NCPDP Showcases Innovation and Collaboration at 2025 Annual Conference

Keynote speakers, industry insights, new Board appointments, and the Champion Award highlight NCPDP's ongoing leadership in advancing healthcare interoperability.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., May 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- NCPDP announced today highlights from its 2025 Annual Technology & Business Conference, all in for CONNECTED CARE. The conference featured impactful keynote speakers, educational sessions, award recipients, and more. NCPDP also unveiled its new three-year strategic plan, designed to improve data exchange, strengthen collaboration & innovation across the healthcare ecosystem, and maintain focus on the continued excellence and sustainability of the organization.

"Now more than ever, connected care is critical to improving patient outcomes," said Lee Ann Stember, President & CEO of NCPDP. "Our focus is on driving interoperability, strengthening collaboration between pharmacists, providers, and patients, and empowering pharmacists to practice at the top of their license as valued members of the healthcare team."

The conference kicked off with a powerful keynote from Dr. Vin Gupta MD, former Chief Medical Officer of Amazon Pharmacy, "The Future of Healthcare: How Your Organization Will Be Impacted." Dr. Gupta outlined bold new ways providers, pharmacists, and patients can collaborate to transform healthcare. He delivered practical strategies for embracing innovation and driving change, setting an inspiring tone for the conference's theme.

In his session, he emphasized the importance of the NCPDP Universal Patient Identifier, now known as the Patient Experience Identifier (PEI), which improves patient matching and ensures accurate identification across disparate systems, a critical step toward safer, more connected care.

Other keynote speakers included Scott Biggs, Director of Supplier Services at IQVIA, who presented the highly anticipated IQVIA™ Market Trends Report, offering a comprehensive "industry year in review" and key forecasts for the U.S. market; and Allison Massari, who delivered a powerful and inspiring session, "You Are the Medicine," teaching resilience, leadership, and compassion in the face of change.

A featured panel on Artificial Intelligence explored the emerging role of AI in healthcare, with panelists discussing real-world applications, opportunities for improving care delivery and clinical decision-making, and the importance of responsible innovation and data governance

Other Conference Highlights:

Champion Award Recipient

NCPDP honored Denise McNerney of iBossWell with the 2025 NCPDP Champion Award for her outstanding service and unwavering commitment to the organization. For more than a decade, Denise has been a trusted strategic advisor, facilitating Board of Trustees planning sessions, enhancing organizational decision-making, and helping to shape NCPDP's long-term strategic direction. Her dedication, strategic leadership, and passion for advancing NCPDP's mission have significantly strengthened the organization's ability to improve healthcare through enhanced standards and collaboration and guided the development of the new 3-year strategic plan.

Board of Trustees

Mindy Smith, R.Ph., MHA., Senior Vice President, Professional Affairs, AnewHealth, was appointed Chair of the NCPDP Board of Trustees. Chris Mendez, Vice President Data Strategy and Operations at Mercalis, was appointed Vice Chair of the NCPDP Board of Trustees.

NCPDP 2025-2026 Board of Trustees' newly elected member is: Lawrence King, Director, Intelligent Prescribing, Surescripts. Mara Mitchel, Vice President, Pharmacy Programs, Oscar Health; Christian Tadrus, R.Ph., Pharm.D., NSC, Independent Pharmacist Provider and Lead Advisor, Tadrus Advisory Group, were also reelected for another term. Continuing their service on the Board are Morgan Bojorquez, Assistant Vice President, Pharmacy Clinical Integration, Humana, Inc.; Kim Boyd, Principal, Leavitt Partners, LLC; Jeff Deitch, CEO, InfoWerks; and Timothy (Tim) Fensky, R.Ph., Principal Consultant, Pharmacy Insights.

NCPDP's 2026 Annual Technology & Business Conference will be held May 4 -6, 2026, at the Westin Kierland Resort & Spa in Scottsdale, Arizona.

About NCPDP

The National Council for Prescription Drug Programs (NCPDP), established in 1977, is a nonprofit ANSI-accredited Standards Developer (ASD) with members across the healthcare industry. NCPDP develops standards and solutions to improve the exchange of information for medications, supplies, and services, including the SCRIPT Standard for ePrescribing and the Telecommunication Standard. Its data products include dataQ®, providing insights on over 80,000 pharmacies, and HCIdea®, a prescriber database with over 3.7 million records. NCPDP's RxReconn® offers real-time tracking of pharmacy-related legislative and regulatory activity at state and national levels. Named in federal legislation such as HIPAA and HITECH, NCPDP has been advancing healthcare interoperability for decades. Learn more at www.ncpdp.org.

SOURCE NCPDP