Illinois Council of Health-System Pharmacists
4055 North Perryville Road
Loves Park, IL 61111-8653
Phone: (815) 227-9292
Fax: (815) 227-9294
www.ichpnet.org

KeePosted
Official Newsjournal of the Illinois Council of Health-System Pharmacists

EDITOR
Jacob Gettig

ASSISTANT EDITOR
Jennifer Phillips

MANAGING EDITOR
Scott Meyers

ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR
Trish Wegner

DESIGN EDITOR
Amanda Wolff

ICHP Staff
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT
Scott Meyers

VICE PRESIDENT - PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
Trish Wegner

DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS
Maggie Allen

INFORMATION SPECIALIST
Heidi Sunday

CUSTOMER SERVICE AND
PHARMACY TECH TOPICS™ SPECIALIST
Jo Ann Haley

ACCOUNTANT
Jan Mark

COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER
Amanda Wolff

LEGISLATIVE CONSULTANT
Jim Owen

ICHP Mission Statement
Advancing Excellence in the Practice of Pharmacy

ICHP Vision Statement
ICHP dedicates itself to achieving a vision of pharmacy practice where:

Pharmacists are universally recognized as health care professionals and essential providers of health care services.
Patients are aware of the training, skills, and abilities of a pharmacist and the fundamental role that pharmacists play in optimizing medication therapy.
Formally educated, appropriately trained, and PTCB certified pharmacy technicians manage the medication distribution process with appropriate pharmacist oversight.
Pharmacists improve patient care and medication safety through the development of effective public policies by interacting and collaborating with patients, other health care professionals and their respective professional societies, government agencies, employers and other concerned parties.
Evidence-based practices are used to achieve safe and effective medication therapies.
There are an adequate number of qualified pharmacy leaders within the pharmacy profession.
Pharmacists take primary responsibility for educating pharmacy technicians, pharmacy students, pharmacist peers, other health professionals, and patients about appropriate medication use.

KeePosted Vision
As an integral publication of the Illinois Council of Health-System Pharmacists, the KeePosted newsjournal will reflect its mission and goals. In conjunction with those goals, KeePosted will provide timely information that meets the changing professional and personal needs of Illinois pharmacists and technicians, and maintain high publication standards.

KeePosted is an official publication of, and is copyrighted by, the Illinois Council of Health-System Pharmacists (ICHP). KeePosted is published 10 times a year. ICHP members received KeePosted as a member benefit. All articles published herein represent the opinions of the authors and do not reflect the policy of the ICHP or the authors’ institutions unless specified. Advertising inquiries can be directed to ICHP office at the address listed above. Image disclaimer: The image used in the holiday and Pharmacy Tech Topics™ advertisements are the property of © 2014 Thinkstock, a division of Getty Images.

Feature

Important Continuing Education News
HealthSystemCE.org is shutting down as of Jan. 1, 2015

As you know, ICHP has been transitioning our continuing pharmacy education (CPE) program evaluation and credit process to CESally.com. Beginning January 1, 2015, the HealthSystemCE.org website will be shut down.

If you want or need to access any of your history for past CPE programs, please go to www.healthsystemce.org, log in to your account and start downloading. As of January 1, there will be no more access for anyone.

Please do NOT delay if you need to download any history. Per HealthSystemCE.org “These files will not be available” after the deadline.

Every member of ICHP received an email on Nov. 6, 2014 inviting you to join CESally.com as an “association member”. The free CPE we provide as a member benefit will be moved to CESally.com beginning in January 2015. You will need to set up your CESally.com ICHP association member account to view and access free member CPE, including (but not limited to) Champion, Spring, and Annual Meeting programs, for example.

When you log into your CESally.com account, or create one, go to the “My Account” page. You will see an invitation on the right side. Click on that to join the ICHP association group on CESally.com. If your invitation has expired, just select associations, then select contact ICHP, and let us know. We will reissue the invitation. Please forward any questions to members@ichpnet.org.

Columns

President's Message
Collaboration at the National Level

by Linda Fred, ICHP President

I had the privilege this week of attending the ASHP Presidential Officers Meeting in Chicago. There were presidential officers and association executives from all over the country present at the meeting as well as the ASHP President and President-Elect. We had a couple of days of great discussion on topics of interest for all State Affiliates and shared some best practices and many common concerns.

Our keynote speaker was Sheri Jacobs, author of The Art of Membership: How to Attract, Retain, and Cement Member Loyalty.¹ Here are a few things I learned:

Membership and member activities should be accessible, affordable, and fun.
We value what we can’t buy elsewhere – so membership has to offer something not easily obtainable somewhere else. As the organization’s leadership, we should be asking ourselves what we can provide through ICHP that our members can’t get anywhere else.
Peer-to-peer networking is valued by members and is an important tool in retaining them.
Associations need to make their events “destination events”.
Attributes of successful associations include things like credibility and being a trusted source of information, providing access to new skills, helping the professionals keep current in their field, supporting career advancement, and increasing the individuals’ earning power through development activities.
Member surveys should focus on behaviors rather than preferences. Preferences are just that and aren’t good indicators of what the individual is likely to actually do.
As in any customer service industry, we should focus on the “top box” scores – the 5’s on a 5 point scale.
Members want to be listened to, taught and mentored, rewarded and acknowledged.
There is renewed interest in professional organizations being a conduit for service projects. Many members want their organizations to offer regular opportunities to give back to their geographic or professional community.

