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Chair Message March 2021

March 2021

It is amazing how fast time is moving these days!  Before we know it, we will all have warmer weather and hopefully we can start putting COVID-19 in our rear view mirrors. I recognize it has been a stressful past several months for both you and your teams.  Many of you have spent the better part of the past year managing day-to-day operations, leading teams through uncertainty and navigating the drastically changing environment of managing a COVID-19 pandemic while pushing forward and advancing pharmacy practice. I hope all of you can take some time in the coming months to step away and recharge! We all need it!

Within the section, our many tremendous volunteers have been working hard to keep many important initiatives moving forward! It has been quite incredible all of the effort and time members have been committing to important issues to support our needs as pharmacy leaders! For this Chair’s message, I would like to highlight a few of these activities.

White Bagging of Medications:
Unfortunately, we are all feeling the negative consequences and challenges to patient safety and care processes due to payer- mandated white bagging. We have had a group of section members working through the many issues and this month there are a number of actions in motion. The section, in collaboration with ASHP’s Pharmacy Executive Leadership Alliance Advisory Panel, held three virtual roundtables with system CPOs on developing an advocacy agenda. Later in March, ASHP will be conducting webinars with state affiliates and specialty pharmacy leaders. Additionally, ASHP sent a letter to the FDA requesting a meeting to discuss the negative impact white bagging has on patient safety and the intended improvements instituted by the DSCSA for our nation’s supply chain. The letter included 60+ member organizations and GPOs. Be on the lookout for more information and webinars on this important topic.

Business Recovery:
The Section of Pharmacy Practice Leaders have been working on developing resources for pharmacy leaders in the continued efforts to lead on two fronts of COVID care management and financial business recovery and reimagining.

High Value Pharmacy Enterprise:

ASHP and Vizient have been working together on this important publication. The summary outcomes have been published in AJHP accompanied with an excellent editorial and commentary of the urgency to keep focused on driving practice to a high value pharmacy enterprise.

HSPAL Residents and Programs:
The Executive Committee voted on establishing a new Section of Pharmacy Practice Leaders Advisory Group (SAG) for Health System Pharmacy Administration and Leadership (HSPAL) Residents. With the Section’s continued goal of engaging HSPAL residents and the HSPAL community of programs, this new advisory group will add to the opportunities for HSPAL residents to volunteer with the Section. It will provide additional opportunities to the current 20-22 HSPAL residents that volunteer each year on our advisory groups.

The charge for the NEW SAG on Health System Pharmacy Administration and Leadership (HSPAL) Residents includes:

  • Increase engagement within ASHP by providing a community for HSPAL residents as they transition into pharmacy practice.
  • Develop and promote contributions to the growth of the pharmacy profession through research and quality improvement.
  • Promote leadership and engagement opportunities for HSPAL residents within the Section and ASHP.
  • Support the coordination of Section resources, networking, and programs to improve engagement among HSPAL residents and programs.

Also, Congratulations to all the new HSPAL residents and all our new residents as they start the next step of their professional journey!

Section Advisory Group and Committee Appointments:

We have so many incredible members volunteering with the Section!  You have all seen the podcasts, webinars, programming, and resources developed by our peers and it is that time of year for appointments to the Section’s advisory groups and committees. For more information on this process, please see:

John W. Webb Lecture Award:

This award is coordinated between ASHP, the Section, and Northeastern University School of Pharmacy. Nominations are open for this prestigious award.  Congratulations again to Tom Woller as the 2020 recipient!

Thank you for your continued support of ASHP and the Section of Pharmacy Practice Leaders! 

As an Executive Committee along with our over 150 section volunteers, we will continue to work tirelessly to provide relevant and timely information designed to help you lead on the front lines.  Thank you for everything you and your teams are doing to fight back against this pandemic and elevate the role pharmacists and pharmacy extenders play in beating this pandemic.  We would love to hear what important issues you are facing, solutions you are implementing, and ideas you have related to issues you are facing in your practice. Please contact us any time via email ([email protected]).

Sincerely,

Philip Brummond, Pharm.D., M.S., FASHP
Chair, Section of Pharmacy Practice Leaders (2020-2021)
[email protected]

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