Coronavirus Information

Coronavirus Information

NCPA is monitoring information and guidance provided by CDC and other government agencies, and advocating on behalf of independent community pharmacies on the front lines. For background the most up-to-date information, please visit the CDC Coronavirus (COVID-19) website. If you have questions about COVID-19, email covid@ncpa.org

COVID-19 Testing  |  COVID-19 Vaccines  
COVID-19 Therapeutics

Report COVID-19 Vaccine & Therapeutics Billing Issues Here

Share your Oral Antiviral Medication Stories Here

Recent Updates

Booster Update

Updated COVID-19 Vaccine Billing Guidance

Pharmacist-prescribed paxlovid resources

Check out these PAAS National® COVID-19 resources:

  • COVID-19 Vaccine Resource & Billing Chart
  • COVID-19 Vaccine Self Attestation
  • COVID-19 PBM Concessions
  • COVID-19 Audit Considerations

NCPA Oral Antiviral Medication Participation - To help us make your case for adequate reimbursement with the government, NCPA needs your stories of how you are ensuring safe and effective use of the new oral antiviral medications. From patient screening to catching prescribing concerns, if you have these medications, you’re doing these things. Report your involvement with the COVID oral antiviral treatments and any changes in your status with these products over the coming months. You can access the tool here.

OSHA Health Care Emergency Temporary Standard


2020 COVID-19 Report

Documentary: Vaccination from the Misinformation Virus

National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response
Pharmacists as Front-Line Responders for Covid-19 Patient Care

White House: Path Out of the Pandemic | Here's what pharmacists need to know

 

Best practices collected from CPESN pharmacies.

Best Practices

Webinars about various COVID-19 topics.

Webinars

Learn more about how community pharmacists can care for their patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pharmacy Practice

Information for combating COVID-19 in long-term care and skilled nursing facilities.

Long-Term Care

Information for employers about safety and operations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Employers and Owners

Read letters and comments to the administration and Congress about issues concerning community pharmacy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Advocacy

Be prepared to answer questions from your patients and give them guidance during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Information for Patients

Photos showing best practices during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Photo Gallery: Combating COVID-19

Webinars

  • Covid Chaos! - Jan 26, 2022

    Vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, oral antivirals, tests, OTC tests, Free Masks!! Hear from NCPA staff on the latest developments, how to participate, how to bill, resources available to you, etc. We will do our best to answer your questions.

    Recording | Slides

  • The Covid-19 HR Questions (and Answers) Every Pharmacy Owner is Facing
  • Pediatric COVID-19 Vaccinations in Community Pharmacy

    Immunizing ages 5-11 for COVID-19 is right around the corner! Are you ready? This video will cover the quick basics of administration from staff training to distractions to decorating for clinics. Our speaker, Maria Lopez, is a champion immunizer and pharmacy owner with lots of great practical information to share. For clinical information, and more details, check out our webinar, Expanding on COVID-19 Immunizations: The Pediatric Population. Bringing this age group to your pharmacy (or bringing yourself to them in a clinic) is a great business opportunity- don’t miss out!

    Recording | Slides

  • Getting Ready for COVID-19 Boosters: An Expert Panel

    This webinar features a panel of pharmacists and pharmacy owners whose businesses have boomed with immunization. These speakers have been active in vaccination clinics, using scheduling tools to simplify workflow, and work with clinics in LTC facilities. They’ll share what has gone well so far and how they plan to manage boosters. You’ll get tips and tricks to formulate your booster plan through this moderated Q&A.

    Recording

  • COVID-19 Therapeutics: Monoclonal Antibodies
  • Troubleshooting COVID-19 Vaccine Billing Issues

    Lisa Schwartz, NCPA Sr. Director of Professional Affairs, walks step-by-step through some commonly experienced COVID-19 vaccine billing issues and how to troubleshoot them. Topics included tips and tricks for billing Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial plans as well as a guide to billing the HRSA Uninsured Program. For more information, review the NCPA COVID-19 Vaccine Billing and Reimbursement guide.

