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October is American Pharmacists Month

admin2016-10-04T12:23:29-04:00Categories: Article|Tags: Pharmacy_Value|

October is American Pharmacists Month (APhM), which is a great time to recognize the vital contributions made by pharmacists in healthcare delivery.

It is essential to educate the public, policy makers, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals about the key role played by pharmacists…

It is essential to educate the public, policy makers, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals about the key role played by pharmacists in reducing overall healthcare costs by improved medication use and advanced patient care. It is also a time to promote the pharmacy profession and get the word out on pharmacists’ contributions toward improving medication use and adeherence and advancing patient care in all practice settings.

Visit the American Pharmacist Association’s website for comprehensive resources on community outreach, attracting media coverage, getting official recognition for APhM, and maximizing social media to raise awareness and celebrate the pharmacy profession in October—and every other month of the year.

NACDS, Stakeholders Release Pandemic Response Resources

admin2016-09-29T12:19:07-04:00Categories: Article|Tags: Community, Preparedness, Vaccinations|

A recent study in the journal Vaccine noted that achieving early and rapid vaccination coverage during an influenza pandemic would require better coordinated partnerships between public health agencies and vaccine providers, especially given the vital role pharmacists play in expanding access to pandemic vaccination.

However, little is known about nationwide coordination between public health programs and pharmacies for pandemic vaccine response planning.

In response to this need for better coordination between public health departments and pharmacies to improve pandemic preparedness—and ensure vaccinating pharmacists are fully utilized during a pandemic—NACDS collaborated with the American Pharmacists Association (APhA), the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to create pandemic response resources.

To encourage early and ongoing participation of pharmacies in pandemic influenza plans, and increase public access to immunization services, the groups prepared aMemorandum of Understanding (MOU) template and an Instructional Letter to State Pharmacy Associations, State and Territorial Health Officials, and Pharmacy Providers.

2016 Debates: Next Up, the Running Mates

admin2016-09-29T12:16:03-04:00Categories: Article|Tags: RxIMPACT|

The controversial presidential election has garnered lots of attention and Google searches, revealing an engaged electorate that is still actively seeking information leading up to Election Day on November 8. During the presidential debate on Monday alone, Google reported that there was a surge of 100,000 searches for the phrase “register to vote” in Spanish.

NACDS is urging the pharmacy community to get involved by learning more about the candidates at all levels of government, browse races and find out how to register to vote and volunteer for the candidates of their choice.

This is where NACDS RxIMPACT Votes comes in. Through the #PharmacyVoter get-out-the-vote campaign, NACDS is urging the pharmacy community to get involved by learning more about the candidates at all levels of government, browse races and find out how to register to vote and volunteer for the candidates of their choice. An informed voter is an effective voter, so take this opportunity to use all the resources NACDS RxIMPACT has to offer and be an engaged #PharmacyVoter.

The next three remaining debates will be broadcast live on C-SPAN, ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC, as well as all cable news channels including CNN, Fox News and MSNBC, among others. The debates will air from 9 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. ET (8 p.m.–9:30 p.m. CT, 7 p.m.–8:30 p.m. MT, 6 p.m.–7:30 p.m. PT).

Vice presidential debate: Tuesday, Longwood University in Farmville, Va.
Moderator: Elaine Quijano, anchor, CBSN, and CBS News correspondent

Second presidential debate: Sunday, Oct. 9, 2016, at Washington University in St. Louis, Ill.
Moderator: Martha Raddatz, chief global affairs correspondent and co-anchor of “This Week,” ABC
Moderator: Anderson Cooper, Anchor, CNN

Third presidential debate: Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2016, at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Nev.
Moderator: Chris Wallace, anchor, Fox News Sunday

NACDS also continues to educate advocates through the NACDS RxIMPACT Grassroots Training Program, which hosted two trainings for students at Lipscomb University College of Pharmacy in Tennessee and Duquesne University School of Pharmacy in Pennsylvania about the power of pharmacy voters in the 2016 elections. This brings the 2016 trainings total to 21.

NACDS Begins Innovative Pharmacogenomics Program

admin2016-09-29T11:55:20-04:00Categories: Article|Tags: Medications, Pharmacy_Value|

NACDS co-hosted its inaugural Test2Learn™ Community-Based Pharmacogenomics Certificate Program with the University of Pittsburgh this week. NACDS and the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy adapted Test2Learn ™ from an innovative University platform that enables students to learn by using real genetic data in highly-interactive exercises.

There is currently a culture shift towards personalizing medicine, and we’re working in parallel with that shift by offering community pharmacy an education program to advance patient outcomes.

