Empowering Community Oncology to Thrive Through Advocacy and Action
Situation
Nevada’s Board of Pharmacy (BOP) regulations required oncology physicians to independently maintain and manage their own oral medication inventories instead of allowing physicians within a group practice to share inventory, a prohibitive restriction for community oncology practices like Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada (CCCN), a practice within The Network.
The Network’s approach
The Government Relations and Public Policy team in The Network, which combines years of Capitol Hill and State Legislature experience with a diverse healthcare policy background, worked for over five years to reverse this rule. This included contacting the Governor and key legislative stakeholders and a strategic action plan to approach the BOP. The BOP hosted two workshops to address our request to change the policy and we worked with CCCN to provide physician, patient and caregiver testimony, as well as continued education for BOP members.
Results
In June 2022, the regulation change passed unanimously. This achievement is a perfect example of persistence and determination, and it demonstrates the importance of practice engagement, collaborative strategic planning and ongoing advocacy.
