CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa. — The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically demonstrated the vital role that community pharmacy plays in supporting the health and wellness of the communities it serves. While public recognition of the value of pharmacy’s contribution has expanded significantly since the pandemic, community pharmacy, particularly independents, continue to face a formidable array of challenges, as evidenced by the number of ongoing pharmacy closures.

Good Neighbor Pharmacy, the national franchise network for independent pharmacies offered through Cencora (formerly AmerisourceBergen), is dedicated to enabling its 5,000-plus member pharmacies to surmount those challenges and together forge a sustainable path to growth with an expanding array of member services and tools. In recognition of the critical role it fills in supporting its independent pharmacy members, the editors of Chain Drug Review have named Good Neighbor Pharmacy its Retailer of the Year.

Recognition for excellence is nothing new for Good Neighbor Pharmacy. Last year it ranked “No. 1 in Customer Satisfaction with Chain Drug Store Pharmacies” in the J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Pharmacy Study. It marked the 13th time in the last 15 years that Good Neighbor Pharmacy has received that honor and the eighth consecutive win. The study was based on responses from more than 13,500 pharmacy patients in the U.S. who filled a prescription in the 12 months preceding the survey period, which is a testament to the satisfaction with and level of trust they place in their local Good Neighbor Pharmacy.

According to Jenni Zilka, senior vice president of community and specialty pharmacy and president of Good Neighbor Pharmacy, research conducted in 2024 revealed that 20% of the Good Neighbor Pharmacy locations operate in or are adjacent to pharmacy deserts, either rural or urban. Consequently, they do much more than simply dispense prescriptions, providing more holistic care and addressing essential health care needs, especially in areas lacking other providers.

“The interesting thing about independents is that they are part of the community,” she says. “They don’t drive into the community to work; they live there. They go to school with their patients; they go to church with their patients. They’ll open the pharmacy late at night so a patient can get what they need, when they need it, and they will go the extra mile to help secure a hard-to-find product or drug. They take amazing care of their patients above and beyond just handing them a prescription.”

According to Tim Cernohous, senior vice president and president of community, retail and long-term care pharmacy for Cencora, the J.D. Power award is really a testament to Good Neighbor Pharmacy’s members’ deep commitment to their communities. That commitment has been unswerving despite a pharmacy landscape that is not only changing but also increasing in complexity and risk.

In the current pharmacy environment, the support services that Good Neighbor Pharmacy provides critically enable its member pharmacies to continue delivering extraordinary patient care despite pressing ­challenges and uncertainty.

“Our pharmacists and pharmacy owners are known for providing high-touch, high-quality care, and I think of Good Neighbor Pharmacy as the support system behind them,” says Zilka. “They don’t have a big corporate headquarters performing the back-office functions for them. They’re taking care of their patients while running the business. They are their human resources department and their finance department. They do it all.”

Good Neighbor Pharmacy’s goal, she adds, is to leverage its scale to provide some of that back-office support. One program that is highly regarded by members is business performance and service optimization, which enables business coaches (some of whom are former independent pharmacy owners) to provide tools, data and insights to optimize the pharmacy’s daily operations.

In addition, Good Neighbor Pharmacy merchandisers can ensure that the pharmacy has the right mix of products, help set the shelves and make certain that products are in the right position and accessible. Marketing and advertising expertise, including leveraging social media effectively, is also available.

“We are really excited about our ability to insert these pharmacies into the path to purchase and make sure that patients know they’re there,” says Zilka. “We also have the tools and expertise to help them use social media with optimal content and at the optimal time.”

Finally, Good Neighbor Pharmacy, along with many of its members, is highly active in advocating for community pharmacy at both the state and federal levels. Cencora’s global policy and advocacy team works with several pharmacy trade associations to press for legislative change that will protect the entire pharmacy industry.

“We’re very proud to spend time in Washington and help our pharmacies engage with their local lawmakers, to have a seat at the table and be able to share their story with their representatives, at both the federal and state levels,” Zilka says.

Cernohous points out that Good Neighbor Pharmacy and Cencora are focused on equipping member pharmacies with new solutions and tools to optimize business performance and enhance level of care. For instance, Good Neighbor Pharmacy piloted a tool in 2024 leveraging publicly available as well as internal Cencora data to uncover gaps in care in communities that Good Neighbor Pharmacy locations could fill with new, tailored service offerings.

For members who operate pharmacies in multiple states, the company provides solutions that help clarify what kinds of documentation and procedures are necessary in which states.

In addition, for pharmacies targeting the developing long-term care-at-home market, Cencora is using its data insights capability to help identify patients who are possible candidates for these home services.

“Ultimately the goal of long-term care at home is keeping the patient within a setting where they’re most likely to thrive and be successful rather than have to transition into a different care setting,” Cernohous explains. “So, we’re redesigning our educational tools, which we’ll bring out this year at ThoughtSpot 2025. Our hope is that it will make the pharmacists, owners and technicians who attend the conference that much better prepared to take advantage of the tools, the knowledge and the resources that we’re making available.”

Pharmacies can take advantage of more information in the form of data integrated from health care practitioners and third-party entities than ever before and use that information to identify gaps in care, he adds. Communication technology that allows pharmacists to interact and engage with patients through different modalities, including apps, are also proving their value in areas such as reducing medication ­nonadherence.

