- Independent pharmacy
An independent pharmacy is a retail
pharmacy that is not directly affiliated with anychain pharmacy , such asCVS/pharmacy ,Walgreens orEckerd . An independent pharmacy is one which is not owned (or operated) by a publicly traded company. Independent pharmacies are pharmacist-owned, privately-held businesses in varying practice settings. They include single-store operations, pharmacist-owned multiple store locations, franchise, compounding, long term-care (LTC), specialty, and supermarket pharmacy operation. Independent pharmacy owners generally have high standards of customer service and strive to outperform chain pharmacy competitors.Independent Pharmacy in the United States
In 2007, there were 23,348 independent pharmacies in the U.S. [ [http://www.ncpanet.org/media/releases/prelim_digest_findings.php NCPA-Pfizer Digest Preliminary Data Shows Independent Community Pharmacies Have Been Hurt By Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plan] , www.ncpanet.org, Page accessed January 29, 2008] . Independent pharmacies dispensed 1.4 billion prescriptions annually accounting for 41% of the retail prescriptions. Average total sales are $3.6 million per location and Average prescription sales are $3.49 million per location. Over 30 percent of independent pharmacy owners have ownership in two or more pharmacies. [ [http://www.ncpanet.org/aboutncpa/ipt.php Independent Pharmacy Today] , www.ncpanet.org, Page accessed January 29, 2008] The average independent community pharmacy location dispensed 61,087 prescriptions(196 per day) in 2006, up slightly from 61,071 in 2005. [http://www.ncpanet.org/pdf/digest/2007digest_execsummary02.pdf 2007 NCPA-Pfizer Digest Executive Summary]
Organizations Representing Independent Pharmacies in the United States
[http://www.ncpanet.org National Community Pharmacists Association]References
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