Kathryn R. Brown

Brown is the chief operating officer of an enterprise pharmacy. She received her bachelor's degree from Washington State University, graduating with honors and an international emphasis from the University of Copenhagen. Brown received her Master of Healthcare Administration (MHA) and PharmD from the University of Washington School of Public Health and Community Medicine. Additionally, she has earned executive business and leadership certificates from Harvard University and Boston University. Brown completed her postgraduate year 1 (PGY1) and postgraduate year 2 (PGY2) residencies at Group Health Cooperative (now Kaiser Permanente) in Seattle, Washington.

Facility:
Kaiser Permanente (KP) is the nation's leading not-for-profit, integrated health plan, making a difference in the lives of members, patients, and communities across the country. With 39 hospitals and more than 734 locations in eight states and the District of Columbia, KP serves more than 12.7 million members from coast to coast. The National Pharmacy Program at Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to improving the health of our 12.7 million members and the communities we serve by assuring safe and effective use of medications. With more than 100 million prescriptions dispensed, and more than 79 million inpatient and ambulatory care doses administered per year, our pharmacy professionals deliver high-quality care to our members through eight major service lines: inpatient, outpatient, home infusion, ambulatory, oncology, home delivery and specialty pharmacies. As part of care support, patients order more than half of all prescriptions via a digital app or online, and our member contact centers answer approximately 12 million calls/chats/secure emails per year in 14 locations to meet the needs of our members in accessing pharmacy care.

Recent Significant Projects:
My focus is on driving innovation, improving quality, and fostering an engaged workplace environment. Projects include pharmacy access, quality improvements, operational excellence, cybersecurity planning, and workforce development. Projects around pharmacy quality include initiatives to improve patient adherence to medications, supporting better health outcomes, programs to ensure smoother transitions of care, focusing on patients moving between healthcare settings and programs to ensure equitable medication use across diverse patient populations. In addition, ensuring that new therapies such as CAR-T and gene therapy are implemented according to the latest clinical practice and regulatory guidelines. Other projects include improving pharmacy access via a better pharmacy digital access program to streamline patient experience, ensuring faster turnaround for mail and retail prescriptions and enhancing communication with members through a dedicated call center and more streamlined and effective message management systems. Finally, our people are our most important asset and to that end, continuing to foster a culture of engagement and collaboration while addressing teams' needs is paramount. With shortages of key specialties and pharmacy technicians in many states, improving our relationships with schools and streamlining our ability to hire is a key tenet.

Advice for Someone New to Specialty Area:
As chief operating officer, I lead a team responsible for national and market operations. My advice for new leaders is to know your strengths and the strengths of your team and to prioritize listening to those closest to the work. Communicate clearly and often to encourage feedback and an environment where team members are comfortable sharing ideas. Finally, especially during these challenging times when so much is expected of all of us, prioritizing self-care and managing your energy is so very important.

Involvement with ASHP:
I am a member of ASHP, California Society of Health-System Pharmacists and Washington Society of Health-System Pharmacists. I am currently serving as an executive committee member for the inaugural committee of the Section of Digital and Telehealth Practitioners.

Reason for ASHP Involvement:
I first got involved with ASHP as a way to network with others in Pharmacy. The local, state and national meetings were invaluable and through those meetings, I was able to learn more about the profession, find mentors and professional support and get critical information/resources. I have made lifetime friends by being involved in ASHP.

Value of ASHP for Peers or Colleagues:
ASHP provides very important advocacy and influence efforts that shape healthcare policy and by working with lawmakers to inform polices that benefit the profession and our patients. In addition, ASHP provides so many resources that help to "raise all boats" in terms of ensuring that professionals have access to critical materials so that all practice sites can provide pharmacy care at a high level.