Katherine Miller

Her Story
Dr. Miller graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, School of Pharmacy in 2008 and moved to Portland, Oregon to complete her PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Residency at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU). While there, she was encouraged to pursue pharmacy administration and completed a PGY2 Health System Pharmacy Administration Residency at OHSU as well. Following her training, Dr. Miller took a position as an Operations Manager at United Hospital, part of Allina Health, in St. Paul, MN. At that time she also enrolled in the ASHP Foundation’s Pharmacy Leadership Academy (PLA) which led to completion of her Master of Health Administration through Simmons College. In 2014, Dr. Miller moved to Chicago, IL to be a Pharmacy Manager – Adult Operations at the University of Chicago Medicine (UCM). At UCM she also held positions as Assistant Director, Pharmacy Systems (Compliance, Education, Informatics, Quality, and Safety) and Assistant Director, Pharmacy Operations. Dr. Miller is now Pharmacy Director – System Inpatient Clinical Services and the PGY-1 Pharmacy Residency Program Director at The University of Kansas Health System.

Dr. Miller currently serves on the Section of Pharmacy Practice Managers Advisory Group on Innovation Management as Vice Chair as well as a member on the Council on Pharmacy Management. She has also served on the Section of Pharmacy Practice Managers Advisory Group on Manager Development and on the New Practitioners Forum Leadership and Career Development Advisory Group. Dr. Miller has also served on various ASHP state affiliates, including President of the Minnesota Society of Health System Pharmacists (MSHP)-Central Affiliate, and Secretary of the Illinois Council of Health System Pharmacists (ICHP). She is currently the Director of Government Affairs for the Kansas Council of Health-System Pharmacists (KCHP).

Overview of Facility/Health System
The University of Kansas Health System has a flagship 780-bed academic, surgical, teaching, and general medicine hospital which is nationally ranked in 11 specialties by U.S. News and World Report and is both NCI and Magnet designated. The University of Kansas Health System also provides patient care through pharmacist involvement in ambulatory clinics, 7 outpatient cancer care locations, 4 outpatient retail pharmacy sites including specialty pharmacy services, an ambulatory surgical center, a rehab facility, and psychiatric services. The pharmacy department is comprised of over 300 Pharmacy FTEs, including 21 pharmacy residents (PGY-1 and PGY-2).

Significant Projects
At The University of Kansas Health System, Dr. Miller is leading initiatives to standardize and enhance the Antimicrobial Stewardship Program and transition the P&T Committee to support the health system structure. Additionally, she is leading the implementation of clinical services at the new 124-bed tower being built on campus (opening October 2017) and supporting the expansion of the ambulatory surgical center as well as ADC and EHR implementation at offsite locations.

While at United Hospital, Dr. Miller was highly involved in Epic (EHR) optimization, assisting with development of the Clinical Scoring Tool, and implementation of the Compounding and Repackaging Activity. She also implemented a “Lead Technican” role at United Hospital and supported work to double the intern program to provide medication list collection in the Emergency Department. Dr. Miller was the pharmacy lead for BCMA implementation at United Hospital. At UCM, Dr. Miller continued work on BCMA optimization as the Clinical Champion for Pharmacy and supported three smart pump implementations in a year. Additionally, she helped create and implement a PGY1/2 Health System Pharmacy Administration Residency, serving as the Residency Program Coordinator.

Advice for Someone New to Your Specialty Area
“I would highly recommend finding a mentor – someone who you trust to provide candid feedback and guidance along your career path. While it is helpful having a mentor that you work with, this isn’t required. Someone who knows your strengths and weaknesses is invaluable! I also recommend doing a lot of listening and journaling (or note-taking). Listen to key phrases you hear successful leaders use frequently, jot them down, and start using them! You can also take notes on statements or interactions you witness that you feel could use improvement and learn from those. Finally, don’t be afraid to ask for help from those you work with and those you trust. Start building your personal board of directors – those who support you and want to ensure success throughout your career.”

Initial Involvement in ASHP
“I had always been involved in organizations throughout pharmacy school and this felt like the next step as I graduated. It has provided a great network for troubleshooting the day-to-day challenges we run into in pharmacy, and serves as a place for sharing ideas, successes, and lessons learned around projects that we are all working on, so we don’t have to continually re-create the wheel. I’ve also gained new insight on the value of local organizations and the importance of bringing the big topics discussed at ASHP back locally to share with those not in attendance. I recently attended my first Policy Week and it was such an exciting experience to be working with great leaders from across the country to develop the direction of pharmacy through ASHP policies.”

Value of ASHP
“ASHP is an invaluable network for sharing ideas and helping the profession move forward. You very quickly discover that we’re not in this alone, and there are so many people we can learn from and with, as we continue to grow both personally, and as a profession. We owe it to ourselves, our profession and the future of pharmacy to be involved with professional organizations to continue to push our practice forward.”

“ASHP serves as a place to combine the interests and practice advancement goals of pharmacists within health systems. Working together across the nation and across practice sites we can share best practices, learn about safety initiatives, and ensure that we are continually enhancing our cohesive pharmacy practice to best serve patients.”