NACDS' RxIMPACT Day to prompt discussion of retail pharmacy issues

Pharmacists from around the country will descend on Washington D.C., March 9 and 10 for RxIMPACT Day, sponsored by the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS). During the event, pharmacy owners, CEOs, store managers, and others will meet with new and established members of Congress to talk about the issues important to retail pharmacy. “The biggest priorities are medication adherence, medication therapy management (MTM) services, and pharmacy’s benefit to the economy overall,” said Chrissy Kopple, vice president of media relations for NACDS.

Pushing the message of medication adherence is particularly important since it will lower consumers’ healthcare costs and reduce costs to the entire healthcare system, Kopple said. “When I go into meetings with members of Congress on Capitol Hill, this concept of medication adherence makes sense to elected officials. We are urging, ‘Don’t cut off pharmacy’s power to make government budgets healthier and patients healthier, for the long term,’” said Steven Anderson, CEO of NACDS.

Pharmacists and NACDS representatives will be engaging with the 112 new members of Congress, as well as key legislators on the Healthcare Committee and senators in attendees’ districts.

“Last year, we hosted over 220 meetings on Capitol Hill and had participants conduct a lot of drop-by appointments. We met with about 70% of key healthcare committee members,” said Heidi Ecker, director of grassroots and advocacy programs for NACDS.

For those who cannot attend RxIMPACT in person, NACDS is providing information about contact with Congress as well as the industry’s priority issues at http://capwiz.com/nacds/home/FlyinPBC.