February 2023
Dear Colleagues,
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season! Things are back in full swing this New Year, and I wanted to catch everyone up on what we have recently achieved as a Section, as well as share the exciting things coming up in the near future.
Something Special(ty) From Las Vegas
It was great to connect with many of you in person during the recent ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting & Exhibition in Las Vegas. Those in attendance were able to partake in a number of specialty pharmacy relevant sessions, including excellent content on seeking and maintaining specialty pharmacy accreditation that featured many members of our Section. We also enjoyed great conversations during our Specialty Pharmacy Roundtables, and our Executive Committee had the opportunity to discuss strategic initiatives and how to best continue to support the members, goals, and mission of our Section.
For me, one of the most memorable moments of the meeting was watching Autumn Zuckerman receive our Section’s 2nd Annual Distinguished Service Award. The first awardee from our Section was JoAnn Stubbings in 2021. Autumn’s ability to bring people together and inspire us all to be better was on full display during her acceptance speech. Be sure to keep an eye out for an upcoming ASHPOfficial Podcast where Autumn will share more about receiving the award and what involvement in ASHP has meant to her.
And The Survey Says…!?
As mentioned in my first Chair message, our Section has established a precedent for administering national surveys that capture the current state of health system specialty pharmacy practice. The initial Survey of HSSP Practice was performed in 2020. Many elements of this first survey have subsequently been divided into 2 distinct surveys, each of which focus on different components of specialty pharmacy practice (Clinical Services versus Practice Models, Operations, and Workforce).
The authors of the 2022 Survey of HSSP Practice: Clinical Services recently released a Podcast to outline their findings. An official manuscript is expected to be published via AJHP this Spring. Additionally, the 2022 Survey of HSSP Practice: Practice Models, Operations, and Workforce officially closed on November 7, 2022, and is expected to have data analysis completed this Spring. Preliminary results are planned to be shared during the ASHP Summer Meeting in June 2023 (Baltimore, MD). I hope that this ritual of regular survey administration helps all of our members in their strategic planning efforts, and thank you all for participating in the surveys.
What Else is New and Upcoming?
Our Section Advisory Groups (SAGs) and Educational Steering Committee (ESC) have been busy planning and creating a variety of content and resources. Special thanks to our Workforce Development SAG for again hosting our popular Demystifying HSSP – Opportunities for Students and New Practitioners webinar in December. Spring always bring a large number of deliverables from our SAGs, so keep a close eye out for various roundtables, surveys, webinars, and resources over the next few months!
In other exciting news, our Section Executive Committee recently voted to make a few updates to our current SAG names and charges. We made these changes to help reflect growing areas of focus, and further sharpen the goals of each group. During our strategic planning discussions, we recognized that we have lacked a clear “home” for topics and projects related to existing operations. We hope these items will find their new home within our updated “Operational and Workforce Development” Section Advisory Group next year. We will also be updating the charges of that section to further reflect our ongoing dedication to developing and advancing our technician workforce, as well as supporting diversity, inclusion, resilience, and career development.
The entire specialty pharmacy industry is preparing for the potential impact of the upcoming loss of exclusivity wave. With the launch of biosimilar adalimumab now upon us, be on the lookout for opportunities to learn and share to this topic, including an upcoming Clinical Roundtable in March being organized by our ESC. For more information on biosimliars, please also consult the ASHP Foundation Biosimliars Report.
Finally, planning for the ASHP Summer Meeting is well underway. We received a record number of submissions for the popular Specialty Pharmacy “Pearls” sessions, and we will again have a track dedicated to specialty pharmacy. I look forward to getting to connect with many of you in Baltimore, as well as the opportunity to represent our Section during the ASHP House of Delegates.
Involvement Opportunities
It is hard to believe, but dates for appointment (and reappointment) to the SAGS and ESC will be here soon. If you are looking to be more involved, or wish to continue your volunteer effort, applications are accepted annually from February through early May. If you are thinking about getting involved but would like more information, please reach out to me via email!
In closing, I greatly appreciate the time and effort that all of you contribute to our mission. Each of you play an important role in making our Section and community powerful, welcoming, and successful.
Cheers,
Scott L. Canfield, PharmD, CSP
Chair, Section of Specialty Pharmacy Practitioners (2022 – 2023)
[email protected]