It's also interestingundefined and very importantundefined to note that when we interviewed pharmacists, they hold the same feeling or beliefundefined starting with the perception of protector, expert and confidant. They also see themselves as saving lives and helping peopleundefined all of which makes them feel good about themselves and justifiably provides them with the self-esteem they have earned.

There's a lot more I could share about the research findings, but there's one last key point I'd like to make.

While the research clearly shows that the most important leadership strengths people assign to pharmacists are "trustworthy", "effective" and "caring"undefined it is caring that is most unique to pharmacists. This is a strong and important leadership quality for all of us to stress as we work to elevate the overall perception of pharmacy... both in the US and Canada.

Emotional Plea of Seniors Prescription Needs in Persuasion

So, armed with this knowledge of the public's view of our industry, we believe we have a key tool that will enable NACDSundefined working in conjunction with our chain members, to launch new initiatives to promote the value of community pharmacy and pharmacists and the services they provide in our health care system.

Our new approach is to persuade by reason and motivate through emotionundefined actions that will support community pharmacy.

We are demonstrating the emotional sense of caring by our commitment to support America's needy seniors in their struggle to acquire prescription medication.

Since late last Fall, NACDS has consistentlyundefined but quietlyundefined worked hard to promote an awareness and understanding of the merits of our SenioRx Gold proposal.

Unlike others, we haven't spent millions in massive ad campaigns. Rather, through effective chain member involvement supporting the NACDS staff, NACDS has gained strong and important support for our plan of a state-based, interim approach to providing prescription drug coverage to those most in needundefinedAnd, very importantly, payment for pharmacy services.

Over the months we have stressed to leaders and members of both political parties the point that millions of America's seniors and their families should not be denied the medications our pharmaceutical manufacturers have developed that are the envy of the world.

In the past two weeksundefined elements of our plan have been incorporated in legislation introduced in both the US House of Representatives and the Senate. The debate over these measures continuesundefined and we're committed to staying on message.

As I mentioned, what's significant is that this federal legislation recognizes the value of pharmacists and pharmacy patient services and provides a mechanism to pay for them. This is an important advancement for the profession of pharmacy as we move from a dispenser of medications to the role of patient disease therapy manager.

There's much more I could discuss about our governmental activities, but there are many other exciting initiatives underway at NACDS as well.

New Internet Portal Unifies Industry, Enhances Communications

Trade associations like NACDS and CACDS have as one of their major purposes fostering communications and interactions among their members as well as others who interact with the membership.

We are near the launching point of a unique new service linking chain pharmacy and supplier company business needs to an Internet based NACDS Trade Gateway.

On January 1 we expect to have a full service electronic commerce business portalundefinedcalled ChainDrugStore.net offering a variety of information-based and driven services.

When it is launched, ChainDrugStore.net will provide retailers, manufacturers, service providers, and the media a unique online resource-a portal that creates and delivers personalized targeted information that enhances communication and improves trading partner relationships.

Among retailers, it is anticipated that users will primarily consist of senior management, buyers and category managers, and marketing, purchasing, merchandising, and distribution/logistics staff. Among suppliers, users will include brand managers, key account executives, and trade marketing and other sales and marketing executives.

ChainDrugStore.net will primarily focus on merchandising content-category trends/news, new product announcements, category reviews, product safety/recall notices, promotion/deal information, detailed product information, and FSI/promotion calendars.

It will also feature general industry content including chain company and manufacturer profiles, late-breaking news, sales benchmarking and other data analysis, consumer insights, and retail trends by class of trade.

While never intended as a replacement for face-to-face relationships and communications, the new ChainDrugStore.net will enhance personal interaction, as well as provide a real-time communication tool between retailers and their supplier partners.

ChainDrugStore.net is actually the capstone on a series of online services that NACDS has quietly been developing since January.

The first effort was an electronic newsletterundefined called Monday.morning@nacds.orgundefined distributed weekly to an estimated 10,000 retail and associate member executives with information about current government affairs, pharmacy, and industry developments, and links to current news releases and abstracts.

Our second initiative was establishment of the transaction-focused EDI capability through our Trade Gateway. And NACDS Democracy Direct, now serving government affairs and pharmacy operations personnel is the third initiative, providing chain employees opportunities to participate in grass-roots advocacy efforts in support of state and national industry objectives.

Internet Pharmacyundefined Additional Regulation Not Needed

Another area of increasing growth is the use of Internet-based pharmacy services. Today, about two-thirds of our 166 chain members have an Internet presence, and most provide pharmacy services ranging from refills to both new and refill prescriptions.

It's estimated that there are some 10,000 Internet sites today with some form of health focusundefined and it's a fact that there are a number of rouge Internet sites that offer prescription services and drugs. The abuse of the system by these rouge sites has led some to call for regulation of Internet pharmacies at the federal level. This is a step we do not support.

We have been working with the Administration, the FDA and the Congress in developing an appropriate approach to protecting consumers from illegal or rogue pharmacy operators on the Internet.

The United States has an existing oversight structure that is quite extensive and generally has proven effective. We believe that voluntary approaches, coupled with more aggressive enforcement of the regulatory mechanisms already in place and currently available to the FDA, individual state boards of pharmacy and state boards of medicine, if more fully utilized, are adequate to protect consumers without additional regulation.

