I am NCPA

EDUCATION: Kaley earned her PharmD from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in the class of 2017.

PHARMACY: Kaley co-owns 11 independent pharmacies in Arkansas with her husband Brandon and other business partners. Her home pharmacy, Achor Family Pharmacy, is in Maumelle and employs 25 pharmacists, technicians, student pharmacists, cashiers, and delivery drivers. She currently serves as director of clinical services and chief people officer along with working part-time as a pharmacist in workflow, managing the store’s gift section and social media, and supporting its long-term care division.

EXPANDED SERVICES: “Because my passion is to serve patients in ways complementary to dispensing medications, I have continued to add to our services,” Kaley says. From the beginning, Achor Family Pharmacy has offered free same-day delivery, immunizations, medication synchronization, disease state management, and travel vaccine consultations.

“When Arkansas law allowed us to test and treat in 2021, we began point-of-care testing and protocol prescribing for flu, strep, and COVID,” she said. The pharmacy’s clinical services have further expanded to offer oral contraceptive prescribing, nicotine cessation education, diabetes education, and an LTC division serving assisted living facilities and homebound patients.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION: “Achor Family Pharmacy is a pillar in Maumelle,” Kaley says. “Since opening, we have been intentional to be very involved in our city.” That connection includes calling bingo, providing education classes, and administering flu shots each year at a nearby senior center. The pharmacy team also administers on-site immunizations at local businesses and manufacturing facilities, supports schools and sports teams through sponsorships, and volunteers at local holiday festivities.

“We love our community and are honored to be able to serve them,” she says. “The response has been overwhelmingly positive as seen with not only our prescription volumes rising and business thriving, but from the support Brandon and I have personally received through our cancer journeys.” Both Kaley and her husband are now cancer free.

PATIENT CARE: “To me, an effective community pharmacist is one that takes time to get to know their patients and their fears and is able to talk with them in a way that makes them feel safe, understood and cared for completely,” Kaley says. She sees the role of community pharmacists continuing to grow.

“Pharmacists have long been the most accessible, trusted health care provider, especially in rural Arkansas,” she says. “I believe pharmacists will become more proactive in patient care, aiding in filling in primary care gaps in assessment and treatment, expanding our role beyond reactive encounters and dispensing medications.”

VALUE OF NCPA: Although the NCPA Innovation Center/CPESN® Community Pharmacy Fellowship program has shifted toward a medication synchronization focus, Kaley says her experience in the original program was rewarding.

“As a community residency trained pharmacist and owner, I found immense value in the program and resources it provided. This allowed me to hire a new graduate, walk alongside them in this program, and now aid them as they carry out new clinical services at Achor Family Pharmacy,” she says.

“The NCPA fellowship gave our new pharmacist the confidence she needed to initiate and implement new services, the tools to evaluate them, and the skills to problem solve in ways that are needed as new trends continue emerging in community pharmacy.”