ABSTRACT
It is not often that a group of health executives, educators, and professionals gather with the goal of identifying a preferred future for their profession and the patients they serve. It is even more rare when such an assembly results in a clear and actionable plan to follow to achieve that desired future. Nevertheless, the Bridging Pharmacy Education and Practice (BPEP) Summit, an unprecedented collaborative event in June 2022 that involved six sites across the country and more than 300 participants, was just such a convening. In this Commentary we provide a brief overview of this extraordinary summit and the events that led up to it. Keywords: educational innovation, practice transformation, competency-based learning, professional identity formation, continuum of learning
ABSTRACT
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The 2020-21 AACP Argus Commission was charged to 1) review the 2019-2020 standing committee reports;2) describe the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare delivery with an emphasis on health equity and social justice, 3) identify strategies to work with other health professions associations to advance interprofessional education and practice, and 4) offer recommendations for activities for the Center to Accelerate Pharmacy Practice Transformation and Academic Innovation (CAPT). (Source: 2018-19 Academic Affairs Committee) * Students, faculty, and practitioner educators should work to achieve cultural competence and to deliver culturally competent care as part of their efforts to eliminate disparities and inequalities that exist in the health care delivery system. (Source: Argus Commission 2017-18.) * As educators, researchers, and healthcare professionals, members of the AACP are committed to the principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, justice, and anti-racism and will seek opportunities to eradicate structural and systemic racism to address social determinants of health, diminish health disparities, and promote racial equity. The growing expectation on the part of payers to purchase outcomes instead of services is influencing the entire spectrum of healthcare in the U.S. This is fueling the vertical integration of healthcare both locally (merging of hospitals and outpatient care organizations and the creation of accountable care organizations) and nationally (merging of health insurers, pharmacy benefit managers, community pharmacy chains and specialty pharmacies to create closed drug distribution channels).
ABSTRACT
Thanks to the leadership of Chad Worz, PharmD, Executive Director of the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists, and other national pharmacy leaders, the 13 member organizations of the Joint Commission of Pharmacy Practitioners (JCPP) plus several other national associations joined forces immediately after the national emergency orders were issued related to the pandemic. Suffice it to say that it was sent in an expedited fashion to every top office in state and federal government, including the Trump and now Biden White House, every Member of Congress, governors, and health agencies at the state and federal levels. Yes, this includes securing the authority to deliver and bill for pharmacists' patient care services as a Part B Medicare supplier.
ABSTRACT
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The 2020-21 AACP Argus Commission was charged to 1) review the 2019-2020 standing committee reports; 2) describe the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare delivery with an emphasis on health equity and social justice, 3) identify strategies to work with other health professions associations to advance interprofessional education and practice, and 4) offer recommendations for activities for the Center to Accelerate Pharmacy Practice Transformation and Academic Innovation (CAPT). Two work groups divided charges 2 and 3 and provided assessments of how health care and education might change due to all we have experienced over the 12-plus months of the pandemic. A review of plans for the first year of the CAPT activities and recommendations for additional activities are included in report. The Commission has proposed two new policy statements on digital health, five recommendations for AACP and five suggestions for colleges and schools of pharmacy. The Argus Commission affirms academic pharmacy's adaptability, agency, and association to influence changes in healthcare delivery and interprofessional education and practice.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Education, Pharmacy , Pharmacy , Humans , SARS-CoV-2 , Schools, PharmacyABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic is having a profound impact across the United States and the rest of the world. Health care professionals, including pharmacists, are working on the frontlines and across the spectrum of public health and research. To fully optimize the contribution of pharmacists during this crisis, state and federal policies and regulations that limit pharmacists' roles had to be identified and modified. A strong coalition of national pharmacy organizations, including the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, embarked upon an unprecedented level of collaboration to produce a joint statement identifying key policy recommendations. This collective continued working together as the full force of the pandemic was realized and engaged with policy makers at the state and national levels to advocate for these policy recommendations. Ideally the lessons learned in terms of the power of working together in a crisis will reframe future collaborations to the benefit of the profession and ultimately to the patients we serve.