National Association of Specialty Pharmacy Welcomes the Honorable Newt Gingrich as Keynote Speaker for its 6th Annual Meeting and Educational Conference

WASHINGTON, D.C.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The National Association of Specialty Pharmacy (NASP), a nonprofit organization representing all stakeholders in the specialty pharmacy industry, including the nation’s leading specialty pharmacies, pharmaceutical and biotechnology manufacturers, health plans and integrated delivery systems, today named the Honorable Newt Gingrich as the first of two keynote speakers for the NASP 6th Annual Meeting and Educational Conference, Sept. 24-26, 2018. Gingrich will address how to improve specialty pharmacy practice with public policies that ensure appropriate patient access to specialty medications and related care services.

NASP also opened conference registration today for its annual meeting, again taking place at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park in Washington, D.C. The event will feature the Third Annual Specialty Pharmacy Law Conference and Second Annual Specialty Pharmacy Certification Preparation Course, Sept. 24. Registration for all events can be found at naspmeeting.com. The first 50 registrants to the annual meeting will receive a signed copy of “Understanding Trump,” Newt Gingrich’s 2017 release that debuted at the top of the New York Times, Publisher’s Weekly and Wall Street Journal U.S. non-fiction best-seller lists.

“We are delighted to welcome Newt Gingrich as our keynote speaker. He is widely recognized for his commitment to a better system of health for all Americans—his leadership in the U.S. Congress helped save Medicare from bankruptcy, prompted FDA reform to help the seriously ill and initiated a new focus on research, prevention, and wellness,” said Mike Agostino, NASP president “The specialty pharmacy community looks forward to assimilating his perspective as we seek to transform the delivery of healthcare, drive increased patient engagement and push for enhanced clinical outcomes.”

Newt Gingrich is well-known as the architect of the “Contract with America” that led the Republican Party to victory in 1994 by capturing the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time in forty years. Today Newt Gingrich is a Fox News contributor. He is a Senior Advisor at Dentons, the world’s largest law firm with more than 6,500 lawyers in 50 countries and offices in more than 125 cities. He advises the firm’s world-class Public Policy and Regulation practice. He is also a Senior Scientist at Gallup.

“Our mission is to improve specialty pharmacy practice by promoting continuing professional education and certification of specialty pharmacists while advocating for public policies that ensure appropriate patient access to specialty medications and related care services,” said Sheila Arquette, Executive Director “The NASP Annual Meeting is an opportunity to bring the specialty pharmacy community together to extend clinical and practical pharmacy knowledge.”

NASP 6th Annual Meeting and Educational Conference

The NASP annual meeting hosts over 1,000 specialty pharmacy professionals such as senior executives, pharmacy directors, staff pharmacists, consultants, and other management-level personnel from specialty pharmacy providers, infusion pharmacies, pharma/biotech manufacturers, institutional pharmacies, managed care organizations, data management and analytic organizations, GPOs, distributors, and suppliers to the industry.

The annual meeting also provides pharmacist continuing education credit through its NASP University educational platform. NASP University was developed by and is managed through a partnership with ProCE, a nationally recognized provider of continuing education for health professionals. NASP University is guided by an advisory board composed of individuals nominated by member companies of NASP.

NASP Offers Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credits

NASP will also be hosting its third annual Specialty Pharmacy Law Conference the day before the annual meeting begins. This unique, one-day conference was designed by Rebecca Shanahan, JD, CEO of Avella Specialty Pharmacy and past NASP president, and is intended for general counsel and in-house counsel for national and regional specialty pharmacies, practicing attorneys in health care law, compliance officers or executives concerned with the legal and regulatory requirements and the extraordinary complexities of operating a specialty pharmacy. Last year’s event drew more than 250 practicing lawyers who attended presentations on current legal issues in specialty pharmacy, developments and challenges in outsourcing facilities, fraud, waste and abuse, and privacy laws. Attendees can receive Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credits.

NASP Provides Specialty Pharmacy Certification Exam Preparation Course

Further demonstrating its commitment to education, and after receiving overwhelming positive response from last year’s course, NASP is once again hosting a one-day preparation course for pharmacists studying for the examination administered by the Specialty Pharmacy Certification Board for Certified Specialty Pharmacist certification. The course will cover aspects of clinical, fulfillment, intake and outcomes that might be expected on the exam. Expert faculty will address the fundamentals and considerations for the patient intake process, as well as fulfillment workflows, quality assurance and dispensing channels. They will also review outcomes measures and standards, clinical modules persistence and adherence, specialty drug classes, indications, interactions, and more.

NASP Exhibit and Sponsorship Opportunities Available

Michael J. Hennessy Associates, Inc. (MJHA), a full-service healthcare communications company, will again serve as the exclusive corporate management company for the NASP Annual Meeting and Educational Conference. Working closely with the NASP planning committee, MJH Associates’ leading business units, MJH Live Events, Specialty Pharmacy Times^® and MJH Healthcare Communications^®, are managing all aspects of the sixth annual meeting, including implementing and executing sponsorship sales, marketing, hotel and logistics management, faculty recruitment, onsite management of the meeting and attendee recruitment. For registration information, exhibit or sponsorship opportunities, please visit naspmeeting.com.

For more information on the Annual Meeting, please visit naspmeeting.com.

About National Association of Specialty Pharmacy (NASP)

NASP is a 501(c)(6) non-profit trade organization and is the only national association representing all stakeholders in the specialty pharmacy industry. The mission of NASP is to elevate the practice of specialty pharmacy by developing and promoting continuing professional education and certification of specialty pharmacists while advocating for public policies that ensure patients have appropriate access to specialty medications in tandem with critical services. NASP members include the nation’s leading independent specialty pharmacies, pharmaceutical and biotechnology manufacturers, group purchasing organizations, patient advocacy groups, integrated delivery systems and health plans, technology and data management vendors, wholesalers/distributors and practicing pharmacists. With over 100 corporate and 1,200 individual members NASP is the unified voice of specialty pharmacy in the United States. For additional information, visit NASPnet.org.