
While vaccine research and approvals continue to break new ground, use and faith in them are faltering.

Troy Trygstad, PharmD, PhD, MBA, is the executive director of CPESN USA, a clinically integrated network of more than 3500 participating pharmacies. He received his PharmD and MBA degrees from Drake University and a PhD in pharmaceutical outcomes and policy from the University of North Carolina. He has recently served on the board of directors for the Pharmacy Quality Alliance and the American Pharmacists Association Foundation. He also proudly practiced in community pharmacies across the state of North Carolina for 17 years.

While vaccine research and approvals continue to break new ground, use and faith in them are faltering.

The speed and scale of what’s coming with AI can only be imagined now, but without a doubt, our lives will change.

Pharmacists’ awareness of respiratory syncytial virus and their role in educating about the vaccine have grown dramatically.

First the encyclopedias, then the internet, then social media. Now artificial intelligence points us toward preserving relationships with patients.

With worsening news from accounting, where does community pharmacy go from here?

Erectile dysfunction medications started the shift, then coinsurance, deductibles, and the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated it.

The pharmacy supply chain and reimbursement marketplace are broken, manufacturers are throwing up their hands and getting into the vertical integration scrum

The Medicare Modernization Act of 2023 provided pharmacy benefits to tens of millions of older and disabled Americans and created an unsustainable reimbursement model

Pharmacogenomics education, counseling, and monitoring create an opportunity to right yesterday’s policy wrongs

For decades, pharmacy schools, residents, and fellows have been training to work alongside physicians, but that has not prepared us for what is coming.

Thought-provoking economic, ethical conundrums accompany recent explosion in growth of glucagon-like peptide-1 products for medically assisted weight loss

Just a few short years ago there was a pharmacist glut; is there really a shortage now, or is a deeper labor market contortion occurring?

Pharmacy leaders and academics have been begging the profession to evolve for decades. It took a pandemic to make it happen.

Now we must turn our focus to all recommended vaccinations.

COVID-19 vaccination opportunities will likely be present for years to come.

Uncertainty and preparedness make strange bedfellows.

COVID-19 permanently changed how pharmacists recommend and sell nonprescription options.

Opioid overdoses are killing nearly as many of our neighbors and patients as COVID-19 and in much younger populations.

Pharmacy support staff members are stepping up and playing an outsize role in the pandemic response.

Pharmacists must be ready to roll up their sleeves and administer the COVID-19 vaccine to millions of Americans.

The COVID-19 pandemic has shed light on the need to further expand the accessible, trusted care provided by community pharmacies.

Cultural norms are some of the most powerful forces in nature, and I did not think we had it in us as Americans to wear masks.

Americans are frustrated by high drug prices, even though 80% of the money spent on prescription drugs goes toward just 10% of prescription fills.

Policy makers and public health officials should not discount the importance of relationships in vaccination game plans.

Humana and Pharmacy Quality Solutions’ incentive program could be a turning point for community pharmacy.

Community pharmacies should remain vigilant to ensure access at fair cost and reimbursement in this marketplace.

COVID-19 will change how pharmacists recommend, sell, and use nonprescription options.

No matter how it all shakes out, pharmacists now have a level of responsibility they never had before.

Pharmacists have the opportunity during the COVID-19 outbreak to show who we really are.

Whatever the practice setting, the pharmacist’s day-to-day responsibilities and activities are changing.

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