WASHINGTON, DC – July 17, 2007– Today, three leading organizations in the pharmacy profession announced a joint effort to develop a new vision for pharmacists' interactions with their patients and for community pharmacy's advancement of health care in the United States. The American Pharmacists Association (APhA), the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) and the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) have initiated Project Destiny. The result of Project Destiny will be the development of a strategic plan that validates community pharmacy's future role in the delivery of health care as a valuable and integral component, which is accepted and recognized by patients, payers and policymakers for the patient care services that they deliver.
The associations selected BearingPoint to execute the initiative, which will position the pharmacist as the medication expert and the key provider of medication therapy management services to patients. Project Destiny will reinforce the role of the pharmacist as a key contributor to a patient's overall health and to substantial reductions of overall health care costs.
Specifically, the initiative will build a plan with four components. These include:
1. Interoperability – Takes into account the interests of all stakeholders (patients, payers and pharmacies) to achieve optimal health outcomes of patients, overall costs savings to the payer, and the delivery of and reimbursement for valuable pharmacist services;
2. Practice models – Business plans for community pharmacy and pharmacists regarding new approaches to present business practices and business models that will allow interoperability in community pharmacy to occur;
3. Business models – Create new reimbursement models that can be utilized by various stakeholders and are designed to cover product costs and services with a fair and reasonable margin;
4. Communications – Conveying strategies for execution of the plans as well as communicating the community pharmacy value proposition to all stakeholders, including pharmacists, payers and patients.
“Today, community pharmacy contributes tremendous value to health care that goes well beyond dispensing medications. The health care system has not yet realized the full potential of pharmacists in lowering overall health care costs. Project Destiny will define and expand dramatically the possibilities for efficiency and improved patient outcomes,” said Steven C. Anderson, IOM, CAE, NACDS President and CEO. “Any entity, public or private, that has an interest in revolutionizing health care will want to understand the results of Project Destiny.”
“As our health care system continues to modernize, pharmacists will need to stay ahead of the curve in order to continue providing critical medication therapy management services to their patients. The efforts of Project Destiny will no doubt help the pharmacy profession accomplish this,” said John A. Gans, PharmD, APhA Executive Vice President & CEO. “True to our mission, APhA will continue to work with our partners in the profession to educate future pharmacists and others in the healthcare community about the valuable role the pharmacist can play in providing low cost, quality healthcare services to millions of patients.”
“Project Destiny is consistent with our strategic direction to develop a systemized approach that aligns the interests of patients, pharmacists, and payers. We are pleased to be working with our colleagues to bring forth options that will help make this vision a reality,” said Bruce Roberts, RPh, NCPA Executive Vice President and CEO. “We look forward to contributing to a plan that will be practical and implementable and will resonate with both pharmacy operators and patients.”
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About The American Pharmacists Association (APhA)
The American Pharmacists Association, founded in 1852 as the American Pharmaceutical Association, represents more than 60,000 practicing pharmacists, pharmaceutical scientists, student pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and others interested in advancing the profession. APhA, dedicated to helping all pharmacists improve medication use and advance patient care, is the first-established and largest association of pharmacists in the United States.
About the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS)
The National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) represents the nation's leading retail chain pharmacies and suppliers, helping them better meet the changing needs of their patients and customers. Chain pharmacies operate more than 38,000 pharmacies, employ 114,000 pharmacists, fill more than 2.3 billion prescriptions yearly, and have annual sales of nearly $700 billion. Other members include almost 1,000 suppliers of products and services to the chain drug industry. NACDS international membership has grown to include 87 members from 28 countries. For more information about NACDS, visit www.nacds.org.
About the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA)
The National Community Pharmacists Association, founded in 1898, represents the nation's community pharmacists, including the owners of more than 24,000 pharmacies. The nation's independent pharmacies, independent pharmacy franchises, and independent chains dispense nearly half of the nation's retail prescription medicines.
