Drug Store News guide helps policy-makers understand pharmacy’s public health role

NEW YORK Pharmacy advocates hoping to educate lawmakers about the role that retail pharmacy can play in healthcare reform will have a leave-behind supplied by Drug Store News.

The magazine has created a compilation of 10 stories from the print publication meant to profile what retail pharmacy is doing to lead healthcare reform, underwritten by PDX and Rx.com and titled “Community Pharmacy & Public Health: Profiles in Reform,” for members of the House and Senate. Drug Store News will present the guide for the first time at a special breakfast reception Wednesday, June 17, to kick off the National Association of Chain Drug Stores’ first annual RxIMPACT Day.

As part of the event, NACDS expects more than 150 pharmacy advocates will converge on Capitol Hill that day to meet lawmakers and discuss policies that benefit patients and pharmacies in the context of healthcare reform.

“Pharmacy plays a critical role in helping patients maintain their health and in keeping healthcare costs down, and therefore should be a part of any healthcare reform package under consideration,” NACDS president and CEO Steve Anderson said. “We are very pleased that pharmacy advocates will be in Washington, D.C., during this critical time of debate on the most important domestic issue that impacts all Americans – healthcare reform.”

The stories come from issues of the magazine ranging from December 2008 to April 2009, by such writers as senior editors Antoinette Alexander and Jim Frederick, as well as a column by editor-in-chief Rob Eder that outlines four critical components of any meaningful health reform, including expanding generic utilization and electronic prescribing, expanding the role of pharmacists beyond prescribing and a greater emphasis on retail clinics.

Of the guide, Drug Store News publisher John Kenlon said, “It's a convenient way for policy-makers to learn more about retail pharmacy solutions, and offers the industry a subtle approach to help initiate conversations with NACDS, as well as your representatives on Capitol Hill.”

The guide can be downloaded at http://www.drugstorenews.com/pdfs/The_Role_of_Pharmacy.pdf.