Andrew Kaplan

His Story

Dr. Kaplan received his Doctor of Pharmacy degree in 2011 from St. John's University in New York. He completed a PGY1 Pharmacy Residency at Stony Brook University Hospital in Stony Brook, New York and a PGY2 Health-System Pharmacy Administration Residency at the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin. Dr. Kaplan and his wife, Dr. Karen Berger, currently live in Boca Raton, Florida.

Dr. Kaplan currently works at Bethesda Hospital East.    As Pharmacy Operations Manager, Dr. Kaplan is responsible for overseeing and supporting inpatient and outpatient pharmacy services. Dr. Kaplan was previously the Associate Director of Pharmacy at Mount Sinai West, in New York City, where he oversaw the roughly 60 FTE of the Department, including the operational and clinical services. Prior, he was Pharmacy Supervisor at St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center in Smithtown, New York. Dr. Kaplan has served as a preceptor to students and residents, mostly for Administrative rotations.

Facility

Founded in 1959, Bethesda Hospital East is a 401-bed facility offering comprehensive cardiovascular services, general, vascular and endovascular surgery, maternity and neonatal intensive care, orthopedics, and comprehensive cancer care.

U.S. News and World Report recognized Bethesda Hospital in 2020-2021 as a high-performing hospital in heart failure, hip replacement and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The hospital also holds numerous accreditations and certifications for medical excellence in such areas as stroke care, diagnostic imaging, hip and knee replacement and rehabilitation.

Bethesda Hospital East is part of Baptist Health South Florida, the largest healthcare organization in the region, with 11 hospitals, nearly 23,000 employees, more than 4,000 physicians and over 100 outpatient centers, urgent care facilities and physician practices spanning across Miami-Dade, Monroe, Broward and Palm Beach counties. A not-for-profit organization supported by philanthropy and committed to its faith-based charitable mission of medical excellence, Baptist Health has been recognized by Fortune as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in America and by Ethisphere as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies.

Recent Significant Projects

During his short tenure at Bethesda Hospital East, Dr. Kaplan led an effort with Infusion, Perioperative, and Case Management services to streamline patient financial assessments for chemotherapy and non-chemotherapy infusions, making it easier to schedule patients for their treatments. He also led a process change with Environmental Services to streamline the chemotherapy waste process, allowing pharmacy personnel to focus on clinical and distributive functions. Finally, he has worked closely with pharmacy technicians on automated dispensing cabinet optimization, decreasing the stock out rate by roughly 70%.

Involvement in ASHP

I recently joined the Section of Pharmacy Practice Leaders (SPPL) Section Advisor Group (SAG) on Value, Quality and Compliance. It is my first time participating in a SAG, and it is inspiring to be meeting and collaborating with superstars all across the country.

Why did you become involved in ASHP? 

I chiefly got involved for advocacy - ASHP both serves as a voice for health-system pharmacists, as well as a tremendous resource for advocacy efforts on the state level. When I was Vice President of Public Policy in New York State, our advocacy efforts were consistently supported by ASHP - through letters, resources, data - and it helped us achieve pharmacy technician registration and expansion of pharmacy immunization services. We developed a Grassroots Advocacy model, supporting members to setup legislative visits and gain co-sponsors, that ASHP was nice enough to feature.

Advice for Someone New to Specialty Area 

Pharmacy Leadership...the two items I think about every day are: 1) How can I help our staff achieve their goals? and 2) How can I make them feel appreciated?

Nothing gives me more professional satisfaction than when a staff member says "thank you - this made my life easier" or "thank you for noticing".

How would you explain the value of ASHP to a friend or colleague?

I would say that being a part of ASHP means being part of an amazing pharmacy community. So many problems we face every day are similar throughout our profession, and ASHP helps develop a network to connect with the best and brightest who have solved that problem already! In addition, getting to know some really interesting and passionate people is very inspiring.

What is the value of ASHP for the profession?

ASHP serves as the voice for health-system pharmacy, to advocate for our best interests and to support advocacy efforts on the state and local level. In addition, ASHP creates an ability to connect with colleagues all throughout the country, creating a strong network.