NCPDP positioned as third-party forum

Drug Store News, March 6, 1989 by Harold Cohen

NCPDP positioned as third-party forum

When thinking about all the problems facing retail pahrmacy today, what's the first one that pops into your head? There should be no hesitation. For hundreds of pharmacy executives, it's third-party prescription business.

Serious problems like encroaching mail order competition, physician dispensing, discriminatory pricing, diversion and the pharmacist shortage all take a back seat when it comes to third-party prescriptions. It's like a runaway train pulling retail pahrmacists on a seemingly endless track. It's out of control, and attempts to slow it dwon have thus far not worked. If anything, the third-party engine has picked up more steam.

But with all of its problems, the reality is: third-party has become a way of life for most retail pharmacists and if projections of 70 percent thid-party prescriptions by the end of the century hold true, few pharmacists, if any, will escape its entangling web.

Third-party is a unique problem because its effects are felt across the entire prescription distribution network. Nobody can really escape it. Retailers, wholesalers, and manufacturers are feeling third-party's disastrous consequences to profit margins while, under some third-party plans, consumers, are being robbed of their freedom of choice in choosing where to shop for their prescriptions. The only way to control third-party is through effective communication.

There is at least one organization that is doing exactly that. I've just returned from the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs' 12th annual conference held in Scottsdale, Ariz. Many of you have probably never heard of NCPDP (which is headquartered in Phoenix), but maybe it's about time you did.

I've been an NCPDP member for the past several years. I remember my first meeting consisted of about 50 members with the major activity being a luncheon that featured a guest speaker. This year's meeting lasted three days with more than 350 members (out of approximately 500) in attendace, a testimony to the importance of third-party prescription business in today's retail pharmacy marketplace.

This association initially entered the spotligth when it developed and patented the Universal Claim Form (UCF) currently being used by the majority of drug stores who still submit their third-party claims on paper.But with the rapid advancement of computer technology in the past five years, the association has now turned its attention to standardizing electronic transmission of third-party claim forms.

Under the able direction of its executive director, Lee Ann Celverly-Stember, the association has grown into much more than a committee to standardize claim forms. It has become a conduit for much needed third-party information.

Its membership includes distribution community. While the speakers are informative and sometimes entertaining, the real meat and potatoes of this meeting takes place during the breaks and social events when the exchange of third-party information is at a fevered pitch.

There are some old-timers in this organization who admitted to me that this is not the direction they wish for the group. For me, and others I spoke with at the meeting, I hope NCPDP continues to grow in the direciton of becoming a forum for exchange of third-party ideas and information. Because without organizations like NCPDP, third-party will continue its runaway course pulling retailers in no particular direction.