Positive Picture of Independent Community Pharmacies Emerges With Release of 2008 NCPA Digest, Sponsored by Cardi...( TAMPA Fla. Oct. 13 -- The 2008 N...),Health

TAMPA, Fla., Oct. 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The 2008 NCPA Digest, sponsored by Cardinal Health, was released today at the NCPA 110th Annual Convention. The Digest has been published annually for over 75 years and provides the most comprehensive portrait of the financial state of independent community pharmacy from the previous calendar year. Last year's Digest provided an inside look into how the Medicare Part D prescription drug program had played a leading role in reducing the number of independent community pharmacies by five percent; but this year's Digest shows how independent community pharmacies are adjusting to new market conditions and are being successful in sustaining their viability.

"Independent community pharmacies are not only valued health care providers, but are remarkably resilient in adjusting to the constantly changing marketplace," said Bruce T. Roberts, RPh, NCPA executive vice president and CEO. "The Digest's numbers demonstrate the business acumen of our more than 23,000 members, as the number of stores stabilized, profit margins improved, and other measurement either showed stability or actual improvement. As a result our patients are better served, which means America is healthier."

In 2007, independent community pharmacies represented an $84 billion share of the marketplace, with $78 billion derived from prescription sales alone. These pharmacies dispensed over 1.4 billion prescription drugs, with an average generic utilization rate of 61 percent, helping to reduce the price of the average prescription drug dispensed at independent community pharmacies by almost $4 from last year. This is an important trend in a health care system that struggles mightily to contain exploding overall costs.

"Significantly reducing health care costs is a goal independent community pharmacies strive to achieve on a daily basis," said Stephen L. Giroux, RPh, NCPA President and an upstate New York pharmacy owner. "This object
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