WASHINGTON — The National Association of Chain Drug Stores plans to hold its fourth annual NACDS RxImpact Day on Capitol Hill on March 21 and March 22.

The event will bring pharmacists, pharmacy leaders, students and other pharmacy advocates to meet with lawmakers to discuss the role and value of community pharmacy in improving health outcomes and reducing health care costs across the board.

“Just as community pharmacy highlights the value of the patient-pharmacist relationship, there is a high value placed on the interaction of pharmacy advocates engaging with lawmakers,” explained NACDS president and chief executive officer Steve Anderson. “The NACDS RxImpact Day on Capitol Hill is an important opportunity for community pharmacy advocates to engage with lawmakers on pro-patient, pro-pharmacy issues.”

During the two-day event pharmacy advocates will conduct hundreds of individual meetings with lawmakers and their staffs on behalf of community pharmacy.

Advocates will discuss a range of key pharmacy issues, including medication therapy management (MTM), fair and accurate pharmacy reimbursement in the Medicaid program, and matters that are related to pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs).

In addition, this year’s event will include presidential election year insights on the health care and pharmacy landscape. Mort Kondracke of the television program “The McLaughlin Group” and the Fox News Channel, who is also a Roll Call political columnist, is scheduled to address attendees during the welcome dinner on March 21.

Sen. Mark Pryor (D., Ark.) is slated to give the keynote speech at the breakfast briefing on March 22. Pryor is the sponsor of the bipartisan legislation S. 1058, the Pharmacy Competition and Consumer Choice Act of 2011, which aims to preserve pharmacy choice for patients and take further steps to prevent threats to pharmacy patient care.

“Community pharmacies are located in every congressional district across the country, providing important patient services that help improve health and reduce costs, including medication counseling, vaccinations and health screenings,” said Anderson. “We urge pharmacy advocates to engage on key issues that impact community pharmacy and patient care by participating in the NACDS RxImpact Day on Capitol Hill.”