Emmanuel N. Enwere, PharmD, MS, CPHIMS ([email protected]) is the senior pharmacy informatics manager at The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) Health, a four-campus academic health system with over 1000-beds and around 95 clinic sites spread throughout Gulf Coast region of Southeast Texas. The main campus in Galveston, Texas is a Level 1 Trauma Center, Comprehensive Stroke Center and a Level 4 NICU. Emmanuel graduated from The University of Texas College of Pharmacy in 2012 with his PharmD degree. He completed a combined Master of Science degree in Health-System Pharmacy Administration and pharmacy practice residency with an emphasis in pharmacy informatics at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in 2014.
Emmanuel is very passionate about designing systems that help healthcare providers make better clinical decisions to achieve improved patient outcomes. He is the current chair of the Clinical Decision Support and Analytics (CDSA) Advisory Group within the ASHP Section of Pharmacy Informatics & Technology (SOPIT). Prior to serving as the chair of CDSA, he has served as the vice chair and work group lead. He has been an active SOPIT member since 2015 and is very excited about the continued growth in pharmacy informatics and the endless opportunities to support safe and effective patient care through technology. Emmanuel is a Certified Professional in Healthcare Information and Management Systems and holds several Epic Systems certifications that support pharmacy and clinical decision support. He has given presentations both locally and nationally with peer-reviewed publications related to pharmacy informatics.
Can you imagine what healthcare is going to look like five or ten years from now? All I know is innovation will always shine as we leverage technology to continue closing the loop. We have a long list of innovative technology in pharmacy that has supported Closed-Loop Medication Management Systems (CLMMS) such as integrated electronic health records, automated dispensing cabinets and integrated smart pumps to name a few. Most importantly, the CLMMS is designed to feed outcomes from the medication-use process back into the system to promote continuous improvement that will positively impact patient care.
I believe we are just scratching the surface when it comes to fully leveraging technology in all areas of healthcare. As we think about new technologies like artificial intelligence and virtual reality impacting the profession of pharmacy, we can choose to imagine the benefits while focusing on closing the loop as we have done in the past to achieve safer and more effective patient care. I foresee tremendous growth in the area of pharmacy informatics as it relates to academia, hospital and community pharmacy settings with all the new technology in the horizon.
I am honored to be nominated as chair for this section, and I look forward to the opportunity to collaborate and serve you! If elected as chair, I will give it my all to foster innovation amongst all our members to help us leverage technology in new ways while setting standards that guide the amazing work each of us do.