John Gums, PharmD, FCCP - Professor and Associate Dean for Clinical and Administrative Affairs - and Eric A Dietrich, PharmD, BCACP, CPC-A, CEMC, CPB - Clinical Associate Professor from the University of Florida College of Pharmacy talk with us about billing for pharmacy services. Key Lessons: A sustainable clinical practice model is formulated by creating a business plan that considers the services to be provided as well as reasonable estimates of the number of patient encounters, the duration for each patient encounter, billable revenues, collections, and costs.  Evaluation and Managem ..read more

Brandon Shank, PharmD, BCOP - Clinical Pharmacy Specialist at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center - talks to us about credentialing & privileging from a front-line clinician's point of view. Key Lessons: Building rapport and trust with your team is an essential first step from which clinical privileges follow. State laws vary.  Some authorize privileging of pharmacists at the institutional level. Obtaining and maintaining clinical privileges requires additional training ... and paperwork. Pharmacists have a unique understanding of the dosing and available dosage forms o ..read more

Joseph Saseen, Pharm.D., BCPS, BCACP, CLS - Professor of Clinical Pharmacy and Family Medicine, University of Colorado Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences - discusses the various credentials pharmacists can earn following graduation and licensure. Key Lessons Credentials include degrees, licensure, post-graduate training, and board certification. Earning a certificate is not synonymous with becoming board certified. Board certification requires candidates to meet specific eligibility criteria and pass a comprehensive examination to validate the breadth and depth of knowledge ..read more

Suzanne Nesbit, Pharm.D., BCPS - Clinical Pharmacy Specialist in Pain and Palliative Care at the Johns Hopkins Health System - and Lucas Hill, Pharm.D., BCPS, BCACP - Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Texas at Austin and Director of Operation Naloxone - discuss how to improve patient safety by implementing opioid stewardship and harm-reduction strategies. Key Lessons Opioid stewardship requires multiple components starting first with a commitment to change and includes opioid prescribing guidelines, provider feedback, and patient education. Discussing the goals of therapy ..read more

Kristina Butler, Pharm.D., BCPS, BCACP - Manager of Clinical Pharmacy Specialists in Primary at the Providence Medical Group in Portland, Oregon talks with us about implementing a consistent patient care practice model across multiple sites. Key Lessons: Implementing a consistent model of care begins with hiring people who have the appropriate training & experience followed by a robust orientation process and supplemented by ongoing peer review; high-quality clinical pharmacy services need to be consistently available; more experienced practitioners may need to reframe their thin ..read more

Todd Sorensen, Pharm.D. - Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Care and Health Systems at the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy and Executive Director of the Alliance for Integrated Medication Management talks with us about the importance of applying a systematic process of care during every patient encounter. Key Lessons: All health professions have a similar process of care but each has a different focus and assessment strategy; inconsistencies in the process of care provided by pharmacists has led to inconsistent outcomes in clinical trials; several new resources are ..read more

Julie Lauffenburger, Pharm.D., Ph.D. - Assistant Director of the Center for Healthcare Delivery Sciences at the Brigham and Women's Hospital and co-investigator for the MedISAFE-BP study talks to us about the use of smartphone applications to improve medication adherence. Key Lessons: Improvements in medication adherence don't necessarily lead to improvements in outcomes (e.g. blood pressure control or cardiovascular events) unless patient-monitoring data is shared and used by clinicians to make medication adjustments; smartphone apps should provide nudges to patients in a manner they find mos ..read more

Rosemary Duncan, Pharm.D., BCPS - Medication Safety Officer - and Jacob Smith, Pharm.D. - Assistant Director of Medication Safety and Quality at The Johns Hopkins Hospital talk about measuring quality in hospital settings and how quality metrics are used for accreditation and value-based payments. Key Lessons:  Measuring quality is difficult and event rates are not an adequate metric of medication safety; pharmacists can help improve HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) scores by providing patient and provider education; quality in healthcare is&n ..read more

Lucinda L. Maine, Ph.D., R.Ph. - Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy - talks with us about how to manage major career changes and why a degree in pharmacy is so valuable. Key Lessons: Career pivots can be welcomed and sought ... or arise from something unexpected and unwanted. Most professionals will experience several major career changes during their working years. A pharmacy degree enables a surprisingly broad range of career paths. Being prepared for new opportunities by continually updating your knowledge and skills is ..read more

Troy Trygstad, Pharm.D., MBA, Ph.D. - Executive Director of CPESN-USA, a network of pharmacies that provides a portfolio of medication optimization and patient care services - talks about the "quality movement" and how it's impacting the practice of pharmacy in community and ambulatory care settings. Key Lessons:  Create supports to help patients to optimally use medications; follow-up is critical; fully engage staff and student pharmacists to deliver care ..read more