“How we engage with patients and help support them in treating or managing their diseases is really critical, he says. “I see pharmacy increasingly taking on the role of a coach or navigator. How they use data and technology to be that coach and supporter is going to be a differentiator over the long term, and it’s a really exciting opportunity.”

While technology is providing new tools to help pharmacies be more efficient and effective, the overall pharmacy landscape presents a sobering array of challenges and uncertainty for the future, Cernohous acknowledges. There is, he says, widespread concern about the sustainability of the pharmacy business model among the Good Neighbor Pharmacy membership, particularly because of persistent reimbursement issues impacting the entire industry.

And while the delayed enforcement of the Drug Supply Chain Security Act has given independent pharmacies a reprieve, major questions about the measure’s impact remain unanswered. Another huge question mark concerns the potential impact of the Inflation Reduction Act.

Cernohous views the next 12 to 18 months as a critical time in determining the future sustainability of pharmacy, as an industry and as a profession. Nevertheless, he adds, there are reasons for optimism, citing the prospects for expansion of pharmacy practice as just one major opportunity.

“We’re seeing the expansion of pharmacy practice in many states across the country,” Cernohous says. “Accessing new patient populations is another opportunity. For instance, being able to administer long-acting antipsychotics and other medications is something that didn’t even exist a few years ago and is a tremendous opportunity now.”

Another promising opportunity, he notes, is in the expansion of care settings, which will allow pharmacists to serve patients who cannot come to a pharmacy. For example, long-term care at home is an emerging area that is rapidly gaining traction. Within certain requirements, pharmacies will be allowed to provide enhanced services and, in many cases, receive additional reimbursement for those services if they can establish accreditation.

For Good Neighbor Pharmacy and Cencora, the goal remains the same: striving to ensure that its member independent pharmacies can continue to serve their patients and their communities.

“They really are cornerstones in their communities, and it’s important for us to continue to empower that,” says Cernohous. “They’re the ones doing the hard work; they’re the ones on the front line every day. They’re handling all the challenges that come in, so we have to work hard to be an enabler for them, so they can have sustainable practices, and really practice at the top of their license.”

ThoughtSpot highlights independent pharmacy

CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa. — Every year Good Neighbor Pharmacy celebrates its member pharmacies’ dedication to improving the health and wellness of their communities at its marquee trade show and conference, ThoughtSpot. ThoughtSpot 2024, held in July in Orlando, Fla., drew more than 3,500 independent pharmacy owners and partners. The event featured continuing education sessions, certification programs and several new patient care service solutions designed to enhance efficiency and effectiveness in the pharmacy.

Traditionally, the conference has highlighted an independent pharmacy that goes above and beyond in supporting its patients and community. However, in 2024, Good Neighbor Pharmacy introduced a new awards program, the Good Neighbor Pharmacy Champion Awards, to recognize leadership and excellence in specialized areas.

“We had to expand the recognition from one award to three,” explains Jenni Zilka, senior vice president of community and specialty pharmacy at Cencora and president of Good Neighbor Pharmacy. “One for clinical care, one for advocacy and the third for storytelling and letting their patients know about all of the services they provide.”

The 2024 Advocacy Champion was Phipps Pharmacy, which operates in Hunt­ingdon, Jackson, McKenzie and Waverly, Tenn. as well as Southaven, Miss. President and chief executive officer Jay Phipps has been a tireless advocate for preserving and improving the business and practice of pharmacy since his early days in pharmacy school. 

Phipps Pharmacy provides patients a wide array of services, including immunizations, home delivery, home health, compounding, consultations and disease state management.

“But what sets him apart is his active engagement with legislators on the impact state legislation has on the pharmacist’s scope of practice,” Zilka says. “With pharmacies in two different states, he’s able to compare and contrast how state laws affect his ability to care for his patients.”

“He advocates on behalf of his patients to provide services that may be unavailable in one state but are accessible in the other — even attending congressional meetings and participating in grassroots efforts related to these issues. The way that he communicates the necessity for patients’ access to these pharmacy services is so authentic, and that authenticity is resonating with legislators.”

HB Pharmacy of North Arlington, N.J., received the 2024 Storytelling Champion Award for its relentless commitment to increasing community awareness of the pharmacy and its unique products and services. Co-owner Vince Bellitti, a second-generation pharmacy owner, initiated a marketing strategy to expand the pharmacy’s reach by transitioning from traditional word-of-mouth communication to digital efforts.

“He’s a bit younger and more on-trend — and he has a great understanding of how to leverage different social media channels to create more personal relationships with his patients,” Zilka explains. “He’s building on the legacy that his dad established at the pharmacy while ensuring that the broader community — not just current patients — understands what is available in the way of services at their pharmacy.”

Zilka notes that seniors are one of the fastest-growing segments of Facebook users, and they also represent a significant portion of the HB Pharmacy patient base.

“He’s found a way to effectively use social media as an engagement strategy with patients who might be homebound or rely on those channels as a primary source of health care information,” she says. “He’s done a phenomenal job of expanding his reach to patients who may not physically visit the pharmacy.”