    Recording | Slides

  • Sharing Your Value Beyond a Vaccine

    New patients will be turning to your pharmacy for a COVID-19 vaccine over the past few months. For many patients, this may be their first experience with your pharmacy. Now that you have a captive audience, are you utilizing every opportunity to showcase your pharmacy’s value? How do you convert a one-time vaccine consultation into a long-term relationship with a patient? Do your vaccine patients know about your vitamin selection or packaging services? Get intentional on messaging your value whether it’s on the phone, in your drive-thru, at a clinic, or online. NCPA’s Bri Morris, Senior Director of Program Development, and Gabe Trahan, Senior Director of Store Operations and Marketing, will hand you simple ideas to quickly implement in your practice for building long-term growth and success.

    Recording | Slides | Resources

  • Need to Knows about the COVID-19 Relief Bill - December 23, 2020

    Scotty Sykes (Sykes & Co.) outlines important provisions from the COVID-19 relief package and what it means for your business.

    Recording

  • CE: An Update for Managing Personnel in the Time of COVID - December 17, 2020

    As COVID-19 continues to spread and risk of exposure continues to rise, how do you guide your staff and manage those who have been exposed?  What can you encourage (and require) from your staff regarding the COVID-19 vaccine?  What updates do you need to know regarding the CARES act and PPP loans as we near the end of the year? Attorneys Jeff Baird and Brad Howard of Brown & Fortunato will cover this and more as they provide an update on personnel management during COVID-19. 

    ACPE UAN: 0207-9999-20-216-L04-P | ACPE UAN: 0207-9999-20-216-L04-T | 1.5 contact hours (0.15 CEUs) | Activity Type: Knowledge-Based | Release date: December 17, 2020

    Recording | Handout

  • Medicare Part B Supplier Enrollment Call with CMS - December 15, 2020

     

    CMS hosted a call for members on Medicare Supplier Enrollment to bill for vaccines.

    Audio Recording | Transcript

  • Need-to-Knows for Administering COVID-19 Vaccines - December 10, 2020

    NCPA staff experts will review workflow tips, billing and operational considerations, discuss the anticipated timeline and allocation of vaccine from Operation Warp Speed, and share the latest regulatory and legislative movement regarding COVID-19. This non-CE webinar will leave you feeling confident with next steps and tips for ensuring successful workflow and administration of COVID-19 vaccines once they become available.

    Recording | Slides | Fact Sheet

  • CE: Creating Confidence in COVID-19 Vaccines - December 3, 2020

    This webinar will review the new SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in development and how you can gain confidence in recommending them to your patients once authorized by the FDA. The speaker will provide a brief history of vaccine development during past pandemics, discuss the development process for COVID-19 vaccines and address the differences between the vaccine candidates. You will also learn several tips for talking to patients about the potential new vaccines to overcome vaccine hesitancy.

    ACPE UAN: 0207-9999-20-215-H06-P | ACPE UAN: 0207-9999-20-215-H06-T | 1.0 contact hours (0.1 CEUs) | Activity Type: Knowledge-Based | Release date: December 3, 2020

  • COVID-19 Testing Pearls Webinar

    In this non-CE sharing session, hear from Deborah Bowers, owner of Yorkville Pharmacy in St York, SC and Roger Paganelli, owner of Mt. Carmel Pharmacy in Bronx, NY on their best tips for COVID-19 testing. Learn what has worked for them, what hasn’t, and share your own best practices in a virtual shoot the breeze environment. This program is presented by the NCPA Innovation Center and CPESN.

