Aligned for industry strength
PALM BEACH, Fla. — The common theme throughout the opening business program Sunday at this year’s National Association of Chain Drug Stores’ Annual Meeting was one of strength. NACDS is strong and continues to amass influence in what are arguably uncertain and ambiguous times, but only because the voice of its membership base is aligned toward activating the neighborhood pharmacy as a convenience-driven community healthcare center and protecting the viability of that underlying business model.
The big reason NACDS is so successful is because its members collaborate on issues despite being competitors, said Steve Anderson, NACDS president and CEO. “One of the many aspects I love about this organization is we celebrate each others’ successes, and we’re always there for each other,” he said. “When one of us may have fallen off the trapeze of life and maybe scraped our knees, NACDS is always there to provide a hand up.”
Currently, NACDS is providing that hand up by making sure its voice is heard at the nexus of business, policy and politics. It’s akin to the concept of design thinking, Anderson said. It starts in a field of uncertainty where there is no clear direction and evolves into clarity and focus.
“An association is really measured in the value that it provides to members and associate members,” added Randy Edeker, chairman, CEO and president of Hy-Vee and NACDS chairman. “What’s really special about our industry, is that value is measured in what it provides to our community, to our patients, to the people that we care for, to society in general.”
NACDS provides a clear voice on key issues, and that voice is resonating throughout the halls of Congress, Anderson said. Examples include saving the industry more than $2.7 billion advocating retail pharmacy’s position on Medicaid and AMP reimbursements and the Congressional support that’s swelling behind provider status for pharmacists.
The alignment of NACDS retail and associate members is helping to evolve health care, noted Jack Bailey, president of U.S. pharmaceuticals for GlaxoSmithKline. “For anyone to thrive against change, we need to innovate, collaborate and modernize,” he said. “Today there are more than 7,000 medicines in development around the world.”
The morning program was concluded with a keynote from former Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner, who gave his no-holds-barred take on the current state of the Presidential race, which he described as “reality TV on steroids” and zinged candidates on both sides of the aisle.
However, most legislators working on the Hill are intent on serving their constituents, he said. “One of the lessons [learned when working with Congress] is you’ve got to be patient,” Boehner said. “Steve pointed out earlier that some of these programs take a long time to build,” he said. “[As many as] 95% of the people I served with were decent, honest people trying to do the right thing.”
The big reason NACDS is so successful is because its members collaborate on issues despite being competitors, said Steve Anderson, NACDS president and CEO. “One of the many aspects I love about this organization is we celebrate each others’ successes, and we’re always there for each other,” he said. “When one of us may have fallen off the trapeze of life and maybe scraped our knees, NACDS is always there to provide a hand up.”
Currently, NACDS is providing that hand up by making sure its voice is heard at the nexus of business, policy and politics. It’s akin to the concept of design thinking, Anderson said. It starts in a field of uncertainty where there is no clear direction and evolves into clarity and focus.
“An association is really measured in the value that it provides to members and associate members,” added Randy Edeker, chairman, CEO and president of Hy-Vee and NACDS chairman. “What’s really special about our industry, is that value is measured in what it provides to our community, to our patients, to the people that we care for, to society in general.”
NACDS provides a clear voice on key issues, and that voice is resonating throughout the halls of Congress, Anderson said. Examples include saving the industry more than $2.7 billion advocating retail pharmacy’s position on Medicaid and AMP reimbursements and the Congressional support that’s swelling behind provider status for pharmacists.
The alignment of NACDS retail and associate members is helping to evolve health care, noted Jack Bailey, president of U.S. pharmaceuticals for GlaxoSmithKline. “For anyone to thrive against change, we need to innovate, collaborate and modernize,” he said. “Today there are more than 7,000 medicines in development around the world.”
The morning program was concluded with a keynote from former Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner, who gave his no-holds-barred take on the current state of the Presidential race, which he described as “reality TV on steroids” and zinged candidates on both sides of the aisle.
However, most legislators working on the Hill are intent on serving their constituents, he said. “One of the lessons [learned when working with Congress] is you’ve got to be patient,” Boehner said. “Steve pointed out earlier that some of these programs take a long time to build,” he said. “[As many as] 95% of the people I served with were decent, honest people trying to do the right thing.”