In an effort to verify that Internet pharmacy operators are conforming with state practice regulations and license requirements, the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy announced a voluntary certification program for online pharmacies. Called VIPPs -- Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Site -- the NABP issues the equivalent of a "Good House Keeping Seal of Approval" with its VIPPs insignia so that consumers can identify legitimate online providers.

Pharmacists Shortage has No Boundaries

Another challenge affecting US pharmacy that may spill over to Canada is the current and growing shortage of pharmacists,

Recently, NACDS announced its projections for prescription sales and volume for the year 2000.

We expect that by year-end, total retail prescription drug sales will reach a record $143.5 billionundefined up 18% over 1999undefined and that we will have a 5.5 percent increase in the number of prescriptions dispensed in the retail pharmacy marketplace.

Chain community pharmacies will account for over 63 percent of these sales and will exceed $90.8 billion, up 17.8 percent from $77.1 billion in sales in 1999.

Additionally, sales of over-the-counter medications in community pharmacies are expected to reach $33.2 billion in 2000, an increase of 3.8 percent over last year, and OTC sales in chain pharmacies this year are expected to exceed $31.5 billion, or 95 percent of OTC retail sales in stores with pharmacies.

We also announced a projected 3.15 billion prescriptions by year-end, and that chain pharmacies are expected to dispense 2 billion. Looking to the future, NACDS projects that continuing growth in prescription volume will lead to approximately four billion prescriptions being dispensed in 2004 by retail pharmacies.

It's clear that in the US, the chain pharmacy industry is very vibrant and continues to fill a key role in our healthcare system as an easily accessible source of high quality healthcare services and products.

Coupled with the continuing growth in prescriptionsundefined from 3 billion this year to 4 billion by 2004, we will experience only a 4% increase in available pharmacists supply.

Within the US chain pharmacy industry, we currently have over 7,000 vacancies. And independent as well as hospital practice settings also are experiencing shortages.

On numerous fronts NACDS is working with chain members and others to help expand existing pharmacy schools and class enrollmentsundefined as well as helping in efforts to open new pharmacy schools.

Just last week I participated in the dedication ceremonies for our country's 82nd pharmacy schoolundefined at the University of Massachusetts. This school is significant in that its curriculum has a major emphasis on the community pharmacy practice setting.

Much of what NACDS is doing in the area of pharmacy education and the pharmacist shortage is though the new Institute for the Advancement of Community Pharmacy.

IACP Provides Mechanism to Advance Community Pharmacy

Through an initial funding grant of $27.5 million from Knoll Pharmaceuticals, NACDS and our partners in independent pharmacyundefined the National Community Pharmacists Associationundefined as directors of the Instituteundefined are funding educational initiatives, research projects, and programs to enhance the community pharmacy practice in the U.S.

This year, in its first cycle IACP has awarded 76 grants with multi-year funding totaling $6.76 million. Programs receiving funding include:

Before closing, there's one more subject that I'd like to address that affects chain pharmacy both in the United States and Canada.

Earlier, I mentioned our research that identified the public's high degree of trust in the pharmacist's ability to safely and accurately dispense medications.

As front-line healthcare providers, 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.

Correcting Perception with the Realities of Patient Safety

There is a growing misperception that with rapidly increased prescription volume leading to increased pharmacists' workload that there must be an increase in dispensing errors due to heavier workload. Existing data do not support this view.

Nevertheless we are facing a perception problemundefined and one important political role is that, perception all too often becomes reality in the minds of today's fast-paced consumer life-styleundefined coupled with media desire for the sensational.

It is apparent that in addressing this perception of growing dispensing errors that we must find a way to move beyond blameundefined to work constructivelyundefined and to take a leadership positionundefined in improving patient safety.

In the US, the National Patient Safety Foundation has done a tremendous service to our country by putting this issue on the national agenda. It may not always be comfortableundefined and it goes way beyond being politically correct. This is truly a public health issueundefined as well as an issue of public trust and confidence.

We must be in a position to learn from mistakesundefined not hiding them. We have to develop and share best practices. Many of you have developed tremendous quality assurance programs in your companies are to be commended for them. We need to look system-wide at patient safety risks.

This involves us all. Manufacturers shouldn't think their responsibility ends when they put a biologically "safe" product on a truck leaving their facilityundefined packaged like every other one of their products and bearing a brand name that the marketing department loves, but which looks like two other product names when side-by-side on the pharmacy shelf.

No matter where you may situndefined you must seriously say to yourself, "patient safety begins with me." It may sound triteundefined it may sound cuteundefined but what is more important?undefined what can be more rewarding?undefined what better symbolizes a profession that serves as protector, expert and confidantundefined then doing all we can to improve patient safety.

NACDS is actively developing concepts and program proposals that could serve as the nucleus of an industry initiative that that will enhance patient safety and reinforce public trust in the pharmacist's dispensing accuracy.

We intend to present our proposal to the NACDS Board of Directors in December. Most of all, we need to provide leadership to an industry-wide effort to improve patient safetyundefined and we intend to do just that. And I guarantee you, there will be an opportunity for everyone to get involved.

We welcome the opportunity to work with CACDS to share mutual knowledge about systematic ways to enhance processes to ensure patient safety - indeed I am very appreciative of the time I've spent with Monika and CACDS members because I've learned from every meeting.

Thank you for the opportunity to share viewpoints with you today. ( September 25, 2000)