LAS VEGAS – Tom Sutherland, registered pharmacist of Peninsula Pharmacies, Inc. in Long Beach, recently attended the Community Aging, Assisted Living and Long-Term Care Certificate Program. This program is designed to help community pharmacists expand the patient services they offer to meet the unique needs of seniors and individuals with chronic illnesses or debilitating conditions.

Held at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, Nev., this two-day comprehensive educational program was conducted by the National Community Pharmacists Association and is accredited by the National Institute for Pharmacist Care Outcomes (NIPCO), an accreditation council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) provider.

Among the topics addressed in the Community Aging, Assisted Living and Long Term Care Certificate Program were: market growth potential, creating an appropriate business plan, ABC’s of assisted living and long term care operations, contracting and pricing guidelines, automation and technology, clinical protocols to control patient and facility drug costs and improve health outcomes, Medication Therapy Management (MTM), Medicare Modernization Act (MMA) updates, how to market patient care services to assisted living and long term care facilities and patients, collaborative care partnerships and their impact on business, new NCPA Community Aging, Assisted Living and Long Term Care Network.

Acknowledged as the patients’ most accessible health care professional, community pharmacists facilitate positive outcomes by regularly counseling and by maintaining ongoing communications with patients – especially those with chronic conditions.

Founded in 1995 by NCPA, the National Institute for Pharmacist Care Outcomes is dedicated to optimal patient health through pharmacist-directed disease management and wellness programs. The Institute, through its research, educational programs and leadership in the pharmacist care movement, helps the nation’s community pharmacists provide cutting edge patient care.

All NIPCO-accredited programs focus on disease prevention and management including monitoring, evaluating, counseling, intervening and directing medication-related therapies to enhance patient care and improve health outcomes.

The National Community Pharmacists Association represents the nation’s community pharmacists, including the owners of nearly 24,000 pharmacies. The nation’s independent pharmacies, independent pharmacy franchises and independent chains represent a $98 billion marketplace, dispensing nearly half of the nation’s three billion retail prescription medicines.