2003 Press Releases
Buffington Represents Pharmacists' Interests On The American Medical Association
Alexandria, Virginia - November 24, 2003
The pharmacy organizations making up the X12 Pharmacy Advisory Panel are: the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP), the American Pharmacists Association (APhA), the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists (ASCP), the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS), and the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA).
Buffington joins representatives of the following professions on the Health Care Professionals Advisory Committee: audiologists, chiropractors, occupational therapists, optometrists, physical therapists, physician assistants, podiatrists, psychologists, registered dieticians, social workers, and speech pathologists.
The Health Care Professionals Advisory Committee represents non-physician health professionals in the AMA’s Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) Editorial Panel process and is responsible for maintaining the CPT code set to accommodate changes in health care practice and delivery, as well as clinical technology.
Buffington’s participation in the AMA's coding process is significant for the profession of pharmacy. Pharmacists are required to use the CPT code set to report the services they provide to patients to receive payment from third party payors. Buffington’s position as the X12 Pharmacy Panel’s representative will ensure that pharmacists’ payment issues are addressed.
"I am thrilled to bring a pharmacist's perspective to this multidisciplinary committee," said Buffington. "This is a great opportunity to collaborate with other health professionals.”
Buffington is currently the director of the practice Clinical Pharmacology Services in Tampa, Florida, and clinical assistant professor of medicine at the University of South Florida in Tampa. He earned his PharmD and MBA degrees at Mercer University and performed postgraduate work at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. He is very active in national and state pharmacy affairs.
Buffington participated in the Annual Health Care Professionals Advisory Committee held in Tucson, Arizona in early November.
The American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) is a professional and scientific society that provides leadership, education, advocacy, and resources enabling clinical pharmacists to achieve excellence in practice and research. Founded in 1979, ACCP's more than 7000 members are practitioners, scientists, educators, administrators, students, residents, fellows, and others committed to excellence in clinical pharmacy and patient pharmacotherapy. For more information on the PSAP program, visit www.accp.com or www.psap.org.
The American Pharmacists Association (APhA) is dedicated to improving medication use and advancing patient care. Founded in 1852 as the American Pharmaceutical Association, APhA is the first-established and largest professional association of pharmacists in the United States. Our more than 50,000 members include pharmacists, scientists, student pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and others interested in advancing the profession.
The American Society of Consultant Pharmacists (ASCP) is the international professional association that provides leadership, education, advocacy, and resources to advance the practice of senior care pharmacy. Consultant pharmacists specializing in senior care pharmacy practice are essential participants in the health care system, recognized and valued for the practice of pharmaceutical care for the senior population and people with chronic illness. In their role as medication therapy experts, consultant pharmacists take responsibility for their patients’ medication-related needs; ensure that their patients’ medications are the most appropriate, the most effective, the safest possible, and are used correctly; and identify, resolve, and prevent medication-related problems that may interfere with the goals of therapy. ASCP’s 7,000 members manage and improve drug therapy and improve the quality of life of geriatric patients and other individuals residing in a variety of environments, including nursing facilities, subacute care and assisted living facilities, psychiatric hospitals, hospice programs, and in home and community-based care.
The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) is the 30,000-member national professional association that represents pharmacists who practice in hospitals, health maintenance organizations, long-term care facilities, home care, and other components of health care systems. ASHP, which has a long history of medication-error prevention efforts, believes that the mission of pharmacists is to help people make the best use of medicines. Assisting pharmacists in fulfilling this mission is ASHP's primary objective. The Society has extensive publishing and educational programs designed to help members improve their professional practice, and it is the national accrediting organization for pharmacy residency and pharmacy technician training programs. For more information, visit www.ashp.org or www.safemedication.com.
Founded in 1933 and based in Alexandria, Virginia, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) membership consists of more than 210 retail chain community pharmacy companies. Collectively, chain community pharmacy comprises the largest component of pharmacy practice with over 107,000 FTE pharmacists. The chain community pharmacy industry is comprised of 20,500 traditional chain drug stores, 8,800 supermarket pharmacies and nearly 6,300 mass merchant pharmacies. The NACDS membership base operates more than 35,000 retail community pharmacies with annual sales totaling over $500 billion, including $112 billion in sales for prescription drugs and $61 billion for over-the-counter (OTC) medications and health and beauty aids. Chain operated community retail pharmacies fill over 70% of more than 3 billion prescriptions dispensed annually in the United States. Additionally, NACDS membership includes over 1000 suppliers of goods and services to chain community pharmacies. NACDS international membership has grown to include 100 members from 30 countries. For more information about NACDS visit www.nacds.org.
The National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) represents the nation’s community pharmacists, including the owners of nearly 24,000 pharmacies. The nation’s independent pharmacies, independent pharmacy franchises, and independent chains represent a $67 billion marketplace, dispensing nearly half of the nation's three billion retail prescription medicines.
For more information:
Ellen Wilcox C., Pharm.D., MPH
ASHP
301-657-3000, ext. 1224
Edwin Webb
ACCP
202-756-2227
Tom Clark, R.Ph.
ASCP
703-739-1316, ext.123
Tenikka Greene
APhA
202-429-7537
Roy J. Bussewitz, R.Ph., JD
NACDS
703-549-3001, ext.134
Deleisa Johnson
NCPA
703-683-8200