After listening to the author’s comments, we had a roundtable discussion with the other officers and executives present to look at what best practices we each have in our own affiliates and what struggles we face. Some common threads were:

We are all offering quite a few services that may not be strong drivers of membership satisfaction, and we need to evaluate whether they are worth the investments of money and time.
We all need to determine if there are more things we can do that our members will value highly.
We all need to have more fun at our events. You can’t have too much fun. (And we shared some best practice ideas – but since you might see some of them at our future events, I won’t spoil the surprise.)

Our ICHP Leadership Retreat is coming up this weekend, and we are focusing on another book about attracting and retaining engaged members, The End of Membership as We Know It: Building the Fortune-Flipping, Must-Have Association of the Next Century by Sarah L. Sladek.² I believe we are going to have more great discussion about how the organization can continue to provide important services to attract and retain members, and I hope you will see the outcome of these ideas in our services and events in the coming year.

The officers and executives also had roundtable discussions about additional significant topics.

Ambulatory care and transitions of care are expectations that are clearly emerging at the forefront of health-system pharmacy today. Last March, ASHP convened an Ambulatory Care Conference and Summit. The recommendations produced by Summit attendees are available on the ASHP website at the following address: http://www.ashpmedia.org/amcare14/Download.html. They are geared toward promoting the pharmacist as an essential part of an integrated team of professionals providing care across the continuum. Whether you are engaged in ambulatory care today or not, you should read this document.
ASHP leadership shared insights into their rebranding process, and we all talked about our respective state affiliate’s logos, tag lines, and mission statements – looking for best practices and discussing how our “brand” is seen by our members and others. Does our visual brand align with our ideas of what our brand should be?
Similarly to ICHP, most state affiliates have different membership categories. We looked for ways to attract and engage members from different categories, considering what each group (e.g., technicians, students, new practitioners, seasoned professionals) might value in terms of benefits and opportunities provided by the organization.
Legislative advocacy is still an important factor in many states. We now have five states that have attained recognition as providers at the state level, and it is important that we all continue to work together within our respective states and also support the federal legislation that currently resides in the House of Representatives that would alter the rules to make pharmacists eligible for reimbursement under Medicare. ICHP’s Division of Government Affairs is very active on this front. This is a great way to get involved in advocacy within ICHP. Here is a link to the ICHP website where you can get additional information about Government Affairs: http://ichpnet.org/public_policy/government_affairs/

I had a terrific two days meeting and collaborating with officers and executives from around the country, and I’m excited to have the opportunity to share some of those ideas with our own leadership group to bring even more best practices home to Illinois.

References:

Jacobs S. The art of membership as we know it: How to attract, retain, and cement member loyalty. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass; 2014.
Sladek SL. The end of membership as we know it: Building the fortune-flipping, must-have association of the next century. Washington DC: American Society of Association Executives; 2011.

Directly Speaking
The No Shave November Challenge

by Scott A. Meyers, Executive Vice President

I know this is the December issue of KeePosted, and there’s not much any of you can do about this past November, but I wanted to share some thoughts for next November. I’m not sure how long the “No Shave November” or “Brovember” or “Movember” (whatever you want to call it) has been used to bring attention to men’s health issues, but it seems like last year and this year the momentum, at least from the television media, has picked up and many celebrities and men in general are not shaving for the 30 days.

For those who know me, you may remember that I normally sport a mustache and goatee, and for the past couple of summers I have tried to grow a beard while on an extended vacation or to honor the Blackhawks’ Championship run in 2013 (playoff beard). The handful of you that may have seen those beards know it is a struggle for me to cover any other space on my face with a reasonable layer of hair. But this year, I’ve done the “No Shave November”, and here’s a picture of the pitiful specimen I was able to raise.

December 1st, this baby comes off and it’s back to face you’ve known since 1997 (the year of the goatee). But my facial follicle challenges are not the point. “No Shave November” is meant to raise awareness of two significant health issues for men, testicular cancer and prostate cancer – the latter being a disease a vast majority of men will face sometime in their life.

So as health professionals, why shouldn’t male pharmacists take a stand every November and do their best, even if it is pretty meager, to bring attention to these two diseases? In fact, I think all male health professionals should pick up the call and observe “No Shave November”. Think about the attention wearing pink in October brings. Not only do the ladies wear pink, but you see professional, college and even a few well off high school football teams sporting pink on the playing field. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not asking our female counterparts to stop shaving legs and armpits (that is, if you usually do) during this month, but maybe someone needs to create some sort of button that the ladies could wear (perhaps a mustache button since mustaches now appear on almost everything) that would support the cause!

“No Shave November” really got me thinking that health awareness should be an ongoing campaign. Anything that health care professionals, and yes, pharmacists qualify and are perhaps some of the most visible on a daily basis, can do every day to bring attention to a preventable or treatable diseases in a positive manner should be considered. Wearing pink t-shirts or dress shirts under your white coats in October, not shaving in November, taking the ice bucket challenge in the summer, etc., would bring more attention to these diseases and perhaps even save a life or two.

