Tag: Community Pharmacy
King Drug and Home Care expands in Owensboro with HME-exclusive location
April 20, 2026HME News Staff
OWENSBORO, Ky. – King Drug and Home Care has opened a second location in Owensboro, Ky., to better serve patients on the east side of the city, according to the Owensboro Times. “Coverage of the eastern part of Owensboro was needed for convenience to our customers,” said Bob Tarrants, director of HR and marketing, told the newspaper. “Proximity to Owensboro Regional Hospital allows for a much quicker response for those people needing oxygen or other medical equipment after...
NCPA debuts media studio, ramps up podcast
April 9, 2026HME News Staff
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) has announced the grand opening of its first-ever media studio at its headquarters in Alexandria, Va. “This studio will allow us to meet our members where they are; that's what NCPA is all about,” said NCPA CEO Douglas Hoey. “NCPA members consume media in a variety of ways, and the studio allows us to produce content specific to the varied interests of NCPA membership.” One big benefactor of...
In brief: CMS puts Elevance Health on notice, Trace names Mark Farmer president, Next Day Access marks triple-digit growth
March 3, 2026HME News Staff
WASHINGTON – The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will suspend Elevance Health’s ability to enroll people in its Medicare Advantage plans if the insurer doesn’t comply with risk adjustment data submission requirements.
In a Feb. 27 letter to Elevance, CMS said sanctions would begin March 31 for Elevance’s “pattern of knowing noncompliance.”
In its letter, CMS states: Since...
NCPA launches national ad campaign aimed at corporate pharmacies
March 2, 2026HME News Staff
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) today launched a nationwide ad campaign aimed at consumers looking for a better experience than the one they’re getting from big-box stores or mail-order outfits. The multi-million-dollar, multi-year campaign will air across national television over the next two weeks, including on CNN, Fox News, HGTV, TBS and TLC, and then move to local cable, streaming TV, social media and...
NCPA, USC launch pharmacy mapping tool
November 5, 2025HME News Staff
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) and the University of Southern California (USC) have unveiled an interactive, user-friendly pharmacy shortage area mapping tool available to the general public. The tool reveals that approximately one in eight U.S. neighborhoods — representing millions of Americans — persistently lack convenient access to pharmacy services. In rural areas and underserved urban communities, the problem is far more...
NCPA Foundation launches rural ownership program
October 22, 2025HME News Staff
NEW ORLEANS – The NCPA Foundation has launched the Rural Pharmacy Ownership Accelerator, a comprehensive 12-month virtual program designed to prepare future pharmacy owners to successfully open and operate pharmacies in rural America. The free, application-based program addresses the growing shortage of pharmacies in rural communities by reducing barriers to ownership and providing aspiring pharmacy owners with the knowledge, resources and professional connections needed to turn their vision...
NCPA releases 2025 overview of independent community pharmacy
October 21, 2025HME News Staff
NEW ORLEANS – The 2025 NCPA Digest, sponsored by Cardinal Health, was released this week as part of the National Community Pharmacists Association’s Annual Convention, being held Oct. 18-21 in New Orleans.
The NCPA Digest found that independent community pharmacies represent nearly 36% of all retail pharmacies in the United States. It continues to be true, the organization says, that no single pharmacy chain has more stores than all independents combined.
“Independent...
Indie pharmacy owners are wary of drug program
September 8, 2025HME News Staff
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Nearly 20% of independent pharmacists won’t stock drugs in the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program and another 67% might not participate, according to a new survey from the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA). “Independent pharmacists want this program to work, and they want to participate,” says NCPA CEO B. Douglas Hoey. “But the program must be implemented in a way that makes business sense or independent pharmacies won’t be...
Registration open for NCPA convention
June 10, 2025HME News Staff
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Registration is open for the National Community Pharmacists Association’s 2025 Annual Convention and Pre-Convention Growth and Profitability Programs. The convention is set for Oct. 18-21 in New Orleans and the pre-convention events for Oct. 16-17. “NCPA’s annual convention is where leaders in independent pharmacy go each year for the latest ways to build their businesses, to share what has worked for them, and to build or strengthen relationships with...
CHME: ‘We’re trying to be a little bit different’
April 25, 2025Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
FOSTER CITY, Calif. – California Home Medical Equipment’s dual role as a DME provider and now a pharmacy well positions the company to meet a new contract with Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program.
“We were supplying enteral nutrition and blood glucose testing supplies to patients and those things got switched over to a pharmacy benefit within Medi-Cal, so a lot of people were kind of lost on where to go for that that type of thing,” said Diane Tackaberry,...