2024 NCPA Digest Highlights Challenges in Independent Pharmacy | NCPA 2024
The digest was released at the NCPA 2024 Annual Convention and Expo.
The National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) has released the 2024 NCPA Digest, providing the organization’s annual overview of independent community pharmacy. Data from this year’s digest show that independent pharmacies “represent 35% of all retail pharmacies in the United States,” per an NCPA news release.
The 2024 NCPA Digest was released at the NCPA 2024 Annual Convention and Expo. | image credit: ifeelstock - stock.adobe.com
“The NCPA Digest serves as an annual barometer for independent pharmacy, and this year’s is showing an ominous amount of pressure in the industry,” said NCPA CEO B. Douglas Hoey, RPh, MBA. “With independent pharmacies closing at the rate of more than 1 each day since last year, the report lays bare the ramifications of low and negative reimbursements for GLP-1s and other drugs, no longer countered by tax incentives and revenue earned from offerings related to COVID-19.”
“With the turbulence we’re seeing in independent and chain pharmacy alike, there’s a dire need to fix the broken pharmacy payment model. We’re continuing that fight, armed with NCPA Digest data and the goal of healthier pharmacies and patients,” Hoey added.
According to this year’s digest, independent community pharmacy represented a $94.9 billion marketplace, with nearly 96% of sales coming from prescriptions. Many owners operate multiple independent pharmacies; nearly 30% have ownership in 2 or more pharmacies. Despite this, the estimated number of independent community pharmacies declined: from 19,432 in 2023 to 18,984 as of June 2024. Prescription volume also decreased between 2022 and 2023, falling from 59,758 dispensed per store to 59,644 per store.
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But despite these challenges, independent pharmacies remain crucial parts of the communities that they serve. Sixty percent of these pharmacies provide monetary support to 5 or more community organizations, while 61% of owners provide more than $3000 per year in monetary support to community organizations; a majority of these owners are members a local business association or chamber of commerce.
Community pharmacies are also crucial in improving patient outcomes, with more than 90% of independent pharmacies offering a medication adherence program, an initiative that “aligns the interest of patients, payers, pharmacists, and plans.”
The 2024 NCPA Digest was sponsored by Cardinal Health.
Check out the rest of our NCPA coverage here.
