February 2024
Dear Colleagues,
Happy New Year! What an incredible volunteer year this has been thus far! There have been so many things already accomplished, with many more coming.
Machine learning and artificial intelligence have accelerated exponentially, leading to some discomfort and excitement all at the same time. What will the future of ambulatory care practice look like? Although it can be stressful and a little scary to think about the changes to come, there is much to be excited about. Learning about new tools that we can use as practitioners to advance our practices and pharmacist-delivered care will certainly continue to be a hot topic moving forward in 2024. As Dr. Eric Topol said, “The greatest opportunity offered by AI is not reducing errors or workloads, or even curing cancer: it is the opportunity to restore the precious and time-honored connection and trust —the human touch—between patients and doctors.” I’m eager to attend the upcoming ASHP Pharmacy Futures meeting in June 2024, where the first-ever AI Summit will commence.
It was wonderful to see so many of you in Anaheim at the ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting & Exhibition, where a great deal of fantastic ambulatory care-focused programming was delivered. And if you are like me, I left the opening general session inspired by the words of Viola Davis, awed by the 2023 winners of the Distinguished Service Award, and incredibly energized by the sneak preview of the national awareness campaign video! I hope many of you will consider sharing your story on the campaign website, so the world can get to know us ambulatory care pharmacists.
Section Advisory Groups have been hard at work and there are two upcoming webinars led by members of the Section. Implementing DEI: A Focus on Precepting, Hiring, and Provision of Patient Care will be presented on February 22nd at 2 pm EST while Not Just Your Average Ambulatory Care Webinar: How Your AmbCare Team Can Help You (and your patients!) will be presented on March 20th at 2 pm EST. Registration information for both webinars may be found by visiting the ASHP Live Webinars site. Thank you to everyone volunteering and leading our Section SAG’s—your passion and effort are helping take ambulatory care practice to the next level!
If you are interested in getting more involved within the Section, consider applying for a position on a Section Advisory Group. Applications are now open until May 1st. This presents a fantastic chance to deepen your involvement in both the Section and ASHP.
I’m thankful for the experience I’ve had on the Executive Committee this year, and want to thank you all for your insight, expertise, vision, servant leadership and passion toward the continued advancement of ambulatory care pharmacy practice. I’m confident we will continue to expand our patient care reach, sustainable clinical services, implementation and uptake of new clinical services, and efforts to “be the change”!
Sincerely,
Brody Maack, PharmD, BCACP, CTTS
Chair, Section of Ambulatory Care Practitioners
[email protected]