As pharmacists, we have an identity problem. The pharmacists most people know sell them their medicine and work in a retail outlet. They may be thought of as a health care para-professional or even just a storekeeper, even though they can and do so much more. By observing each “health issue awareness month” celebration, we all can demonstrate to our patients that pharmacists are health care professionals who care! And as I mentioned earlier, we might even save a life by wearing pink, not shaving or whatever the monthly observance calls for! Think about taking this challenge.

Educational Affairs
Primer: Moving toward High-Reliability Pharmacy Practice

by Charlene A. Hope, PharmD, BCPS, CPHQ, CPPS, Chicago Market Pharmacy Quality and Safety Manager, MacNeal Hospital-Tenet Healthcare

A metronidazole 500 mg tablet is pulled and prepared for dispensing instead of a metoprolol 50 mg tablet for a first dose dispense from the pharmacy or a metoprolol 100 mg XL tablet is pulled from the automated dispensing machine fill instead of a metoprolol 100 mg regular release tablet. Near miss errors happen several times a day in the average hospital pharmacy department.^1,2 Preventable errors occurring during the dispensing process represent 14% of errors occurring during the medication use process. Of these events, little more than a third of dispensing errors are intercepted.³ This is often independent of the size of the pharmacy department or technology that is implemented to decrease the potential of occurrence dispensing errors.^4-7 Pharmacy staff members may perceive the identification and correction of near miss errors performed by pharmacists as evidence of doing their jobs well. As a result, near miss errors occurring within the pharmacy department are often not reported and error reporting is usually focused on those medication errors occurring outside of the pharmacy department. Traditional reporting of actual or near miss medication errors required by regulatory bodies are usually representative of potential hospital-wide system failures.

The pharmacy department can be referred to as a clinical microsystem.⁸ A clinical microsystem is a small, interdependent group of people who work together regularly to provide care for specific groups of patients. This group is often embedded in a larger organization and formed around a common purpose or need. It has clinical and business aims, linked processes, a shared information environment, and produces performance outcomes. Proactively identifying and tracking safety issues within the pharmacy clinical microsystem is a medication safety practice that all departments should consider.

The “Swiss cheese model” proposed by James Reason, a British psychologist, is a well-known model that explains system failures.⁹ Each slice or layer represents a process within a system and each hole in a layer represents an opportunity for a potential error to occur. In an ideal system, the holes do not line up and errors are averted. Errors that occur may often cause patient harm. In order to decrease the potential for errors, the goal would be to eliminate the holes or make the holes smaller. The potential for an error to occur is often due to what is called a latent error. Latent errors are essentially “accidents waiting to happen” and are often due to failures of an organization or design that contributes to the occurrence of an error. Latent errors are usually hard to detect and not always apparent. However, the sooner they are identified and addressed, the earlier an error can occur and the likelihood that it can cause harm to a patients is decreased.

The ability of a system to proactively identify and detect latent errors is a characteristic of a highly reliable organization. Highly reliable organizations (HROs) refer to organizations or systems that operate in hazardous conditions but have few adverse events.¹⁰ Examples of HROs include the aviation industry, nuclear power plants and wildland firefighting. HROs often operate under all five of the following characteristics 1) tracking small failures, 2) resisting oversimplification, 3) remaining sensitive to operations, 4) maintaining capabilities for resilience, and 5) taking advantage of shifting locations of expertise.¹⁰ While review of all these characteristics are beyond the scope of this article, the first characteristic is of most importance to the topic at hand. HROs embrace failure and pay close attention to weak signals of failures that may indicate larger problems within the system. Weak signals are indicators that a system is failing and needs proper attention to possibly identify a latent error. Weak signals are often hard to detect and may start with a “gut feeling” that something may not be quite right.¹⁰

Let us now consider again the near miss error examples provided at the beginning of this article, could these errors be considered weak signals to a potential breakdown in a process or system failure? Identifying and correcting near miss errors without consideration of how often they are occurring or why they are occurring represent missed learning opportunities to the clinical microsystem to improve and design interventions that promote safety. We can look to other industries for approaches to increasing the pharmacy departments’ awareness of latent errors.

The Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) was created in 1974 by a physician named Charles Billings.¹¹ The ASRS allows for the reporting of aviation errors across the United States through voluntarily submission of aviation safety incidents.¹² An aviation incident is also defined as an occurrence other than an accident, associated with the operation of an aircraft, which affects or could affect the safety of operations.¹² The ASRS uses reports to identify system deficiencies, issue alert messages and produce two publications, CALLBACK and ASRS Directline.¹² The ASRS promotes safety concepts and provides ideas for further safety improvements.

How can we apply this best practice from a high reliability organization to pharmacy practice? Some strategies include: 1) becoming mindful of near miss errors and 2) creating ways to capture and document near miss errors as they occur. Near miss errors are the pharmacy microsystems’ weak signals that a particular process or overall system may not be functioning well. Proactively identifying trends represents an opportunity to create an environment that decreases potential for an error to occur. Beyond tracking pharmacy department near miss errors, it is important to share any significant trends with your pharmacy staff members. Providing feedback to the entire team fosters an open, safe environment that fosters more reporting. For example; communication can occur through adding medication safety topics to a daily department staff huddle or a staff broadcast email, or assigning a pharmacy student to write a short review for a department newsletter.

