Amanda Martinez

Amanda’s Story

Dr. Martinez received her Pharm.D. degree from Mercer University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. Upon graduation, Dr. Martinez went on to complete her PGY1 residency with a focus in primary care at Bay Pines Veterans Affairs Healthcare System. After residency, Dr. Martinez became an emergency medicine clinical pharmacist at a Level 1 academic medical center. A year later, she transitioned into an Ambulatory Care Pharmacotherapy Specialist, collaborating with physicians for chronic disease state management. Dr. Martinez is a licensed consultant pharmacist and is also a board-certified ambulatory care pharmacist.

Dr. Martinez currently serves as a member of the Section Advisory Group on Compensation and Practice Sustainability.

Facility

Tampa General Hospital (TGH) is a 1018 bed, private, not for profit teaching institution with the only Level I Trauma Center in West Central Florida and one of four burn centers in the state. Tampa General Medical Group (TGMG) is a division of TGH, which includes physicians specializing in internal medicine, family practice, cardiology, digestive disorders, endocrinology, hepatology, nephrology, organ transplantation and surgery. Majority of the 14 TGMG family Care clinics are Level 3 National Committee on Quality Assurance (NCQA) patient-centered medical homes (PCMH). The family care centers serve all ages, from infants to geriatrics, and accept patients with all insurances.

Significant Projects

Dr. Martinez is currently revising a National Institute of Medicine R18 grant on medication safety during transitions of care, in which she serves as the principle investigator. This will be a comprehensive, pharmacist-led, interdisciplinary model that is expected to reduce medication related problems leading to adverse drug events and hospital readmissions. A pilot transitions of care project conducted by Dr. Martinez and a PGY1 pharmacy resident revealed a 40% reduction in readmissions in high risk patients. This model will expand on the pilot project and will serve as a model to be disseminated to other institutions.

Dr. Martinez is also currently involved in a multidisciplinary task force aimed at improving diabetes-related HEDIS measures in the TGMG patient population. This population health initiative, will be pharmacist-led and aimed at high risk patients (A1C >9%). Under a collaborative practice agreement, pharmacists will co-manage high risk patients’ diabetes and address diabetes-related HEDIS measures. Data will be collected monthly to show trends in improvement and be used to potentially scale pharmacist involvement in the TGMG Family Care clinics.

Assisted by a PGY1 resident, Dr. Martinez will be establishing and accrediting a pharmacist-led diabetes education service at the TGMG clinics. Feasibility, reimbursement, improvement in HEDIS measures, and patient satisfaction will be collected. The aim of the pilot is to scale the pharmacist-led diabetes education service to all TGMG Family Care clinics.

Advice for Someone New to Specialty Area

“The biggest advice that I would provide to a pharmacist new to ambulatory care is to first build rapport with your physicians and clinic staff. If you do not have their support, you will not be able to be successful in providing care for ambulatory patients. In addition, build rapport with patients to ensure that they will continue coming to your appointments and trust that you are capable of helping manage their chronic disease states.”

“Focus on what the clinic/facility administration cares about - such as HEDIS measures, patient satisfaction, etc. You will want to show improvement in measures that the clinic is reporting on to show the impact that pharmacists’ have in the ambulatory care setting.”

Involvement in ASHP

“I became involved in ASHP because I believe that this organization is instrumental in moving the pharmacy profession forward. ASHP advocates and supports pharmacists in many ways. I want to be more involved with ASHP because I believe that I possess leadership skills that will help with ASHP’s strategic plan. I have developed a successful ambulatory care clinic and I would like to share my experiences so that other pharmacists can also build successful clinics and eventually be a mandatory team member in patient-centered medical homes.”

ASHP’s Value to Members

“ASHP is an organization aimed at supporting the pharmacy profession and moving it forward. The organization is comprehensive in that it provides resources, education, advocacy, and connects pharmacists with one another. It is instrumental in expanding pharmacists’ clinical roles in healthcare.”

“As stated above, this is a large organization with the goal of improving healthcare by increasing patients’ access to pharmacists’ care.”