With the current and increasing focus on Presidential politics, I recalled a tactic that NACDS executed two Presidential elections ago, and that was timed to coincide with the Presidential debates of 2007.
The Presidential campaign season could be seen as a milepost – a convenient time to assess the state of pharmacy’s campaign for the opportunity to improve the health and wellness of Americans.
Just two weeks shy of eight years ago, on November 15, 2007, NACDS published a full-page ad in The Washington Post – an open letter to the candidates running for the Republican and Democratic Presidential nominations. The ad’s headline said: “We Extend an Invitation to Better Health Care.”
The ad, as well as a supporting research paper and a presentation at a U.S. Chamber of Commerce health forum, urged greater reliance on pharmacists and advocated for pro-patient and pro-pharmacy public policy.
Since that time, NACDS member companies have continued to innovate. NACDS as an organization has waged a consistent effort to tell their story as the “face of neighborhood healthcare.” And we have worked with our allies to help create pharmacy’s future. We have made significant progress on topics that we were discussing in the ideas that we were promoting in 2007: battling the harmful Medicaid pharmacy cuts, injecting medication adherence into the discussion of national health priorities, improving access to medication therapy management for Medicare beneficiaries, expanding the scope of practice of pharmacists (in 2007, pharmacists were not yet able to provide flu vaccines in all 50 states, whereas today they can administer three adult vaccines in all 50 states), and much, much more.
Last week provides a vivid snapshot of pharmacy’s continuously elevating profile. Within the span of three days, NACDS and member companies engaged in an event in West Virginia with President Obama, in a meeting with Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Burwell and in a Congressional hearing on medication therapy management. These events symbolize the constant pursuit of results that defines NACDS and pharmacy today.
As it turns out, the Presidential campaign season could be seen as a milepost – a convenient time to assess the state of pharmacy’s campaign for the opportunity to improve the health and wellness of Americans and the vitality of the healthcare delivery system. Thank you for all you do to wage the campaign for health and wellness within your company and in the neighborhoods you serve – and through your trade association, NACDS.
