Cardinal empowers pharmacists with legislative toolkit

DUBLIN, Ohio — Cardinal Health recently introduced a legislative toolkit that makes it easy for community pharmacists to share their views about policies affecting the pharmacy industry.

The toolkit, available online at LegislativeToolkit.com, arms community pharmacists with knowledge so they can effectively communicate to elected officials the concerns of local pharmacists.

“Community pharmacists must raise their voices and participate in the legislative process,” said Steve Lawrence, SVP retail independent sales at Cardinal Health. "[Community pharmacists] can make a difference on the issues that affect our industry.”

The toolkit provides:

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  A database to learn which elected officials to contact;


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  Guides on how to make communications with elected officials effective, whether by phone call, letter or hosting a pharmacy tour;


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  An explanation of key legislative language; and


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  An overview of key pharmacy issues identified by both state associations and the National Community Pharmacist Association.

According to Lawrence, some of the issues that affect the more than 8,000 independent pharmacies that Cardinal Health serves include:

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  The need for pharmacists to receive provider status, so they can be reimbursed for delivering certain healthcare services to patients;


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  The impact that narrow insurance networks have on patient access to pharmacy care;


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  The need for community pharmacies to be fairly reimbursed for dispensing prescriptions; and


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  The ability to communicate how fair reimbursement helps ensure patients have reliable access to community pharmacies.