As the August 15 deadline approaches for input on draft community pharmacy practice standards from the Center for Pharmacy Practice Accreditation, I’ve received e-mail messages from several pharmacy owners displeased by the idea of having more pharmacy accreditation standards on top of standards for compounding, durable medical equipment, and others.

As a pharmacy owner myself since 1978, I respect their positions and understand their consternation with meeting so many different standards. Wouldn’t it be nice if different accreditation processes were better coordinated and not in their own silos? That’s one of our major goals with community pharmacy practice accreditation.

Whether we like it or not, standards for community practice are coming. We’ve addressed concerns expressed in various open forums and lengthy conversations in a Frequently Asked Questions document on pharmacist.com.

In March of 2011, APhA’s House of Delegates saw a choice: Let others dictate what pharmacy’s standards should be or take control of our own destiny and set our own standards with the active involvement of pharmacists.

I hope every pharmacist will take a fresh look at the details of the draft standards on pharmacist.com and consider what should and should not occur in a high-quality pharmacy practice today. Domains in the draft voluntary standards address Practice Management, Patient Counseling, Patient Care Services, Technology, and Quality Improvement.

We can lead, follow, or get out of the way, but we can’t ignore that standards are coming.