Edward M. Saito

Edward’s Story

Dr. Saito earned his Pharm.D. from Creighton University (Omaha, NE) in 2012, then completed a PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Residency at Moses Cone Hospital (Greensboro, NC) in 2013 and a PGY2 Ambulatory Care Residency at Kaiser Permanente Colorado (Denver, CO) in 2014. He is currently Assistant Professor and co-faculty at Pacific University School of Pharmacy and Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center where he precepts students and residents. He is currently serving as Junior Board Member-at-large and an inaugural leader of the Ambulatory Care Section of the Oregon Society of Health-System Pharmacists, the ASHP state-affiliate organization. Dr. Saito is a member of the SACP Section Advisory Group on Clinical Practice Advancement. He is also involved with the ASHP mentoring program.

Facility

Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center (VGMHC) is a federally-qualified health center serving over 42,000 patients in 5 clinics throughout Oregon’s Washington & Yamhill counties and is currently recognized as a Tier 4 patient-centered primary care medical home. Clinical pharmacy services at VGMHC is comprised of 10 clinical pharmacists who are imbedded within each clinic and collaboratively manage patients referred for Type 1 & 2 diabetes, hypertension, CV risk reduction, depression, asthma/COPD, tobacco cessation, and latent TB via system-wide CDTM agreements. Additionally, clinical pharmacists at VGMHC are reimbursed for performing comprehensive medication reviews and providing ongoing management for high-risk/high-utilizer patients identified by a local Medicaid insurance provider. Additionally, Pacific University and VGMHC collaboratively train two PGY1 community pharmacy residents and two PGY2 ambulatory care residents with a focus in academia. Dr. Saito serves as a primary longitudinal preceptor for both residency programs.

Significant Projects

Dr. Saito represented VGMHC on a regional workgroup tasked with creating a community prescribing standard for chronic opioids. As part of this effort, he worked closely with the medical directors at VGMHC to provide training to providers and clinic staff regarding these updated standards of care. Additionally, he currently serves as one of the pharmacy preceptors for a collaborative, interagency transition of care service sponsored by a HRSA PCTE grant. As part of this service, he precepts PGY1 community pharmacy residents who round daily on VGMHC patients admitted to a local community hospital in order to coordinate better care transitions back into the primary care setting. He is also working in clinic to pilot joint tobacco cessation visits with behavioral health providers and joint asthma/COPD visits with an RN performing spirometry. Finally, he is leading an effort at VGMHC to explore the feasibility of implementing antimicrobial stewardship, chronic care management (CCM) and Medicare annual wellness visits (AWV) led by clinical pharmacists within an FQHC setting.

Advice for Someone New to Specialty Area

"Don't be afraid to ask for help! It is likely that someone else has already tackled your problem and is eager to share their experience with you. Additionally, don't be afraid to share about the exciting work you are doing! It is likely that someone else is equally excited to hear about it or learn from you."

Becoming Involved in ASHP

"I first became involved with ASHP as a student because I recognized the important impact that this organization has on pharmacy practice and policy. ASHP is a great advocate for advancing clinical pharmacy practice around the country, and I want to be part of making our shared vision a reality. I am also closely involved in residency training, and ASHP has been a tremendous sponsor for expanding residency training opportunities and preceptor development."

Value of ASHP

"ASHP represents the interests of clinical pharmacists starting from pharmacy school and residency training through the attainment of additional credentials and certifications. The efforts of ASHP continually encourage and support pharmacist practitioners to strive for more in service to our communities and patients."

"ASHP is the voice advocating for an expanded role for pharmacist providers around the country. Through the efforts and resources of ASHP, we are able to rally around a unified vision for the future of pharmacy practice."