NACDS awards Community Pharmacy Foundation for far-reaching study

BOSTON The National Association of Chain Drug Stores Special Recognition Award was presented on Tuesday at the NACDS Pharmacy & Technology Conference to the Community Pharmacy Foundation by Steven Anderson, NACDS president and chief executive officer. Phil Burgess, Community Pharmacy Foundation president and national director for pharmacy affairs at Walgreens, accepted the award on its behalf.

This award recognizes the Community Pharmacy Foundation’s efforts to advance the value of community pharmacy in the health care delivery system by providing resources for research and development.

NACDS commended the Foundation’s funding of a study to collect data on the cost of dispensing prescription drugs from more than 23,000 community pharmacies representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and U.S. Caribbean territories. It has been 14 years since a study of this magnitude has been conducted on dispensing fees.

The study, which was released this past January, is designed to educate state and federal government officials as well as private entities who are interested in concrete data on the cost of dispensing to ensure continued access to community pharmacies and the services they provide.

"The Community Pharmacy Foundation made possible a valuable tool to help educate policy makers on the importance of community pharmacy," said Anderson. "In our current battle on Medicaid prescription reimbursement, the report has been cited broadly, from the Wall Street Journal to Congressional testimony."

The Foundation assists community pharmacy practitioners by providing resources for research and development to encourage new capabilities and continuous improvements in the delivery of patient care.