January 2019
Dear Colleagues,
Happy New Year! It was fun to see so many friends and colleagues last month in Anaheim. I always come back from the meeting feeling reinvigorated and ready to tackle new challenges. Our own team of SPPM volunteer leaders made many significant contributions at the MCM 2018 including: hosting 5 section advisory group networking sessions, a Australian director of pharmacy meet & greet, a joint networking session with the SACP on opioid stewardship and pain management, and multiple platform presentations. Sam Calabrese and I also hosted a session with our Section Advisory Group (SAG) HSPA resident appointees to further strengthen our strategy to integrate these future leaders within the Section. The Executive Committee also worked on our strategic plan… more to come with my March message!
One of my favorite events at the MCM is the Distinguished Service Award Celebration. This year we honored Cynthia (Cindy) Williams, B.S.Pharm., FASHP; Vice President/Chief Pharmacy Officer; Riverside Health System in Newport News, Virginia with the 2018 SPPM DSA award. Cindy has been a significant thought leader and a long time contributor to the Section. She has been a member and past Chair of multiple SAGs, organizer of section MCM events and presentations, a frequent presenter of webinars, and faculty for breakout sessions at the Conference for Pharmacy Leaders. I admire her dedication to mentoring and collaboration with all leaders in all settings across the profession. Our heartfelt congratulations go out to Cindy for this well-deserved recognition.
The Section continues to address important areas for our membership. Two areas I’d like to highlight are payer management and opioid stewardship with an update and resources created by our Section members.
Payer management continues to be top of mind for all of us. Recent news has impacted our members concerning PBMs and their decisions regarding reimbursement with our 340B covered entities. ASHP is investigating this matter and working with our stake holders to attempt to determine the nature and extent of these changes and the impact on the affected organizations. Please contact ASHP at sections@ashp.org if you have any questions and/or information to help ASHP learn more about how these recent activities are impacting your organization.
The SAG on Management of the Pharmacy Enterprise has also developed a great primer “Impact of Site of Care Trends: An Introduction and Strategy to Identify the Issues “. This primer include 13 tips in four domains to assist pharmacy leaders in assessing your current circumstances including (1) revenue cycle team engagement, (2) patient/clinic complaints regarding coordination of care and lack of transparency, (3) volume reduction and/or shifts, and (4) payor relations. Additionally, the Conference for Pharmacy Leaders had a great presentation on “Empowering Pharmacy Leaders to Improve PBM Relationships” describing the different PBM models and how they impacted health systems.
The opioid epidemic also continues to challenge our health systems and the communities we serve. ASHP and Section members are engaged in multiple stakeholder activities as we continue to develop and implement programs to address this national concern. This past MCM there were multiple education sessions providing insights into solutions and in the upcoming February 1st AJHP there will be an "Executive summary of the meeting of the 2018 ASHP Commission on Goals: Focus on Opioids".
There are also NEW case studies in the ASHP Opioid Management Resource Center providing examples of ASHP members' great work! (Visit the resource center to see additional case studies)
Additionally, at the Conference for Pharmacy Leaders a faculty team from the Department of Veterans Affairs conducted a great workshop on “Pain Management Stewardship: Establishing a Multifaceted Organizational Plan”.
On behalf of the Executive Committee, we appreciate your continued support! And as always please let me know how we can continue to meet your needs and improve the work of the Section. (E-mail: sections@ashp.org)
Best,
Kristi Gullickson, PharmD, MBA, FASHP
Chair, Section of Pharmacy Practice Managers (2018-2019)