ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Community pharmacy made its voice heard on Capitol Hill this week.

The National Community Pharmacists Association said Friday that it tallied hundreds of engagements with lawmakers at the NCPA Congressional Pharmacy Fly-In, held April 26 and 27.

Coming to Washington from 37 states, community pharmacists visited more than 250 congressional offices for meetings with members of Congress or staffers, NCPA reported. Many of the meetings attracted multiple pharmacists, translating into more than 600 interactions with members of Congress or their staff during the two-day event, the association noted.

“It’s been a great week for community pharmacy patients,” NCPA chief executive officer B. Douglas Hoey said in a statement. “Independent pharmacists have been their advocates for real solutions to the problems of medication access and affordability they face. And it’s clear that Congress is listening.”

High on NCPA’s agenda at the event was increasing prescription drug pricing transparency and fairness and tougher scrutiny of pharmacy benefit managers.

Advocates sought to hoist the number of congressional cosponsors for a range of legislation, including the Improving Transparency and Accuracy in Medicare Part D Drug Spending Act, (S. 413 / H.R. 1038), Ensuring Seniors Access to Local Pharmacies Act (H.R. 1939), Prescription Drug Price Transparency Act (H.R. 1316), and Pharmacy and Medically Underserved Areas Enhancement Act (S. 109 / H.R. 592).

NCPA also said its “The PBM Story: What They Say, What They Do, and What Can Be Done About It” resource, introduced at the Congressional Pharmacy Fly-In, was downloaded almost 1,000 times.

Hoey added that rising policymaker scrutiny of PBMs may be behind the circulation of material blasting community pharmacists’ policy recommendations in advance of the Fly-In.

“You know you’ve struck a nerve when big Fortune 100 companies decide that their best PR strategy is to attack the small-business owners who are on the front lines of providing patient care,” Hoey stated. “The PBMs’ energies would be better spent mending their business model so that patients, pharmacies and plan sponsors are treated fairly.”