ASHP InterSections ASHP InterSections

April 30, 2019

ASHP Joins the National Academy of Medicine Action Collaborative on Countering the U.S. Opioid Epidemic as a Sponsoring Member

Filed under: Ambulatory Care,Clinical,From the CEO,Innovation,Managers,Quality,Residents,Specialties,Students — Tags: , , , , , , , , — jmilford @ 1:16 pm

Paul W. Abramowitz, Pharm.D., Sc.D. (Hon.), FASHP

I AM PLEASED TO SHARE WITH YOU THAT ASHP has become a sponsoring member of the National Academy of Medicine Action Collaborative on Countering the U.S. Opioid Epidemic. The other Collaborative Sponsors are:

  • Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education
  • Aetna
  • American Hospital Association
  • American Medical Association
  • Arnold Ventures
  • Association of American Medical Colleges
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  • CDC Foundation
  • Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
  • Council of Medical Specialty Societies
  • Federation of State Medical Boards
  • HCA Healthcare
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse
  • Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
  • Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

The mission of the Action Collaborative is to “convene and catalyze public, private, and non-profit stakeholders to develop, curate, and disseminate multi-sector solutions designed to reduce opioid misuse and improve outcomes for individuals, families, and communities affected by the opioid crisis.”

ASHP and our 50,000 members who serve as direct patient care providers in hospitals, health systems, rehabilitation centers and ambulatory clinics will bring a great deal of expertise to the Collaborative and play a major role to mitigate and end the opioid epidemic on behalf of our patients and communities, while ensuring that our patients receive appropriate pain management.

ASHP will serve on the Action Collaborative’s Opioid Prescribing Guidelines and Evidence Standards Working Group, and will also be providing insights and expertise to the Collaborative’s Health Professional Education and Training Working Group; Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Services Working Group; and Research, Data, and Metrics Needs Working Group.  As part of our initial work with the Collaborative, we have made several commitments that include but are not limited to:

  • Creation and dissemination of patient and prescriber education on pain management and opioid abuse mitigation best practices.
  • Enhanced patient access to evidence-based treatment for opioid use disorder through increased utilization of pharmacists on the healthcare team.
  • Standardization of a framework for pain stewardship to coordinate pain management, opioid prescribing, and use of non-opioid therapies.
  • Coordination of care among patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals through the use of standardized patient-specific pain management and substance use disorder treatment plans.
  • Improvement of interoperability, artificial intelligence, and clinical decision support in healthcare information systems.
  • Identification of performance and quality metrics to assess impact.
  • Stimulating research on pain and opioid use disorders and their respective pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic treatments.
  • Advancing efforts to prepare the pharmacy workforce through pharmacy education and professional development programs.

ASHP has also been actively involved in numerous public and private sector efforts to address the opioid crisis through the leadership of pharmacists and has worked diligently across a number of fronts to identify enduring solutions, including advocating for better access to medication-assisted treatment. We had the pleasure of working with the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy and attending the ceremony to commemorate the signing of H.R. 6, the “SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act,” bipartisan legislation to combat the opioid crisis in October. ASHP will also continue to pursue policies that further support the vital roles pharmacists play as patient care providers in the treatment of acute and chronic conditions, including opioid and substance-use disorders.

You can find additional ASHP resources on our website, including:

We look forward to sharing more about our work with the National Academy of Medicine Action Collaborative on Countering the U.S. Opioid Epidemic and on ASHP’s ongoing efforts surrounding the opioid crisis, including creating various tools, education, and resources to support you in your practice.

Thank you for being a member of ASHP, and for everything that you do for your patients.

Sincerely,

Paul

April 22, 2019

Overcoming Burnout: Advice from Your Pharmacy Peers

Filed under: Ambulatory Care,Clinical,Feature Stories,Innovation,Managers,Quality,Residents,Specialties,Students — Tags: , , , , , , , , , — Amy Erickson @ 5:28 pm

MORE THAN 50 PERCENT OF PHARMACISTS WHO PRACTICE IN ACUTE AND AMBULATORY CARE SETTINGS EXPERIENCE BURNOUT, which is characterized by exhaustion, cynicism, and/or a low sense of personal accomplishment. While burnout is devastating on a personal level, the syndrome can also affect a pharmacist’s ability to fulfill their duties, which can negatively impact patient care.

