Drug Topics - November 5, 2007 - (Page 12)

12 DRUG TOPICS NOVEMBER 5, 2007 www.drugtopics.com Community Practice NCPA focuses on new opportunities despite challenges Reid Paul here can be no doubt that this has been a tough year for community pharmacy, but as Bruce Roberts, CEO and executive VP of the National Community Pharmacists Association, emphasized at the organization’s annual conference last month in Anaheim, Calif., it was also a time of new opportunities. “This has been one of our toughest years in recent history,” he told members. “However, I believe that even in the midst of these difficult times, there lies hope.” According to the NCPA-Pfizer Digest, which was released at the convention, for the first time in five years the number of independent pharmacies declined in 2006. Even as the number of chain, mass-merchandiser, and supermarket pharmacies rose, the number of independent pharmacies dropped by 1,152 to 23,348. In addition, sales per location fell 3.5% to $3.6 million and gross profit was the lowest it has been in the past 10 years at 22.8%. Similarly, net operating income dropped by .9%, to 2.8%—also the lowest it has been in the past decade. About the only thing that did rise for pharmacies was the total number of prescriptions dispensed. Pharmacies dispensed, on average, 61,087 prescriptions per year, or about 196 each day. Of those prescriptions, a larger percentage was through government healthcare programs. Medicaid and Medicare now constitute 39% of all prescriptions dispensed, while other third- T Bruce Roberts (l.), Charles Sewell (c.), and Douglas Hoey of NCPA see new opportunities for independent pharmacists. party payers dropped to 52%. The remaining cash payments dropped to 9%, down from 20% in 2002. PAC packs a punch Given the increasing role of Medicare and Medicaid programs, it is hardly surprising that NCPA has put a renewed emphasis on the work of its political action committee. At the conference, Roberts boasted that the NCPA PAC raised $100,000 at the convention and was on target to collect more than $1 million for the 2008 elections. NCPA is planning on hosting receptions at both the Democratic and Republican national conventions in 2008. One of the results of NCPA’s increased political clout has been the formation of the Congressional Community Pharmacy Caucus. The group, which was formed in September, already has more than 50 members that support measures to protect community pharmacies. “The caucus will serve as a permanent platform for sharing ideas, news, and research on community pharmacy legislative issues on Capitol Hill,” Roberts explained. According to Roberts and Charles Sewell, NCPA’s senior VP of government affairs, the caucus is pushing legislation to address a number of the most vexing issues facing community pharmacy. Bills have been introduced in both the House and the Senate to fix the average manufacturer price (AMP) rule that is set to go into effect in January. According to Sewell, Sen. Max Baucus (D, Mont.) has suggested that the bill may be included in a major Medicare and Medicaid bill that is MTM billing codes approved L Photo: Reid Paul ast month, pharmacists received one significant piece of good news about medication therapy management. The Pharmacist Services Technical Advisory Coalition (PSTAC), which includes the National Community Pharmacists Association, National Association of Chain Drug Stores, and American Pharmacists Association among other organizations, received approval for permanent medication therapy management service CPT codes. The CPT code set was designated in the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA) as the national coding standard for the healthcare industry. The approved codes are 99605, 99606, and 99607, and they can be used beginning January 2008. Pharmacists can continue to use the current temporary MTMS codes for 2007 billing. In preparing for the application, PSTAC funded a national survey that counted 2.8 million face-to-face MTM encounters between 2004 and 2006. http://www.drugtopics.com

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Drug Topics - November 5, 2007 Contents Latebreakers Latebreakers in Depth Letters Rx Care Community Practice 150 Years of American Pharmacy Hospital Practice Pharmacists at Risk Government and Law High-Density Lipoprotein New Products Advertisers Index Classified Viewpoint

Drug Topics - November 5, 2007

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