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From the Desk of the CEO

Empowering Pharmacy Voices, Inspiring Change

Discover insights, stories, and expertise from pharmacists shaping the future of healthcare. Explore thought-provoking discussions, industry trends, and personal experiences that define the pharmacy profession.

Today's Pharmacist

Today's Pharmacist

APhA Member News

Veronica Vernon, PharmD, BCPS, BCACP, NCMP

A minute with…

Veronica Vernon, PharmD, BCPS, BCACP, NCMP

Assistant professor of pharmacy practice, Butler University, Indianapolis
Clinical pharmacy specialist, Veteran Health Indiana, Indianapolis

Member since 2006

Becoming an APhA member as a student opened my eyes to the myriad of opportunities in pharmacy. As an APhA–ASP member, I not only gained invaluable leadership experience, but I also learned how to interact with patients. I had the opportunity to directly impact patients early in my pharmacy school journey and realize my passion for ambulatory care practice and academia. I learned to think outside the box and expand my horizons through my APhA experiences. I have also met many incredible student pharmacists and pharmacists through APhA that have become more than colleagues; they are mentors and friends. APhA is my ‘home’ within pharmacy.”

How has APhA helped you establish meaningful connections?

I have made so many wonderful connections through APhA. I continue to stay in contact with members across the country whom I met as a student pharmacist at Midyear Regional Meetings and APhA Annual Meetings. My time on both the APhA–ASP National Executive Committee and New Practitioner Advisory Committee brought me some of my closest friends and mentors. Attending the APhA Annual Meeting & Exposition is one of the highlights of my year, as I look forward to catching up with so many wonderful friends and colleagues. I leave each year feeling refreshed and invigorated. 

How does APhA help you thrive in your everyday practice?

APhA provides valuable educational offerings, updates in practice, and networking opportunities. The APhA Engage platform has allowed me to connect with members across the country and seek advice on practice issues. APhA supports my passion for advocacy and provides wonderful resources to use when speaking with legislators. I appreciate how APhA not only focuses on clinical topics, but also on more personal subjects, such as burnout and financial planning.

What excites you about the profession of pharmacy?

The profession is constantly evolving. It is an exciting time to be a pharmacist, as there are efforts across the country to advance the role of pharmacists, student pharmacists, and technicians as part of the health care team. I am doing more in my practice site than I thought imaginable when I graduated pharmacy school, and I still see innumerable opportunities for expansion. This is a time to be creative, push the envelope, and step outside of our comfort zones in order to work together to move the profession to the next level.

Can you share a meaningful story about a time you interacted with a patient?

At my practice site, I assist in managing menopause symptoms for female veterans. One patient recently told me that her life has changed since meeting with me to control her hot flushes. She went from having over 20 hot flushes per day to less than one. She feels she has received the best gynecological care since coming to the VA, and she acknowledged that I played a large role in this. She was excited to see firsthand how the VA was becoming a leader in providing women’s health care.


Members in motion

Chapman University honors Mary Ngo with Distinguished Alumni Award

Mary Ngo, PharmDEach year, Chapman honors alumni who have proven themselves to be exceptional in their accomplishments and leaders in business, organizations, and communities. This year more than ever, the Distinguished Alumni honorees reflect the university’s mission of encouraging the education of global citizens.

Mary Ngo, PharmD, is a clinical staff pharmacist at South Coast Mission Hospital and an adjunct professor of pharmacy at Chapman University School of Pharmacy in Orange, CA. She was a member of the inaugural Freshman Early Assurance Program for Chapman’s School of Pharmacy that began in 2014 and attended Chapman for both undergraduate and pharmacy graduate programs. She works as a pharmacist serving patients in South Orange County, including some in mental rehabilitation facilities that treat patients for substance use and psychiatric disorders. Her goal is to become a certified psychiatric pharmacist as she has a passion to break mental health stigmas in Asian American culture. She is an advocate of mental well-being for health professionals and has created the “Carecast” podcast, which provides opportunities for advocates and professionals to share words of empowerment and advice to promote self-care.


Did you know?

A piggy bank.

APhA provides member-exclusive financial education resources and discounts on all Your Financial Pharmacist services

APhA understands that as a pharmacist, one of the biggest challenges you face is managing your finances. That’s why we’ve partnered with Your Financial Pharmacist (YFP) to deliver personalized financial education benefits exclusively for APhA members. As an APhA member, you also receive 30% off all Your Financial Pharmacist products and services.

YFP Planning believes a wealthy life is about much more than a six-figure income and a hefty bank account. The first step toward the freedom you’re after is to get your financial house in order. YFP Planning’s fee-only financial planning team is here to help you do just that. Whether you want to pay off your student loans, make the right investment decisions, or simply build a solid financial plan, YFP Planning will help you get your income working for you, rather than the other way around. In addition to comprehensive financial planning, YFP Planning also offers student loan consults and tax planning services.

Learn more at www.yourfinancialpharmacist.com/apha-members.


Get involved in APhA

Pharmacist administering a vaccination to a patient.

