American Pharmacists Month: How Pharmacy Partnerships Create Pathway to Innovation

By building the right partnerships and focusing on the key challenges in pharmacy practice, the industry can move from today’s efforts toward new, unexplored opportunities—advancing the spirit of innovation that has always defined pharmacists.

“I think, right now, you're seeing there [are] a lot of incredible pharmacists in this country...a lot of talented people,” Steve Moore, PharmD, owner of Condo Pharmacy in Plattsburgh, New York, told Drug Topics. “One of my personal frustrations with pharmacy these last couple of years is not with pharmacy, but we've been so focused on PBMs [pharmacy benefit managers] and the payment model and just surviving that we've lost a lot of chances to innovate.”

In part 2 of our interview with Moore during American Pharmacists Month, he delved into some of the health care partnerships his pharmacy team has explored, as well as the work some of his colleagues are conducting across the country.

Moore believes that too much of the industry focus has been on correcting some of the issues within pharmacy. Although he agrees—like many other community pharmacists—that many issues within pharmacy practice need to be addressed, he’s looking ahead and hoping for a future where innovation is commonplace in the pharmacy landscape.

“It'd be great if we could see some of the innovation," he continued. "If you look back through pharmacy, pharmacists have come up with a lot of great stuff. I think if we free pharmacists up, it's only going to help the health care arena and help our patients.”

READ MORE: American Pharmacists Month Resource Center

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