On Sunday, August 28, Steven C. Anderson, FASAE, CAE, IOM, president & CEO, National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS), opened the 2022 Total Store Expo (TSE) Business Program in Boston, Massachusetts. He began by citing NACDS pioneer Nate Shapiro, who talked about the “triumph of cooperation,” mingling ideas from North, South, East, and West to forge a sound relationship between retailers and suppliers as well as between the pharmaceutical industry and the public. “Today, the triumph of cooperation is thriving,” he said, noting that TSE2022 attendees made 5,400 appointments at the “Meet the Market” event.

“We are accelerating rapidly towards the future,” he said. “Some say that the world stood still during the pandemic, but we all know the truth: It was a time of acceleration. Acceleration of digital progress gets a lot of attention. It advanced by 7 years according to some estimates.”

Acceleration also characterizes the primary issues before NACDS, he said. “These include expanding pharmacy care services, expanding health and wellness solutions throughout the pharmacy and the total store, and defending pharmacies from unfair reimbursement and defending patient care.”

NACDS, Mr. Anderson commented, has been advancing pharmacy as the face of healthcare for a long time (next year, NACDS will celebrate its 90th anniversary). “The pandemic redoubled our resolve,” he added. These issues are accelerating now, he said, because people know that retailers and suppliers were there when it mattered most with accessible and equitable care.”

Examples of this recognition are endless, he said. In June, during the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Meeting, he met with former Vice President Mike Pence. “He raved about pharmacy’s effectiveness in helping save Americans from COVID. We are turning praise like that into even more victories for our pro-patient and pro-pharmacy agenda.”

Commenting on progress toward expanding pharmacy care services, he pointed out that we have built momentum steadily over time. Mr. Anderson reminded attendees that it wasn’t until 2009, during H1N1, that pharmacists could give shots in all 50 states. “And since then,” he said, “NACDS has further advanced pharmacy’s scope of practice.”

"In 2019, before COVID-19,” Mr. Anderson added, “our progress was already strong.” That year, 26 states expanded authorities for pharmacists and roles for pharmacy technicians. “And we went on from that momentum to the COVID-19 era. In 2020 and 2021, a total of 90 state measures that enhanced pharmacy’s scope of practice passed in the states.”

Mr. Anderson cited a law signed by Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolfe on July 11, 2022, that makes permanent the federal flexibilities for pharmacy vaccinations during the pandemic, enhancing pharmacy vaccination authority. “We have a three-part strategy to keep up this acceleration. We are working to extend the federal flexibilities under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act, which empower pharmacy services for COVID-19 and other illnesses. We will expand and replicate this Pennsylvania example in other states.

“We need to create a reliable reimbursement mechanism for these services. There is strong support for extending pharmacy scope of practice measures: A recent Morning Consult call commissioned by NACDS found 70% of adults polled want to extend these policies and 68% wand to make them permanent,” he noted. “Pharmacy reimbursement issues gave rise to the NACDS’ creation in 1933,” he pointed out.

Accelerating delivery of broader health services is another issue with considerable momentum, Mr. Anderson added, recounting the impetus for the creation of the “total store focus” in 2011. “NACDS is staying in line with the future of this amazing industry.”
    
Referring to a July 2022 J.D. Power survey, Mr. Anderson said, “Customers are embracing retail pharmacies as hubs for broad health and wellness services. It is an opportunity for retail pharmacies to innovate as a one-stop shop for routine care.”

Looking to the future, Mr. Anderson said that in 2023 NACDS seeks to answer the question: How does NACDS best support the work of retailers and suppliers to meet Americans’ comprehensive health and wellness needs?

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