Pharmacy Angle had the pleasure of visiting with Christina Cao who serves as a member of the Health Connect Partners Educational Advisory Board. At the time of the interview, Christina was the Area Pharmacy Manager for Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital but has since taken a position as Senior Corporate Director of Pharmacy with CPS.

This is a MUST WATCH video as Christina shares her personal journey from being born in Vietnam to coming to the United States, to her families personal struggles, to why she wanted to work in healthcare. 

Moderator Amir Emamifar, who's career spans more than 30 years a clinical pharmacist, leads a panel discussion on the topic "Bridging Policy to Practice: Navigating the 340B Program's Landscape and Embracing Opportunities featuring the following panelist: 

Patti Hawkins, PharmD - Interim Administrator for Oncology Services and serves on the clinical faculty at the Union University School of Pharmacy

Christopher Hatwig, MS, RPh, FASHP - President at Apexus

Lisa Scholz, PharmD, MBA, FACHE - Vice President of 340B Enterprise Strategy at AmerisourceBergen

In the wake of the Change Healthcare cyber attack that caused major disruption across the industry, Ken Perez, Healthcare IT, marketing and policy consultant and former Vice President of Healthcare Policy and Government Affairs for Omnicell, Inc. had the opportunity recently visit wit ScriptPro CEO, Mike Coughlin to learn what was affected, what work arounds were put in place, and what lessons were learned. 

VPL TrajectRx empowers outpatient pharmacies by giving them the cloud-based shipping, tracking and compliance solution they need to build cost-conscious, stronger, and smarter last-mile operations. Created for pharmacists by pharmacists, our clinically minded platform gets prescriptions out the door, tracks and traces them to their destination, communicates shipping updates to patients and staff, and compiles necessary reporting for proof of delivery. By minimizing distribution errors, enhancing operational efficiency, and reducing time spent on the phone, TrajectRx ensures a streamlined and effective pharmacy workflow.

Carolyn Liptak, MBA, RPh brings more than 30 years of experience in the healthcare industry and currently serves as the Pharmacy Executive Director for Regulatory, Compliance & Financial Performance on the Vizient Center for Pharmacy Practice Excellence team. She has provided directorial leadership for inpatient, outpatient, retail and specialty pharmacy operations and clinical strategy. Her areas of expertise include regulatory compliance, revenue integrity, sterile compounding, and controlled substance diversion surveillance. She currently is a member of the Pharmacy Advisory Council at The Joint Commission. 

Prior to joining Vizient, Carolyn served in leadership roles at Texas Children’s Hospital and Memorial Hermann Health System in Houston as well as The Medical Center of Aurora and the University of Colorado Hemophilia & Thrombosis Center in Denver. Carolyn received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Louisiana at Monroe School of Pharmacy and a master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Houston Clear Lake. She is based remotely in Denver, Colorado

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

• To discuss reimbursement from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for medications covered under Medicare Part B 
• Identify ways to stay informed of new and changing status indicators and payment limits
• Recall the purpose of payment modifiers in the Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) and the requirements for compliance

Pharmacy Angle sat down with James Hall who is the Director of Pharmacy for a joint venture between Texas Health Resources and Advent Health in Fort Worth, Texas. James has been the Director at this facility for the past 24 years and has over four decades of total industry experience. 

Like many in this industry, James chose a career in pharmacy due to the impact and influence a family member had on his, in his case...his sister. Also like others, James faces many challenges in today's changing landscape but credits his staff for being nimble and resourceful in an order to make things work. From ensuring metrics are where they need to be for care and revenue purposes, to mentoring young professionals, to discussing pharmacists receiving provider status, lot's of great information to digest in this installment of Executive Insights. 

Jenna Stern, Associate Vice President of Regulatory Affairs & Public Policy, supports Vizient’s government relations, monitors federal regulatory and legislative developments, and helps communicate Vizient’s positions on developments most relevant to Vizient and its members. Prior to joining Vizient, Jenna served as the Director of Health Policy for the American Pharmacists Association and as a senior associate with Avalere, a DC-based healthcare consulting firm.

Jenna received her law degree with a concentration in health law from Case Western Reserve University and is a member of the Maryland bar. She is also a graduate of Brock University where she received her bachelor of science in health sciences.

Pharmacy Angle had the privilege of sitting down and visiting with Jamie Leonard, the Director of Pharmacy with Benefis Health System located in Great Falls, Montana. With over 30 years of experience and a passion for geriatrics, Jamie has seen how leadership of a unit has changed with so much more to manage today than what she was taught in school. 

With staffing challenges still facing the industry, Jamie shares a little behind what she calls "growing your own" and what her health system has done in terms of partnering with a local academic institution in her community to help grow the pipeline for technicians. So much more to learn too from this conversation! 

VPL TrajectRx empowers outpatient pharmacies by giving them the cloud-based shipping, tracking and compliance solution they need to build cost-conscious, stronger, and smarter last-mile operations. Created for pharmacists by pharmacists, our clinically minded platform gets prescriptions out the door, tracks and traces them to their destination, communicates shipping updates to patients and staff, and compiles necessary reporting for proof of delivery. By minimizing distribution errors, enhancing operational efficiency, and reducing time spent on the phone, TrajectRx ensures a streamlined and effective pharmacy workflow.

Daniel Roth, the Administrative Director of Pharmacy at Cox Health located in Southwest Missouri, visited with Pharmacy Angle to talk about his background, changes he has seen within the industry, and predictions he has for the industry. With a extensive experience in informatics and automation, listen to hear what Daniel has to say which could help everyone run their pharmacies more efficiently.