There are some limitations to near miss reporting that should be considered. Error reporting systems are usually hospital-wide software applications and may not allow processing of pharmacy-specific error reports or may overwhelm systems with near miss reporting from within the department. In larger pharmacy departments, the data generated may result in analysis paralysis – that is, collecting data without using it to drive system improvements. Lastly, staff must be encouraged to take the time to document near miss errors when documenting the error may take longer than simply correcting it.

Near miss error reporting is a proactive strategy that can provide pharmacy departments with key information that would otherwise go unnoticed and lead to the discovery of potential system failures. Taking the time to report and track near miss errors can allow pharmacy teams to address identified system failures before they contribute to and result in patient harm. Creating a safer pharmacy clinical microsystem means safer patients.

References:

Wolf ZR, Hughes RG. Chapter 35: Error Reporting and Disclosure. In: Hughes RG (ed.) Patient safety and quality: An evidence-based handbook for nurses. (Prepared with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation). AHRQ Publication No. 08-0043. Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; March 2008: 1-47 www.ahrq.gov (accessed on 18Nov2014)
Four-Pronged Error Analysis is “Best Practice” ISMP Medication Safety Alert – Acute Care Edition. From the September 22 1999 Edition. www.ismp.org (accessed on 18Nov2014)
Bates DW, Cullen DJ, Laird N, et al. Incidence of adverse drug events and potential adverse drug events. JAMA 1995; 274 (1): 29-34.
Oswald S, Caldwell R. Dispensing error rate after implementation of an automated pharmacy carousel system. Am J Health Syst Pharm. 2007 Jul 1; 64(13):1427-31.
Jones DG, Crane VS, Trussell RG. Automated medication dispensing: the ATC 212 system. Hosp Pharm. 1989; 24: 604, 606–604, 610.
Klein EG, Santora JA, Pascale PM, Kitrenos JG. Medication cart-filling time, accuracy, and cost with an automated dispensing system. Am J Hosp Pharm. 1994 May 1 51(9): 1193–1196.
Kratz K, Thygesen C. A comparison of the accuracy of unit dose cart fill with the Baxter ATC-212 computerized system and manual filling. Hosp Pharm.1992 Jan 27(1): 19–20, 22.
Nelson EC, Batalden PB, Huber TP, et al. Microsystems in healthcare: Part 1 Learning from High-performing Front-Line Clinical Units. Journal on Quality Improvement 2002; 28 (9): 472-493.
Reason J. Human error: models and management. BMJ: British Medical Journal 2000; 320(7237):768-770.
Weick KE and Sutcliffe KM Managing the Unexpected: Resilient performance in the age of uncertainty. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass; 2001.
Frankel A, Adverse-Event and Potential-Event Reporting Systems. In: Leonard M, Frankel A, Simmonds T. Achieving Safe and Reliable Healthcare Strategies and Solutions. Chicago: Health Administration Press; 2011: 139-152
Aviation Safety Reporting System. http://asrs.arc.nasa.gov/ (accessed 2014 July 23).

The GAS From Springfield
A Pharmaceutical Waste Plan That Could Work!

by Jim Owen and Scott Meyers

As was mentioned last month in the Directly Speaking column, the Illinois House of Representatives has formed a bi-partisan Heroin Task Force, aimed at reducing the number of accidental overdoses from heroin and opioid prescription medications. The Task Force came to organized pharmacy for input on three main areas of intervention:

Tightening the Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP)
Expanding access to prescription naloxone
Creating a statewide medication take-back program

The single largest concern for the pharmacy organizations (ICHP, IRMA and IPhA) was a forced take-back program that placed receptacles in community pharmacies and hospitals whether paid for by the state or not. Cost, space requirements, and security are all reasonable concerns when take-back receptacles are required to be placed in a pharmacy or hospital. Theft is already a concern in many pharmacies without these units and their required placement will only increase a pharmacy’s risk.

As a response to what could be proposed, IRMA, ICHP and IPhA created a plan that would establish a broad statewide and state-funded program that would work better and more safely than placing receptacles in pharmacies and hospitals.

Below is an excerpt from the letter sent to House Task Force co-Chairs, Lou Lang and Dennis Reboletti:

Thank you, again, for including the Illinois Retail Merchants Association (IRMA), Illinois Pharmacists Association (IPhA), and Illinois Council of Health-System Pharmacists (ICHP) in discussions regarding the Heroin Task Force and, specifically, the possible development of a statewide pharmaceutical take-back program. While the US DEA’s recent rule change to allow pharmacies to participate in a take-back program removes one obstacle, there are others. And the DEA requirements provide very difficult and expensive hurdles within a pharmacy setting.

As noted previously, there is no existing statewide model from which to borrow. Nevertheless, we believe we can look to Illinois’ own electronic waste law as a proven model upon which to build a statewide pharmaceutical take-back program that is effective, provides statewide coverage, and maximizes security.

