Week 4:
National Association of Chain Drug Stores

July 15, 2013

Another great week here in Washington, D.C. I did several things last week, including writing scripts that our speakers will use at the NACDS Total Store Expo (our national conference) and doing research for several departments. I believe that my Cornell education has taught me to multitask efficiently and at a high level. Though we only have “One Course at a Time”, we have to balance numerous assignments, class times, and our lives outside of the classroom. We do all of this in 18 days! As you can tell from my previous blogs, I am very proud of my Cornell education and take great pride in representing Cornell during this Fellowship.

My department has asked me to write the scripts for the speakers to use at our national conference. This is very exciting to me! The speakers that we have are some of the best in their field, and they have contributed substantially to the healthcare field. They will be reading something that I wrote to a crowd of CEO’s and other business executives. Hopefully I will be fortunate enough to attend the conference and hear the speeches myself!

I also researched various things throughout the week. I looked at the states with the highest rates of diabetes and myocardial infarction, and then attempted to see how much each these chronic diseases cost Medicare and Medicaid. In an effort to decrease these rates, individuals have to adhere to their medicines. NACDS, along with other pharmacies such as CVS, Thrifty White, and Rite Aid, have been designing programs to increase medication adherence and keep their patients healthy. If we can keep individuals out of the hospital, then we can decrease our overall healthcare spending. I believe that medication non-adherence accounts for $250 billion in unnecessary healthcare spending, such as numerous hospital visits, wasted medication, and absenteeism in the office. All of this spending can be completely avoided if we can find creative, helpful ways to increase medication adherence. I have listened to a couple of conference calls and webinars explaining the obstacles associated with medication adherence, and how pharmacies are overcoming them. I think all of their programs are fascinating and will make a huge impact.

NACDS also released an RFP (Request for Proposals) on Thursday, which I helped work on. I did some proofreading and brainstorming on the project, and was able to see its progression from a rough draft to a polished product. We are offering 2 grants at $600,000 a piece for creative transitions of care ideas that target patients with a history of continued hospital readmission and that also involve pharmacies. I found the email addresses of the individuals who we want to submit a proposal, and there are some amazing individuals who have produced very innovative ideas. I am excited to see the proposals that we receive!

Finally, I was able to sit in on a meeting for another research project that NACDS is doing within the next few weeks. Unfortunately, I am not able to talk about it too much, but it was really cool to be involved in this project, especially after taking Sociology Research Methods. I definitely have a new found respect for all of the work it takes to create a successful research project.

I am happy that NACDS has allowed me to participate in such a wide variety of activities! By doing this, I am able to see what parts I really enjoy working on.