NCPA Digest: More independents collaborating with physicians

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Independent pharmacies collaborate with physicians as many as 10 times every day on prescription drug therapy, up from 8.7 times, according to the recently released 2015 National Community Pharmacists Association's Digest, sponsored by Cardinal Health. Doctors accept pharmacists' generic product recommendations 94% of the time and 80% of the time for other therapeutic recommendations, reinforcing the value of pharmacists to the health care team.

 

 "The NCPA Digest affirms that independent community pharmacies are essential to patients and particularly those in underserved inner city and rural areas," stated NCPA CEO Douglas Hoey. "These innovative small business owners are defining the future of pharmacy," he said. "In addition, the Digest illustrates the challenges of declining, even negative, revenue from prescription drug reimbursement. This underscores the urgency with which community pharmacy owners must address two areas. First, improve patient adherence to make your pharmacy indispensable to payers who are under increasing pressure to demonstrate success in that area. Second, take advantage of every opportunity to diversify pharmacy revenue streams beyond prescription drug payments."

 

"The healthcare industry continues to explore new approaches to challenges associated with care delivery and coordination, which is an opportunity for the community pharmacist to play an increasingly significant role in the healthcare system," added Ron Clerico, VP retail marketing at Cardinal Health. "Consumers and patients have access to a wealth of information and are taking on additional responsibilities for their healthcare decisions – and they are looking for a trusted healthcare advisor to guide them through all the options."

 

According to the Digest, the number of independents in operation was down slightly in 2014 by 1.5% to 22,478. Those pharmacies employed more than 314,000 individuals, however. Average prescription volume was similarly down 1.4% to 61,568 prescriptions, a decline NCPA ascribes in part to limited networks. 

 

The most common niche patient care services offered by independent community pharmacies were: medication therapy management (provided by 80% of independent community pharmacies); same-day home delivery (78%); immunizations (71%); and compounding customized medications for patients (65%).

 

As many as 26% of independent community pharmacy owners have ownership in two or more pharmacies.