For purposes of background, under the Illinois e-waste program, manufacturers of covered electronic devices must register and pay a fee to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) in order to be eligible to distribute their products in Illinois. Additionally, the manufacturers must develop and file a plan with IEPA, which IEPA must approve, to accomplish the diversion from landfills of a proscribed percentage of e-waste.

After a great deal of research, conversation, and contemplation, the Illinois pharmacy community as represented by IRMA, IPhA, and ICHP, would propose the following:

1. Manufacturers and wholesalers of pharmaceuticals would be required to register with IEPA and pay an annual fee in order to be able to distribute their pharmaceutical products in Illinois. Registration would occur once. Unlike the e-waste law, manufacturers would not have a recovery goal and they would not file a recovery plan. Therefore, registration is VERY simple.

2. In order to keep program expenses to a minimum, the State of Illinois will conduct a bidding process to secure a long-term sole provider of these pharmaceutical safes including a monthly fee for removal. As an example: Sharps MedSafe sells 16 and 38-gallon safes that meet USDEA requirements. The cost of monthly pick-up for the 38-gallon safe is $224 per month and bi-weekly pick-up is $400 per month. These fees include the cost of the safe and the mailing of a new liner prior to the expiration of the existing liner. Given the scale of this program, it is not unreasonable to believe that via an RFP the State of Illinois could obtain a significant savings on the aforementioned fees.

3. These pharmaceutical safes would be located at every municipal law enforcement location, every county sheriff’s office, and the law enforcement office of every university, college, and junior college. According to the FBI’s Law Enforcement Census, there are approximately 900 law enforcement agencies in Illinois. For purposes of calculation we will assume there are 2,000 police stations in Illinois that fall within the aforementioned categories – although there are probably fewer. For example, the City of Chicago’s website lists 23 police stations. They would be, by far, the largest.

Locating these take-back locations at the aforementioned police stations avoids the serious security concerns and risks that would accompany placing these take-back safes at less secure locations. Please see the attached PDF for statistics that compellingly support this position. Furthermore, this program would instantly have convenient statewide presence particularly in areas that do not have other USDEA approved collection locations.

4. Funding.

a) We have already established the monthly cost of a take-back safe and the approximate number of locations. Setting aside the fact that the State, through an RFP, could negotiate a significantly discounted rate, we are looking at a program cost of approximately $5.4 million (2,000 locations x $224 per month x 12 months). According to the website of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PHARMA), they have 52 members. It is unlikely that every pharmaceutical manufacturer is a member. For example, Wikipedia lists 167 pharmaceutical manufacturers. However, for purposes of our example, we will assume there are only 52 pharmaceutical manufacturers distributing medicine in Illinois. Spread that cost over a minimum of 52 pharmaceutical manufacturers, and the annual cost per manufacturer is $103,846.15. Again, it is probably less because there are likely more than 52 pharmaceutical manufacturers and the state can secure a significantly discounted fee via an RFP. Therefore, the cost could be much less than half of $103,846.

b) Leverage existing dedicated funds to educate consumers. There is an existing fund that was created as a result of Public Act 97-545. The Prescription Pill and Drug Disposal Fund was created and funded by a $20 fine levied against criminal drug offenses. The current balance in the Fund is $84,864. As of this writing, no grants, transfers, or other dissemination of monies have been issued from this Fund. The Illinois Broadcasters Association (IBA) administers a Public Service Announcement (PSA) program. Approximately $100,000 purchases three-months of statewide TV and radio PSA coverage. The IBA will negotiate on this type of effort. For example, we may only want a one-month lead-in. The state negotiates the PSA program and the Fund pays for the consumer education effort. If a one-month lead-in is chosen, the remaining funds are used to develop print/camera ready point-of-sale materials to inform consumers at retail locations.

c) Under Illinois’ e-waste law, retailers make available informational items provided by IEPA. We would propose to do the same here.

As you can see, this plan would create an extremely safe and cost-effective program for medication take-back. The pharmaceutical manufacturers and wholesalers may not be happy with the cost, but the overall safety and efficacy of this program will be worth it.

We’re not sure that any bill will be ready by the end of the veto session in early December, and we’re not sure what any final language will look like at this time, but organized Illinois pharmacy has rolled up their sleeves and worked together to provide viable and positive answers to tough questions from the General Assembly. We encourage you to watch your emails and the ICHP website for more updates and possible calls to action once the legislation is developed and begins to move. Pharmacy can work together to create a positive solution for our patients and our profession!

Election Update – As you all know, Bruce Rauner defeated Governor Pat Quinn and will take over the State’s Executive Office in January. But other than that one major change only one seat in the Illinois General Assembly (Senate District 36 – Quad Cities area) changed party hands out of the 19 Senate and 118 House seats up for election this past November. The change in the Governor’s office now creates the need for both parties to work a little more closely together, but the Democrats have retained super majorities in both chambers, so they can override any veto by the new Governor. Will this mean more of the same or will this be the dawn of a new era in Illinois? You’ll have to stay tuned to see. Happy Holidays!

Medication Safety Pearl
Medication Error Follow-Up

by Renee Advincula, PharmD and Amber Meigs, PharmD, BCPS

NorthShore University HealthSystem consists of four community hospitals in the Chicagoland area with over 800 licensed beds. NorthShore uses a fully integrated electronic medical record system for all services provided. Pharmacy services at NorthShore range from outpatient anticoagulation clinics, retail and specialty pharmacies, and inpatient clinical services pertaining to renal dosing protocols, warfarin dosing consults, clinical monitoring, rounding, medication reconciliation, and patient/family/provider education and teaching.