Immunizing Pharmacists SIG

The APhA Academy of Pharmacy Practice & Management (APhA-APPM) Immunizing Pharmacists Special Interest Group (SIG) provides an opportunity for leadership development and involvement of immunizing pharmacists in the Academy’s policy, advocacy, and awards processes. In turn, the Immunizing Pharmacists SIG unites a collaborative network of pharmacists and student pharmacists who share an interest in the area of immunizations.

Members of the SIG participate in activities to increase awareness of immunizations, advocate for patients, and advocate for pharmacists providing immunizations. They also compile and develop resources for pharmacists to promote the roles of pharmacists, student pharmacists, and pharmacy technicians as immunization resources and providers at the state level.

Interested in getting involved in the Immunizing Pharmacists SIG? Learn more at www.pharmacist.com/immunizing-pharmacists-sig.


Pinnacle Awards honors recipients for innovations in the medication use process

Pinnacle Awards crystal eagle trophy.

The APhA Foundation’s Pinnacle Awards ceremony had a new location this year: cyberspace.

The Pinnacle Awards, now in their 23rd year, celebrate significant contributions to the medication use process: increasing patient adherence, reducing adverse drug events, promoting the use of national treatment guidelines, improving patient outcomes, and enhancing communication among members of the health care team. Recipients in three categories receive a crystal eagle statuette.

The 2020 honorees were David Nau, RPh, PhD, FAPhA; OhioHealth; and Ohio Northern University (ONU) HealthWise. APhA President Michael Hogue, PharmD, FAPhA, FNAP, delivered opening remarks. APhA Foundation President Steve Simenson, BPharm, FAPhA, DPNAP, served as lead presenter and emcee for the ceremony.

David Nau

Nau, professor of social and administrative pharmacy at ONU Raabe College of Pharmacy, was presented with the Individual Award for Career Achievement. Nau works to promote the adoption of numerous pharmacy quality measures, which has increased attention to pharmacists’ medication adherence efforts. He has been involved with the Pharmacy Quality Alliance and was founding president of Pharmacy Quality Solutions.

His passion for pharmacy started early, when his 80-year-old, legally blind grandmother—who also had diabetes and early dementia—moved into his family home. Physicians and nurses spent little time educating her about how to use her insulin. “As a 12-year-old, I knew something wasn’t right about the way her providers handled her situation,” Nau said. “That experience ignited the fire that has burned inside of me for my entire career.”

OhioHealth

The Group Practice, Health System, or Health Care Corporation Award, which recognizes significant quality improvement projects, went to OhioHealth. Charles McCluskey, PharmD, MBA, BCPS, accepted the award on behalf of the not-for-profit health system.

OhioHealth Population Pharmacy Services launched its population health program in 2015 with just one staffer. “Over the course of the next 5 years, Pharmacy Services has stayed focused on and committed to three key principles: Keep the patient at the center of our delivery care model; all efforts and initiatives must generate value for our community; and lastly, we are focused on building an integrated care model leveraging the expertise of each clinician,” McCluskey said. Along with pharmacists, the team includes physicians and care management. They serve more than 250,000 patients across Ohio.

Deborah Nagg, PharmD, CDCES, clinical and operations coordinator at OhioHealth Population Pharmacy Services, described a patient with an A1C of 16 and whose legs were splitting due to fluid overload. The patient also had other conditions, including COPD, congestive heart failure, chronic kidney disease, and diabetes. Cleaning up the patient’s med list was a top priority for Population Pharmacy Services. “After we did this, we were able to provide a holistic approach to their diabetes and wrap ourselves around the patient to give them the best care that they could have,” Nagg said. The patient’s A1C decreased to 5.7 within a year.

ONU HealthWise

This year’s Pinnacle Award for Voluntary Health Agencies, Nonprofit Organizations, Associations, Government Agencies, and Public–Private Partnerships was presented to ONU HealthWise. The award recognizes an organization that assists patients and their caregivers to achieve better medication outcomes.

ONU HealthWise is a pharmacist-led, interdisciplinary practice. Michael Rush, PharmD, BCACP, CDE, NCTTP, clinical assistant professor and director of ONU HealthWise, said the practice started in 2010 with a campus wellness program aimed at providing ONU employees and beneficiaries with “knowledge about their health and health risks, which empowers them to make better choices to maintain wellness and prevent disease.” The program offers one-on-one health coaching, individual health risk assessments, annual lab screenings and analysis, preventive medication strategies, and medication and disease state management, among other services.

In 2019, the wellness program had an 82% employee participation rate and scored better than the national average on 12 out of 13 detected conditions, 10 out of 12 self-reported conditions, and 8 out of 10 clinical measures. As a result, ONU’s 5-year costs of treatment for avoidable, chronic disease is about half of the national average. HealthWise also has a rural mobile health clinic, a community pharmacy, a telehealth call-in center, and a drug information center to deliver educational outreach and health care services to support the community’s health and wellness. 

OhioHealth’s Population Pharmacy Services senior director Amy Beatty, PharmD, MBA, BCPS, delivered the Pinnacle Awards Innovations in Pharmacy Practice Lecture, Pharmacy: The Perpetual Health Care Innovator, at the end of the ceremony. A lively Q&A followed. Watch the entire ceremony, including Beatty’s lecture, at http://apha.us/Pinnacles.

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[EasyDNNnewsLocalizedText:Posted]: Oct 7, 2020,
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