  • A Tale of COVID-19 Testing Success

    Anne Pace, owner of Kavanaugh Pharmacy in Little Rock, Arkansas, has administered over 1,000 COVID-19 rapid tests over the last few weeks. In a live question-and-answer webinar, she’ll discuss her perspective on getting started, the process and integration into her pharmacy workflow, marketing and much more. Pharmacists should be sure to check applicable state laws and regulations related to the content of this webinar

    Anne Pace, PharmD, Kavanaugh Pharmacy
    Hayley Harrington, PharmD Candidate 2021, Kavanaugh Pharmacy
    Kurt Proctor, Ph.D., RPh, Senior VP, Strategic Initiatives, NCPA

  • CARES Act Provider Relief Fund & HHS Stimulus – June 16, 2020

    In this 30 min video, accountant Scotty Sykes explains the Medicare Provider Relief Funds some pharmacies are seeing in their bank account. He dives into the acceptance and rejection of these funds, terms and conditions for use and what needs to be reported.

  • Medical Billing 101 – June 10, 2020

    COVID has brought new opportunities and has more pharmacies interested in services that can be billed and paid for outside the PBM, from the medical benefit. Learn the basics on medical billing and the very important do's and the don'ts from experts.

  • Catch up on COVID-19: Overview of SARS-CoV-2

    This video was made in collaboration with the Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists.

    In this video, you’ll learn everything you need to know about the novel coronavirus disease that you may not have had time to learn while busy keeping your patients safe and business running. This video covers the latest information about COVID-19 including what is known about the virus, how it spreads, and the symptoms it causes.

  • Catch up on COVID-19: SARS-CoV-2 Immunology and Laboratory Testing

    This video was made in collaboration with the Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists.

    This video will review what you need to know about the immunology of and testing for COVID-19. You’ll learn how to be successful and safe when implementing point-of-care testing at your pharmacy. You'll also get a refresher on terms like sensitivity, specificity and positive predictive value and why this is important to know for interpreting test results for your patients.

  • Paycheck Protection Program UPDATE TWO: Applying for Loan Forgiveness - June 4, 2020

    Ollin and Scotty Sykes of Sykes & Co. provide the latest updated information on changes made to the Paycheck Protection Program as of June 4, 2020 (pending President Trump's signature). Timeline extensions and a lowered ratio of how much of these loans must be document to be spent on payroll in order to qualify for loan forgiveness are key changes PPP loan recipients should know.

  • Paycheck Protection Program UPDATE: Applying for Loan Forgiveness - May 27, 2020

    The SBA and Treasury finally issued more information with the release of the PPP Forgiveness Application. Speakers Ollin and Scotty Sykes of Sykes & Co. highlight key areas and updates to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) including: the PPP Forgiveness process, Covered Periods, eligible expenses and Payroll Costs, full-time-equivalents and documentation among many others.

  • NCPA Long-Term Care Division Town Hall - May 15, 2020

    Featuring owners and operators of six different long-term care pharmacies to share their tips, best practices, and customer service opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • Personnel Issues for Pharmacies as they Re-Open the Front Door - May 15, 2020

    How do you need to handle staff issues that may arise as states begin loosening stay-at-home orders? Hear answers to the most commonly asked personnel questions about "re-opening" from attorneys, Jeff Baird and Brad Howard of Brown & Fortunato, PC.

  • Get set to test: Medicare Enrollment - May 5, 2020

    Enrollment in Medicare Part B is not only important for billing COVID-19 tests, but also future vaccines, other point of care tests and more. Now is the time to act – the application process is fast and free!

  • NCPA Front End Town Hall

The guidance provided by NCPA is subject to your local, state, and federal law.  As you are aware, laws, regulations, best practices, and guidance have changed often during this crisis.  To the extent changes occur, NCPA will endeavor to continue to update ncpa.org/coronavirus to reflect the most current guidance.  Nonetheless, the information provided by NCPA on ncpa.org/coronavirus is for informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice nor create an attorney-client relationship.  To the extent a member has additional concerns, NCPA recommends that the member seek additional legal counsel to obtain more specific guidance to any questions that may arise.