Healthcare organizations have shifted between punitive versus blame-free cultures when addressing medication errors.^1,2 However, neither of these approaches effectively move individuals toward safer and accountable practice. Over the past several years the idea of Just Culture has been discussed.^1,2 The concept is to emphasize the value of accountability and is influenced more so by a person’s behavioral actions and organizational systems in place rather than outcome.^1,2 Historically, no formal, standardized process existed within pharmacy that managers could use as they follow-up on reported medication errors made throughout the health system. Follow-up activities on adverse drug events (ADEs) were dependent on the individual manager and could range from no intervention to an overly punitive one. Standardization of processes play a vital role in ensuring proper follow-up to medication errors is made.

In order to standardize the system, the pharmacy department developed an algorithm to help managers follow-up on medication errors in a fair, consistent manner. The tool provides a consistent process for accountability, disregard for whether the event caused harm, and support for people to have a chance to improve.² It was developed to help guide the pharmacy managers when to counsel/coach employees who made an error and when steps toward corrective action may be needed.²

In order to maintain uniformity, we had to clearly define the terms used in the algorithm. Furthermore, we needed to delineate expectations for how each manager would use the algorithm. Managers are expected to investigate the adverse drug event (ADE) and determine if it was an error, a difference in clinical judgment, or a mistake. A mistake occurred when an employee knew the right course of action to take, but forgot or missed it in this instance.² Errors were divided into system errors, knowledge deficit/communication issues, or failure to follow policy or procedure.² It is important to note that if a knowledge deficit or mistake occurs repeatedly, additional follow-up and corrective action may result.² To allow for behavior changes and people’s “records to be cleared”, repetitive errors and mistakes are recorded and tracked over a rolling 12 month period. When following up on an event/error, the manager works through the algorithm to determine the course of action.

Barriers in this practice can be inconsistency of documentation of the error or follow-up, not having an automatic way for managers to track the usage of the algorithm – so it remains a manual process, and managers failing to remember to use the algorithm upon follow-up.

As this process has been recently implemented in the pharmacy department, initial feedback from managers has been positive in that it is helpful when speaking to employees and provides a consistent method and standard for event follow-up. We are still working on a way to automate the use of the algorithm to track and trend event follow-up.

Reference:

Our long journey towards a safety-minded Just Culture. ISMP Medication Safety Alert (7 Sep. 2006). www.ismp.org (accessed 2014 Sept).
Medication Safety Intensive: Outcome Engenuity, LLC., and ISM. The Just Culture Algorithm. Version 3.1. ISMP Medication Safety Intensive Meeting. Boston, MA. 2012. Available at: www.justculture.org.

New Practitioners Network
How to Stand Out in a Revolutionary Time

by Shubha Bhat, PharmD, University of Illinois at Chicago

In today’s times, healthcare is undergoing an extraordinary reform and there is a demand for pharmacists to gain provider recognition and become better integrated in patient care. These changes are empowering and should inspire new practitioners to stand out and advocate for the profession. By doing so, one can truly practice at the height of his or her license. Listed below are opportunities to help you stand out:

Complete postgraduate training (residencies, fellowships). Postgraduate training is equivalent to approximately three years of work experience and consists of a wide variety of clinical, administrative, and research experiences. These programs develop and further refine skills in leadership, communication, and project management. Depending on your area of interest, specialization may be possible. Ultimately, postgraduate training serves as an excellent stepping stone for one’s career.^1-3
Obtain certifications and credentials. Numerous certifications and credentials are available through various organizations. For example, the American Pharmacist Association (APhA) provides certificate programs in immunizations, diabetes, and medication therapy management.⁴ The American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) Academy offers programs in teaching and learning, leadership and management, and research and scholarship.⁵ Furthermore, to enhance your position, consider advocating for the accreditation of your practice site and services (i.e., Diabetes Education Accreditation Program offered by American Association of Diabetes Educators or ACHC or URAC for specialty pharmacies). Lastly, consider obtaining board certification, offered in ambulatory care, pharmacotherapy, pediatrics, nuclear pharmacy, nutrition support, oncology, psychiatry, and critical care.⁶ While there is not an official mandate requiring pharmacists to sit for this exam, certain pharmacy organizations are supporting board certification for more expanded responsibilities such as provider status.⁷
Get involved in pharmacy organizations. There are an abundance of professional groups ranging from local, state, and national levels. For example, two pharmacy organizations in Illinois are the Illinois Council of Health-System Pharmacists (ICHP) and Illinois Pharmacists Association (IPhA). On a national level, organizations besides APhA and ACCP include American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) and National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA). Furthermore, depending on expertise, pharmacists may be involved with multidisciplinary organizations, such as the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM). Consider dedicating your time to one or two organizations and join committees or run for office. Through accepting responsibilities, your leadership and time management skills will be noticed. Furthermore, networking opportunities are immense and considering that pharmacy is a small world, it is always beneficial to have colleagues everywhere.
Engage in research. Advancement of practice is crucial and is often spearheaded by research. Whether performing a quality improvement project or a randomized control study, try to identify venues for publication. Through this process, you can refine your manuscript writing skills and make yourself visible through other mediums (i.e., journals, Internet). If attending a professional meeting, submit an abstract and present a poster. Additionally, take time to identify other posters of interest and engage in a conversation with the presenting author. This will allow you to network and potentially strengthen your understanding of research methodology. While it takes many years to become an expert researcher, consider enrolling in a research program or identify resources available at your institution to help refine your skills in data collection, statistical analysis, or study design.
Expand your educational background. Consider obtaining an additional degree, such as Juris Doctorate (JD) or Masters in public health, toxicology, business administration, or hospital administration. These degrees, in combination with the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree, can lead to unique career opportunities or permit you to offer additional services.
Identify and adopt mentors. As new practitioners, we may all have similar credentials, but every individual’s experience and journey to achieving those credentials is different. Learn from others’ experiences and identify opportunities as they arise, whether it involves partnering on a research project or being delegated a certain task. When you develop a good rapport, many more doors of opportunity will open.