The certificate program includes online home study and in-person live components, including an optional activity for learners to undergo personal genomic testing. Participants engaged in the in-person aspect of the program, and also learned how to administer the training to others.

Pharmacogenomics is a relatively new field that combines pharmacology and genomics to ensure that medications are used in a safe and effective manner based on a person’s genetic makeup. The Test2Learn ™ program is designed to ensure that pharmacists have the skills at the ground level to ensure that the right patient is getting the right medicine, but also at the right dose based on the patient’s genetic makeup.

While pharmacogenomics is not mainstream yet, NACDS Director of Pharmacy Affairs Jason Ausili, Pharm.D., said, “There is currently a culture shift towards personalizing medicine, and we’re working in parallel with that shift by offering community pharmacy an education program to advance patient outcomes.

Test2Learn™ teaches the principles of pharmacogenomics as well as its practical implications in disease states such as cardiology, oncology, neurology and infectious diseases, among others. It trains pharmacists to decipher genetic tests, translate that information, and make appropriate recommendations for the patient, including clinical decision making, interpretation of patient results, and counseling and collaboration with prescribers to help optimize patient medication regimens.

Based on the success of the inaugural program, additional tour dates and locations will be announced later this fall.

Fortune Powerful Women Lists Include NACDS Chain and Associate Representatives

Chris Krese2016-09-28T11:48:14-04:00Categories: Article|Tags: NACDS|

Sixteen individuals from NACDS member companies – including chains and associates – are featured in Fortune magazine’s September 15 edition, in its lists of the most powerful women.

The U.S. “50 Most Powerful Women” list includes Indra Nooyi, CEO and Chairman, PepsiCo; Irene Rosenfeld, CEO and Chairman, Mondelez International; Helena Foulkes, President, CVS/pharmacy and EVP, CVS Health, and a member of the NACDS Board of Directors; Rosalind Brewer, CEO and President, Sam’s Club, Walmart; Denise Morrison, CEO and President, Campbell Soup; Sandra Peterson, Group Worldwide Chair, Johnson & Johnson; Judith McKenna, EVP and COO, Walmart U.S., Walmart; Carolyn Tastad, Group President, North America, Procter & Gamble; and Jennifer Taubert, Company Group Chairman, Johnson & Johnson. Also, Sukanya Madlinger, SVP, Retail Divisions, Kroger was listed in the “On Our Radar” section of the U.S. list.

The “International Power 50” list includes Ornella Barra, Co-COO, Walgreens Boots Alliance; Wan Ling Martello, Head of Asia, Oceania, and Sub-Saharan Africa, Nestlé; Nancy McKinstry, CEO and Chairman, Wolters Kluwer; Emma Walmsley, CEO, GSK Consumer Healthcare, GSK; Erica Mann, Head of Consumer Health Division, Bayer; and Alison Watkins, Group Managing Director, Coca-Cola Amatil.

Be an Educated #PharmacyVoter: Don’t Miss the 2016 Presidential Debates!

admin2016-09-23T09:54:31-04:00Categories: Article|Tags: RxIMPACT|

As Election Day fast approaches, a series of upcoming presidential debates will offer an excellent opportunity to gain pivotal insights into the presidential candidates as they face off against one another.

The topics of the first debate, scheduled for Monday, September 26, were announced this week and they include America’s direction, achieving prosperity and securing America. The announcement noted that topics could change due to news developments.

There will be three presidential debates held over the next four weeks leading up to Election Day on November 8, as well as one vice presidential debate. Each debate will be broadcast live on C-SPAN, ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC, as well as all cable news channels including CNN, Fox News and MSNBC, among others. The debates will air from 9 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. ET (8 p.m.—9:30 p.m. CT, 7 p.m.—8:30 p.m. MT, 6 p.m.—7:30 p.m. PT).

First presidential debate: Monday, Sept. 26, 2016, at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y.
Moderator: Lester Holt, anchor, “NBC Nightly News”

Vice presidential debate: Tuesday,Oct. 4, 2016, at Longwood University in Farmville, Va.
Moderator: Elaine Quijano, anchor, CBSN, and CBS News correspondent

Second presidential debate: Sunday, Oct. 9, 2016, at Washington University in St. Louis, Ill.
Moderators: Martha Raddatz, chief global affairs correspondent and co-anchor of ABC’s “This Week,”, and
Anderson Cooper, anchor, CNN

Third presidential debate: Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2016, at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Nev.
Moderator: Chris Wallace, anchor, “Fox News Sunday”

Through the #PharmacyVoter effort, NACDS is urging the people of pharmacy to demonstrate their political engagement by learning more about the candidates and volunteering and voting for the candidates of their choice at all levels of government.