 

Often when we have a problem, we turn to our peers for support and guidance. ASHP InterSections asked a student pharmacist, a new practitioner, and a pharmacy leader to share their thoughts on resilience and burnout. Here’s their advice.

 

ASHP InterSections: What have you found most challenging about thriving at work or school?

 

Sydney Stiener

Sydney Stiener

ASHP member since 2015

Student Pharmacist and Pharm.D. Candidate (May 2019)

University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Pharmacy

“The biggest challenge for me has been finding the right balance between meeting school-related priorities and dedicating myself to hobbies that help me recharge and be efficient and successful. As a pharmacy student pursuing a residency and facing a competitive job market, there is a constant expectation to do more. On top of rigorous course work and other demands of pharmacy school, students spend many hours a week involved in student organizations, taking on leadership positions, participating in research — and the list goes on and on. Beyond these extracurricular activities, it’s a challenge to find time to care for ourselves by doing things that make us happy outside of school. Without these things, it’s easy to lose perspective and forget the reasons you wanted to become a pharmacist in the first place.”

 

Shannon Kraus, Pharm.D., BCPS

Shannon Kraus, Pharm.D., BCPS

ASHP member since 2015

PGY1/PGY2 MS/Pharmacy Administration Resident

Riverside Methodist Hospital, Columbus, Ohio

“It’s been challenging to me as a new practitioner to balance providing quality care with the realities of needing to do so in a cost-effective way, both across the organization and within the pharmacy service line. For example, while I try to provide optimal patient care and work toward outcomes like decreased readmissions through pharmacist-led counseling at discharge, having limited resources has certainly tested my resilience.”

 

Paul Bush, Pharm.D., M.B.A., BCPS, FASHP

ASHP member since 1975

Chief Pharmacy Officer and HSPA/MS Residency Program Director

Duke University Hospital, Durham, N.C.

“I currently lead a large pharmacy program that includes 428 staff and complex pharmacy operations, so there are many moving parts that I need to be thinking about. It can be challenging to manage the many details and the demands of my job.”

 

ASHP InterSections: How do you ensure your well-being and resilience?

 

Stiener: “I can’t always control the challenges that can lead to symptoms of burnout but I can control my attitude toward those challenges. A philosophy that’s helped me bounce back from a bad exam grade, get through long hours of studying, learn from mistakes, and ultimately excel in my program is Hal Elrod’s 5-Minute Rule, which says it’s OK to be upset, angry, frustrated, or negative when something unfavorable happens to you, but you get only five minutes to feel that way. So, I allow myself five minutes to feel those emotions, but then I force myself to put it behind me, learn from it, and move on with my day with a positive attitude and a smile on my face.

 

“I also prioritize activities that make me happy and recharge my overall well-being, like running outside in the fresh air and spending time with friends and family.”

 

Dr. Kraus: “Every morning at 4 a.m., I fill up my resilience bucket by first reflecting on what I am grateful for from the previous day. After that, I go to my local fitness studio. Exercising strengthens me both physically and mentally.

 

“Throughout the day I try to spread my positive energy with my residency family. I’ve even developed Wellness Wednesday, where I send an email focused on physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual, or financial health with the hope of providing others with an uplifting moment and helping them build resilience.”

 

Paul Bush, Pharm.D., M.B.A., BCPS, FASHP

Dr. Bush: “I think the key to stepping up and leading in challenging situations is simply to stay focused. A book called The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey — and specifically the idea of putting first things first — has helped me get through the week and stay focused.

 

“I go full speed for five days a week, 10 hours a day, so recharging over the weekend with family is very important to maintaining well-being. During the week, I get on the treadmill for 20-30 minutes a day, which is both physically helpful and a good diversion. I also eat a healthy diet and try to sleep for seven hours a night. And I watch my favorite TV series and sports.”