There are a variety of opportunities to help you stand out and practice at the height of your license. In this revolutionary time, all new practitioners have taken the first step to standing out by becoming a pharmacist. Our profession is on the verge of becoming more desired, more meaningful, and most of all, more appreciated. By taking the stand to distinguish yourself, you will find a more rewarding career while making profound contributions back to the profession. So as a new practitioner, why not commit to standing out today in these revolutionary times? After all, as Dr. Suess once said, “Why fit in when you were born to stand out?”

References

Clark SJ. A vision for the future of pharmacy residency training. Am J Health Syst Pharm. 2014;71:1196-8.
McCarthy BC Jr, Weber LM. Update on factors motivating pharmacy students to pursue residency and fellowship training. Am J Health Syst Pharm. 2013;70:1397-403.
Parker RB, Ellingrod V, DiPiro JT, Bauman JL, Blouin RA, Welage LS. Preparing clinical pharmacy scientists for career in clinical/translational research: can we meet the challenge? Pharmacotherapy. 2013;33:e337-46.
APhA Training Programs; American Pharmacists Association; 2014 [resource on World Wide Web]. Available at: http://www.pharmacist.com/apha-training-programs. Accessed 2014 August 25.
ACCP Academy; American College of Clinical Pharmacy; 2014 [resource on World Wide Web]. Available at: http://www.accp.com/academy/. Accessed 2014 August 25.
Board of Pharmacy Specialties; 2014 [resource on World Wide Web]. Available at: http://www.bpsweb.org/. Accessed 2014 August 25.
Haines ST. Does board certification really matter? Pharmacotherapy. 2014;34:799-802.

Board of Pharmacy Update
Highlights from the November Meeting

by Scott A. Meyers, Executive Vice President

The November 18th Board of Pharmacy Meeting was held at the James R. Thompson Center at Randolph and LaSalle Streets in Chicago. These are the highlights of that meeting.

Election of 2015 Board Officers – The officers of the Board for 2015 are as follows:

Chair – Yash Patel

Vice-Chair – Ned Milenkovich

MPJE Item Review – Several members of the Board participated in a review of current test items (questions) for the Multi-State Jurisprudence Examination (MPJE) at the NABP headquarters in September. Test items are reviewed in the fall to determine continued reliability and applicability to current statutes and regulations for pharmacy practice in Illinois. New test items that have gone through pilot testing are also reviewed and if appropriate incorporated into the MPJE for future exam forms. Each spring, Board members participate in an item-writing workshop to create new items for the MPJE which will be tested during future exam administrations but not counted in the final score for applicants.

Legislative Update – Scott Meyers, ICHP Executive Vice President, presented a very brief update on the veto session scheduled for the third week in November and the first week in December. The Illinois House Heroin Task Force has asked the three pharmacy organizations (ICHP, IRMA, and IPhA) for input on a heroin bill that may appear during the veto session. The task force was looking to create mandatory statewide medication take-back programs (including controlled substances), expanded access to naloxone and a tightening of the regulations for the Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP). All three organizations worked together to craft language related to the mandatory medication take-back program and the expanded access to naloxone. More details appear in this issue’s GAS From Springfield.

NABP Forum – The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy conducted a forum this fall for Board Executive Directors. The Illinois Board of Pharmacy does not have an Executive Director, so the Division of Professional Regulation Director Jay Stewart attended on behalf of Illinois. Director Stewart was a featured speaker at that event, presenting on Illinois’ Medical Marijuana law. Approximately 45 states were represented. The next NABP Forum will be held on December 2-4 for Board members. Yash Patel will attend and represent the Illinois Board.

Rules Update – Board General Counsel, Daniel Kelber reported that the final Controlled Substance Act Rules will be heard by the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR) in December. The comments received on the current draft of the Pharmacy Practice Act Rules are still being reviewed and evaluated, and the Department’s hope is that the final draft will be presented to JCAR in March. If approved by JCAR, the implementation would begin immediately with some leeway for the more dramatic changes to take place. More specifics will come from the Department at the time of approval.