NACDS’ Anderson Accepts 2016 Trade Association CEO of the Year Award

admin2016-09-23T02:51:35-04:00Categories: Article|Tags: NACDS|

NACDS President and CEO Steven C. Anderson, IOM, CAE, at right, accepted CEO Update magazine’s 2016 Trade Association CEO of the Year award.
On Thursday, September 22, in Washington, D.C., NACDS President and CEO Steven C. Anderson, IOM, CAE, at right, accepted CEO Update magazine’s 2016 Trade Association CEO of the Year award. Edison Electric Institute President Thomas R. Kuhn—who won the honor last year—made the presentation. Anderson is only the third CEO to receive this honor. More information is available in the press release that was issued in February, following CEO Update’s official announcement and in anticipation of this week’s ceremony.

NACDS Joins CDC, NFID on Flu Vaccine Social Media Campaign

admin2016-09-16T22:30:42-04:00Categories: Article|Tags: CDC|

NACDS is joining the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) to promote the importance of everyone in the U.S. six months and older getting the flu vaccine. The campaign will use the hashtag #FightFlu to raise awareness on social media channels.

Visit the CDC’s #FightFlu website to join the campaign. For more information about flu and flu vaccination, please visit the CDC’s website.

Health Affairs Features NACDS-Backed Research on Medicare Part D MTM

admin2016-09-15T18:35:05-04:00Categories: Article|Tags: CMS, MTM|

An article in the distinguished peer-reviewed health journal Health Affairs last week reported on an NACDS-supported study that found patients’ enrollment in Medicare Part D medication therapy management (MTM) programs varies according to the program’s eligibility criteria.

NACDS is always looking for ways to work with CMS to improve patient care and reduce overall all costs.

The study showed that enrollment rates in MTM programs among stand-alone prescription drug programs and Medicare Advantage drug plans averaged only 10 percent. In addition, enrollment variation across plans—from less than 0.2 percent to more than 57 percent—showed a direct correlation to the restrictiveness of the plans’ eligibility criteria. NACDS CEO Issue Update spoke with one of the authors of the study, NACDS Senior Economist Laura Miller, on the findings.

Q: The study shows plan sponsors have a great deal of latitude in setting eligibility requirements for MTM services under Medicare Part D. How does that latitude affect beneficiaries?

A: Plan sponsors can make eligibility restrictive or expansive—those with more restrictive criteria have fewer eligible and fewer beneficiaries getting MTM

Q: The study found that most Medicare Part D sponsors have chosen to provide MTM services to narrow segments of their enrollment pools. Why?

A: At least for prescription drug plans (PDPs), MTM services are a cost but neither PDP plans or Medicare Advantage plans are directly reimbursed by Medicare for the costs of providing MTM. Because financial incentives are not aligned with potential benefits of the services, plans are more inclined to restrict MTM services.

Q: How can CMS’s new Part D Enhanced Medication Therapy Management model improve the MTM program?

A: If CMS is able to align financial incentives for plan sponsors, they will use MTM any time it improves patient outcomes or reduces overall costs.

Q: Why is improving MTM benefits essential for patients, especially on a broader scale?

A: MTM has the potential to improve patient outcomes and reduce medical expenditures. The most common MTM service, an annual medication review, is particularly useful for patients taking multiple medications—to make sure they are not taking duplicative drugs, or drugs that interact with each other. Another important result of the annual medication review is to identify which, if any, [ READ MORE ]

CDC, Pediatrician Group Advise Against Nasal Flu Spray

admin2016-09-09T16:52:12-04:00Categories: Article|Tags: CDC, Vaccinations|

Citing poor effectiveness, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) do not recommend the nasal flu vaccine spray.

The AAP and CDC recommend that everyone ages six months and older receive a seasonal flu shot during the 2016-17 season…

The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) announced in June that it didn’t recommend the nasal flu vaccine spray, citing studies that found the nasal spray vaccine did not protect against certain strains of the flu virus that were most prominent the past three seasons. The nasal spray vaccine effectiveness among children two through 17 years was three percent in 2015-16, compared with 63 percent for the injected vaccine. In a revised policy statement released this week, the AAP said it supports the CDC’s recommendation not to use the nasal flu vaccine.

The AAP and CDC recommend that everyone ages six months and older receive a seasonal flu shot during the 2016-17 season, noting that vaccination remains the best available preventive measure against the flu.

For updated flu vaccine recommendations for the 2016-2017 season, visit the CDC’s website.

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