 

ASHP InterSections: What advice would you give others in your position to help them thrive and rebound from burnout?

 

Stiener: “Surround yourself with positive and supportive friends, classmates, mentors, family members, and others who can see you through stressful times and help you maintain perspective. Also, make time for your own hobbies outside of school. It’s amazing how much easier it is to focus and stay engaged when you invest a little time in yourself.”

 

Dr. Kraus: “The triggers of burnout are often our own self-limiting beliefs. However, we can also choose to cultivate joy in our everyday life and remember that, as E.E. Cummings said, ‘The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.’”

 

Dr. Bush: “Give yourself time to recover from stressful events and reduce your workload when these things happen. Maintain a sense of hope, optimism, and self-efficacy and focus on feeling joy at work. Joyful activities such as ensuring patients have positive experiences and improving patient outcomes are healing, create connections, and add meaning and purpose. Make sure you have strategies for self-care and draw on your social safety nets and support from your organization and your peers.”

 

By David Wild

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

April 8, 2019

ASHP Is Taking Government Relations and Advocacy to the Next Level

Filed under: From the CEO — Tags: , , , , , , , — Amy Erickson @ 2:09 pm

Paul W. Abramowitz, Pharm.D., Sc.D. (Hon.), FASHP

I am happy to announce our plans to further strengthen ASHP’s government relations activities in Congress, federal agencies, the White House, and the states. Further, to enhance our advocacy initiatives and communications regarding our government relations efforts.

To that extent, we have made some important strategic changes to ASHP’s government relations area. First, we have added a Vice President of Government Relations to our Senior Leadership Team who will also complement our exceptional Government Relations staff. We announced last week that we have hired Tom Kraus, M.H.S., J.D., as ASHP’s new Vice President of the Government Relations Office. Tom is a leader with incredible experience. He has a sincere passion for improving the health and well-being of patients, and he understands that pharmacists play a critical role as patient care providers — and can do even more.

Tom is a former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Chief of Staff and FDA Associate Commissioner. He also served on the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee as Staff Director, working under Senators Kennedy and Harkin. During his time on the HELP Committee, he was instrumental in the passage of key legislation, including FDA drug and food safety reforms and user fee legislation, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and the Affordable Care Act. While at the FDA, he was a top advisor to the FDA Commissioner, a key leader among FDA’s over 14,000 employees, and FDA’s main liaison and advocate to Congress.

Tom has also served as a health policy, management, and life sciences senior executive for Ernst & Young, McKinsey & Company, Avalere Health, and, most recently, the Boston Consulting Group. In these roles, he engaged with virtually every major component of U.S. healthcare, including agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services, state agencies, the pharmaceutical industry, health insurance companies, and many others. Tom earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Michigan, a Master of Health Science in Health Finance and Management from Johns Hopkins University, and a Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center.

Tom will be joining the ASHP team later this month, and we are looking forward to introducing you to him at the ASHP Summer Meetings in Boston.

Secondly, ASHP has also hired Doug Huynh, J.D., as our new federal lobbyist and primary legislative advocate on Capitol Hill. Doug comes to ASHP with extensive experience from the Society of Interventional Radiology, where he worked for 12 years as Director of Government and Policy Affairs. Doug also served as a lawyer and lobbyist in a number of other healthcare-related organizations. He has an in-depth understanding of the healthcare landscape and the issues that impact pharmacists, physicians, healthcare organizations, and other providers, as well as excellent relationships on Capitol Hill and a strong knowledge of the political process. Doug graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with degrees in Communications and Political Science, and he earned his law degree from Quinnipiac University. Doug joined our team earlier this month, and we also look forward to introducing you to him at the ASHP Summer Meetings in Boston.

We are confident that these important enhancements to our already strong Government Relations team will be of great value to ASHP members and their patients, and will help us further advance pharmacy practice by better educating policymakers and other important healthcare stakeholders. We look forward to sharing more about the many new things we will be doing through ASHP’s enhanced government relations and advocacy program.

Thank you for being a member of ASHP, and for everything that you do for your patients.

Sincerely,

 

Paul

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