HDA Blog

Last week, Allied Against Opioid Abuse (AAOA) partners, the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) and the PA Foundation, joined HDA at the Distribution Management Conference and Expo (DMC) for a discussion about how we are working together to educate and raise awareness about the rights, risks and responsibilities associated with prescription opioids.

The HDA Research Foundation recently announced the selection of four inaugural recipients for its graduate-level scholarship. Established in conjunction with HDA’s Convene, the scholarship, sponsored by Teva Pharmaceuticals, is available annually to individuals with at least two years of service working within HDA-member distributor and manufacturer companies.

Pharmaceutical distributors deliver millions of medicines and healthcare products to providers nationwide — rain, snow or shine. Every day, hundreds of thousands of patients across the country depend on the uninterrupted delivery of prescription medicines, and pharmaceutical distributors work around the clock to ensure these products get to where they need to be, safely and efficiently. As winter marches on, with snowstorms and sub-zero temperatures in parts of the country, HDA member companies rise to the challenge of making sure vital medicines reach the people who need them, no matter what it takes.

Pharmaceutical distributors have a long history of bringing the newest advancements and technologies to their warehouses. Back in 1947, the National Wholesale Druggists’ Association (an early iteration of HDA) tapped Ohio State University marketing experts to reimagine an entirely new type of layout for wholesaler warehouses, which included longer aisles, moving belts, “and roller skates for order pickers.” While the roller skates never caught on, healthcare distributors’ commitment to harnessing innovation to develop facilities that safely and securely get prescription medicines and medical products to the patients who need them has only grown.

With a new year in full swing, HDA President and CEO John M. Gray looked ahead to the organization’s 2019 priorities (along with other industry association executives) as part of the Chain Drug Review “Pharmacy Outlook” feature.