NCPA Announces New Division Dedicated to LTC Pharmacies, Patients

ALEXANDRIA, VA.—The National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) announced a new division of the association dedicated to advancing the interests of independent long-term care pharmacy providers.

“Independent LTC pharmacy providers’ interests do not always align with publicly traded competitors in this space,” said Joseph H. Harmison, PD, NCPA president and pharmacy owner. “Policy discussions are sometimes dominated by giant long-term care corporations. With the launch of this new division, that is no longer the case. NCPA looks forward to advocating for and partnering with independent LTC pharmacies through this initiative.”

The association has since increased its capabilities by adding staff and providing resources that target legislative and regulatory issues faced by pharmacies servicing LTC facilities. The association hired Susan Janeczko, Pharm.D., as director of Long-Term Care Policy and Regulatory Affairs. Janeczko came to NCPA from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) where she was the lead clinician working on the Medicare.gov Web site.

Under Janeczko’s direction, the group plans to continue and expand recent LTC advocacy efforts including: providing a community pharmacy perspective to CMS on the potential impacts of proposed short-cycle dispensing rules; working to find a compromise on the LTC nurse-as-agent issue that ensures patients get needed medications in a timely manner; and submitting recommendations to ensure the smooth implementation of e-prescribing rules in LTC settings.

In addition, the association is closely monitoring other matters impacting LTC pharmacies such as Medicare Part B DME MAC recoupment efforts to help ensure that any government actions to resolve pending financial matters find their intended targets (Medicare Advantage and Home Health Agencies in this case), and not independent community pharmacies.

Interested pharmacists can visit NCPA’s new LTC Web site, www.ncpaltc.org. During this initial “preview” period, access to the site will be unrestricted but afterward only those who’ve signed up as members of the NCPA LTC Division will have access to the content and NCPA experts.