annual Convention and Trade Exposition in Austin. Caldwell received the 2014 NCPA Outstanding Adherence Practitioner Award. Holdford received the 2014 NCPA Outstanding Adherence Educator Award.

The NCPA Outstanding Adherence Practitioner Award recognizes an independent community pharmacist who demonstrates a continuous commitment to patient adherence services. This year’s winner Max Caldwell, RPh is the owner of

Caldwell Discount Drug

in Wynne, Ark. He has implemented a robust adherence program based on medication synchronization, which helps patients and improves pharmacy efficiencies by coordinating refills to one day per month and provides another avenue for pharmacist-patient consultation. Max currently has over 500 patients enrolled in the program.

He is further enhancing patient care by also participating in a unique adherence network pilot program with NCPA in collaboration with the Arkansas Pharmacists Association. The program, sponsored by Pfizer, seeks to measure the collective impact med sync programs can have on adherence rates across 70 pharmacies throughout Arkansas. Not only will the results be informative, but additional best practices are likely to be established that can be.

“As a fellow Arkansan, I am especially proud to present Max Caldwell with the 2014 NCPA Outstanding Adherence Practitioner Award,” said Pharmacist Mark Riley, Pharm.D., NCPA president, executive vice president and CEO of the Arkansas Pharmacists Association, and an independent pharmacy owner in Little Rock, Ark. “Max has been enormously successful in getting patients to practice greater medication adherence. He is a leader in an industry movement to reduce the staggering $290 billion that are wasted annually as result of non-adherence according to the

Network for Excellence In Health Innovation

.”

The NCPA Outstanding Adherence Educator Award recognizes a pharmacy educator who has made a significant contribution to the education of pharmacy students in the area of medication adherence. This year’s award recipient is Dr. David Holdford of Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU).

Holdford’s dedication to medication adherence education is evident through his work; he is widely recognized as a leading expert in the field of medication adherence research. Working with community pharmacies, Holdford has documented the positive effects of medication synchronization programs time and time again. He has published four books and more than one hundred papers and book chapters including the 2013 article, "Adherence and persistence associated with an appointment-based medication synchronization program" published in the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association.

As a professor at VCU, Holdford teaches pharmacy students about leadership, management, medication safety, marketing, and pharmacoeconomics. In addition to his own research program, he manages a graduate program of 27 students and personally advises 10 graduate students on their research in health outcomes assessment and pharmacoeconomics.

“Dr. David Holdford is a leading figure in the medication adherence field through his contributions in academia, which is why he is a very deserving recipient of the 2014 NCPA Outstanding Adherence Educator Award,” said Riley. “Holdford has a long portfolio of books and papers devoted to better understanding adherence, and a long list of students that have benefitted from his insights. That’s hugely important, because today’s pharmacy students are tomorrow’s pharmacy leaders. If we are to improve America’s adherence problem, young people will be leading the charge and many can and will be able to point to Holdford’s influence.”

Both awards are part of NCPA’s

Pharmacists Advancing Medication Adherence

(PAMA) initiative and are funded with support from Cardinal Health Foundation, Merck, and Pfizer.

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The National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA®) represents the interests of America's community pharmacists, including the owners of nearly 23,000 independent community pharmacies. Together they represent an $88.8 billion health care marketplace, dispense nearly 40% of all retail prescriptions, and employ more than 300,000 individuals, including over 62,000 pharmacists. To learn more, go to

www.ncpanet.org

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