Chair Message March 2017

March 2017

Dear Colleagues,

In the last Chair’s message compliance and regulatory demands on pharmacy leaders was a central theme. I received several comments from members and their challenges in this area, which helps validate that our Section is working on the right things.

Thanks for the feedback! It helped make decisions immediately on two items that were in the planning stages. The first is the webinar described below on TJC and the second is we will include a 3-hour workshop on establishing a comprehensive compliance and regulatory oversight program at this year’s Conference for Pharmacy Leaders (mark your calendars for October 16th-18th!)

Our Section has been working on a few other key issues that you are likely facing as well.

Controlled Substance Management & Opioid Epidemic: There is no shortage of headline news about diversions and the focus on addressing this continues with The Joint Commission (TJC) Pain Assessment and Management Standards. Section members and ASHP provided comments to TJC on their new proposed standards. You can view the proposed standards in case you haven’t seen already, though comment period is closed.

Additionally, ASHP is providing a series of webinars on improving controlled substances management with a number of Section members providing their insights and expertise. These are a great opportunity to stay on top of this issue and learn from colleagues.

Revenue Cycle Management and Cost of Care: Financial management and responsibility is a growing responsibility for us and continues to become more complex. Site of care determinations, prior authorizations, building charge structures across large organizations, and the negative impact of issues like DIRs are just a few of these dynamic issues. The Section will be providing a webinar in May on Health Care Reimbursement and Revenue Cycle Management and at the Conference for Pharmacy Leaders there will be a workshop on this topic. We also have members developing a manuscript on best practices for improving revenue cycle management. So more to come as we focus on supporting members with this critical component of pharmacy enterprise!

There is also of course the continuing challenge of rising drug prices. It is great to see ASHP’s continuing focus on this issue as described in CEO Paul Abramowitz’s recent message to members.

The Joint Commission: As part of the section’s focus on compliance and regulatory I have worked with ASHP and the Section to provide a webinar on perspectives of my organization’s recent TJC visit. The new scoring metric from TJC, comments on the new Antibiotic Stewardship Standards and changes in the survey process will be covered. Leading the webinar is The University of Kansas Health System Assistant Director of Pharmacy Informatics and Medication Safety; Korby Lathrop, Pharm.D., M.S. Hope you can join us as the Section is working hard to provide members with timely information to help us all do our jobs. The webinar is titled Member Perspectives from a Recent Joint Commission Survey (Tuesday, March 28, 2017, 1:00-2:00 PM ET)

The Section’s Executive Committee has also approved a work group on sterile compounding and compliance with these regulations. This group has been formed to gather information and create a road map for the Section as we evaluate resources for members.

Additionally, the long standing Managers Bootcamp (offered as a pre-meeting course at the Conference for Pharmacy Leaders) will continue, and we are evaluating the creation of an ‘Advanced’ level of Bootcamp for experienced leaders to help support the mission of our Section and the needs of our members.

As pharmacy leaders, we always have new and ever more complex challenges. I hope you will find value in the work of our Section as we navigate current and future opportunities.

Best regards,

Rick