Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1999. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
PRNewswire - Deccember 8, 1999
"As front-line healthcare providers, the nation's chain pharmacies and their pharmacists are committed to the safe dispensing of prescription medications.
Pharmacists provide a major safety net in the medication dispensing process, and efforts to standardize procedures can further reduce the potential for prescribing or dispensing errors.
Standardizing administrative procedures and enabling greater use of technology will improve efficiency and quality in the dispensing process. Encouraging electronic transmission of prescriptions will further reduce errors and improve patient safety. We encourage all state boards of pharmacy to move aggressively to eliminate restrictive barriers that prevent advances in innovation and technology in the dispensing process.
While the Institute of Medicine study focused on hospital medical errors, the nation's chain pharmacy industry welcomes the opportunity to work with the Administration and others in identifying ways to minimize the potential for medication errors in any pharmacy setting."
Founded in 1933 and based in Alexandria, Virginia, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) membership consists of 136 retail chain community pharmacy companies. Collectively, chain community pharmacy comprises the largest component of pharmacy practice with over 94,000 pharmacists. The chain community pharmacy industry is comprised of more than 19,000 traditional chain drug stores, 7,000 supermarket pharmacies and 5,000 mass merchant pharmacies. The NACDS membership base operates more than 31,000 retail community pharmacies with annual sales totaling over $158 billion including prescription drugs, over-the-counter (OTC) medications and health and beauty aids (HBA). Chain operated community retail pharmacies fill over 60% of the 3 billion prescriptions dispensed annually in the United States. Additionally, NACDS membership includes nearly 1,400 suppliers of goods and services to chain community pharmacies. NACDS international membership has grown to include 105 members from 26 foreign countries.
SOURCE National Association of Chain Drug Stores
CONTACT: Phil Schneider of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, 703-549-3001 or pschneider@nacds.org/
Web Site: http://www.nacds.org/
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