A national pharmacy advocacy organization representing nearly 40,000 pharmacies engaged us to architect policy change and deliver analytics. When Covid-19 hit, we pivoted to federal and state reimbursement strategy for pharmacist-administered immunizations — supporting industry-wide practice change in collaboration with the White House and other government bodies.
- Timeline
- From early 2020, through the pandemic
- Scope
- National — federal and state policy and reimbursement
- Decision Type
- Strategic
- Technology
- Policy & regulatory analysisReimbursement strategy modelingCovid-19 initiative analytics
What problem existed
Advancing pro-pharmacy policy and reimbursement across a fragmented national landscape — and then, when the pandemic hit, urgently enabling pharmacist-administered immunizations through federal and state policy.
Why it was difficult
The organization represents traditional drug stores, supermarkets, and mass merchants — chains operating nearly 40,000 pharmacies, 80 member companies, and 155,000 pharmacists who fill over 3 billion prescriptions a year. Driving change at that scale demands both deep pharmacy expertise and rigorous analytics, and the pandemic compressed the timeline dramatically.
What had to be decided
Where to push for change first — and, when Covid-19 hit, which federal and state reimbursement pathway would let pharmacists deliver immunizations at national scale. Our analysis identified the highest-impact openings and made the case defensible enough to carry into negotiations with the White House and other government bodies.
What we made possible
We began with a thorough analysis of the pharmacy landscape and the regulatory environment, and worked closely with leadership to identify the highest-impact areas where policy change could improve outcomes for pharmacies and pharmacists nationwide. As Covid-19 unfolded, we pivoted quickly to support urgent needs — federal and state reimbursement analysis for pharmacist-administered immunizations and other pandemic initiatives.
What we built
The work was analytics- and policy-led rather than software-led — policy and regulatory analysis frameworks, reimbursement strategy models, and analytic support that translated a complex national landscape into specific, defensible recommendations for change.
The business result
We developed the economic analysis, reimbursement position, and strategic evidence supporting a coordinated federal and state policy effort — including a deployed reimbursement strategy for pharmacist immunizations. The broader effort, carried by the organization in collaboration with government bodies, produced industry-wide change across policy and reimbursement both before and during the pandemic.
What remained after the engagement
The reimbursement pathways and the expanded pharmacist role outlived the pandemic. The policy and reimbursement models built here continue to inform our work across the pharmacy economy.
Founder's Note
"NationalPolicyOrg is at the front-lines of policy change for pharmacy. I was honored to assist in many areas which ultimately drove industry-wide change across policy and reimbursement for pharmacies and pharmacists both before and during the Covid-19 pandemic."
— Dr. Barus, Founder & President
What we achieved
In healthcare, the decision that matters is often a policy and reimbursement decision. Pairing pharmacy domain expertise with analytics is what turns advocacy into practice change at national scale.
When the pandemic redefined the pharmacy's role overnight, the constraint was never the science of immunization — it was the policy and reimbursement that had to change to let pharmacists deliver it.
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