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NACDS members continue to communicate the value of community pharmacy to lawmakers and other policymakers via NACDS RxImpact Pharmacy Tours.
Through these events, policymakers are given tours of pharmacies in their districts in order to provide them with a firsthand look at pharmacists’ expanding role in the nation’s health care system. And for a lot of lawmakers and their staff, the tours prove to be eye-opening experiences.
For example, earlier this month, Rep. Dave Trott (R., Mich.) visited a Rite Aid drug store in Plymouth, Mich., for an NACDS RxImpact pharmacy tour. “I think what impressed him most is how not only do we fill prescriptions, but in this process we integrate clinical services to ensure that people get the maximum benefit out of their medications,” commented Rhonda Morris, pharmacy district manager for Rite Aid.
The pharmacy tours also are designed to help policymakers understand how supporting NACDS-backed, pro-pharmacy, pro-patient legislation helps to improve health outcomes and rein in overall health care costs. For instance, Rite Aid’s Morris mentioned the Pharmacy and Medically Underserved Areas Enhancement Act (H.R. 592), legislation that would enable Medicare beneficiaries to access pharmacist-provided patient care services.
“When we discussed the bill, Rep. Trott made a direct connection that pharmacists do a lot more than count and pour; they are actually going to play a part in helping to fill the health care void for medically underserved populations,” she stated.
Take a look at the slideshow to see scenes from other NACDS RxImpact Pharmacy Tours this year (as well as one RxImpact Day on Capitol Hill meeting).