NABP District IV Meeting – The District IV meeting took place in Cleveland and was hosted by the Cleveland Clinic. The theme of the meeting was “Breaking Down Barriers” and included barriers between pharmacists and physicians, and hospital pharmacists and community pharmacists. There was significant discussion around technician licensing and registration as Wisconsin and Ohio do not yet require either, and Michigan recently passed legislation to do so. In addition, the District members discussed a national resolution to tighten the PMP of all states to require the prescriber to access it whenever prescribing a controlled substance.

Drug Security and Quality Act – The Board briefly discussed the need to make changes to the Illinois Wholesale Drug Distribution Licensing Act in order to be in compliance with new federal standards related to sterile compounding outsourcing facilities. We will keep you informed as the changes are being drafted.

Open Session for Audience Questions and Comments – As occurred at the July Board of Pharmacy Meeting, the Local Teamsters Union representatives and several pharmacist members requested that the Board of Pharmacy initiate, or if not able to initiate, then support legislation that would create workload standards for community pharmacy. Their concern is patient safety and the recent reductions in staffing by community chain pharmacy employers of both pharmacist and pharmacy technician employees. They cited a variety of scenarios where patient harm could occur and ask the Board to intercede for the safety of Illinois’ citizens. The Board members informed the group that the Board does not initiate legislation for any reason and urged the group to work with the established pharmacy organizations to deal with this problem.

Next Board of Pharmacy Meeting – The next meeting of the Illinois Board of Pharmacy will be held at 10:30 AM on Tuesday, January 13th at the James R. Thompson Center in Chicago. Pharmacy professionals are welcome to attend the open portion of this meeting.

ICHPeople

Congratulations to ICHP staff member, Heidi Sunday, on her 20 year anniversary at ICHP! Heidi serves as ICHP's Information Systems Manager. Email Heidi your congratulations at heidis@ichpnet.org.

Congratulations to ICHP member, Noelle Chapman, on the birth of her daughter, Farrah Breese Marsch Chapman. Farrah entered the world on October 9, 2014 at 10:26am, weighing 7 lb. and 19 in. long.

College Connections

ASHP Clinical Skills Competition

by Courtney Makowski, P2, SSHP President, Roosevelt University College of Pharmacy

The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists’ Clinical Skills Competition is an event where pharmacy students in the midst of their academic careers can work on improving their clinical skills. In this team-based interaction, students are put to the challenge of diagnosing and treating a primary health problem as well as addressing a patient’s total medicinal needs. As a meek second year student, heading into an “anything goes” academic competition was beyond intimidating. However, I came to realize that the Clinical Skills Competition is about much more than just enhancing didactic and clinical skills. During a short two hour competition I was able to not only apply knowledge, but to discover that things like cooperation and communication are vital for any pharmacist wishing to practice in a clinical setting.

Applying knowledge is clearly a necessity in the appropriate diagnosis and treatment of any patient’s medical problems or disease states. However, with the topic of the competition being a subject not yet covered in my two-year PharmD curriculum, knowledge specific to the case was anything but inherent. Instead, my partner and I had to rely on recognizing abnormalities in lab values as well as clinical presentation, as well as signs and symptoms to determine an adequate treatment plan for the patient. Personally, this showed me that being a successful clinical pharmacist is about recognizing the basic abnormalities and applying them to a bigger problem. For example, in this case simple measurements like a comprehensive metabolic panel, electrocardiogram results, and a patient’s vital signs were key to understanding the bigger picture.

Not only was capitalizing on basic skills key to success, utilizing resources was even more crucial. Regardless of being slightly “green” in my career as a student pharmacist, the Clinical Skills Competition taught me that whether I am a student or a practicing pharmacist, if I am not completely confident in the disease state or how to recommend treatment regimens, referring to resources is mandatory. Yet again, playing on information taught in basic classes was necessary. Without knowing the correct way to search for drug and disease state information, our team would have crumbled.

Effective communication has been highlighted as the core of any successful healthcare team since day one of my PharmD career. During the Clinical Skills Competition, this was also the case. Four hours may seem like more than enough allotted time, but completing all the necessary requirements of the competition would have been impossible without teamwork. Thankfully for me, I was partnered with a fellow P2, whom I collaborate well with. Nonetheless, each team was tested not only on the case, but also on effective communication. In a real clinical team, responsibilities may be split up among members and then discussed as a whole. This was the mentality our team put into action. We divided the research and once we both had a grasp of potential treatments, we deliberated as a team. This competition, as well as this research mentality, showed me the importance of appreciating the opinions and expertise of my colleagues and other healthcare providers on a healthcare team.

Originally, I joined the competition to gain more experience evaluating and working up clinical patient cases. However, after experiencing the Clinical Skills Competition, I have a deeper understanding of the importance of both knowledge and cooperation when recommending patient treatment. As the national competition approaches at the ASHP Midyear meeting in Anaheim, I hope that these skills will propel my team’s success yet again, but even if winning is not in our future, the information I gained was more than worth the experience.

The Evolution of a P4 Student

by Dina Yousif, P4, Chicago State University College of Pharmacy

The time has finally come. It is the year that every pharmacy student envisions from the very first day of P1 year, and the year that every P3 student impatiently awaits as the feeling of senioritis takes over. It is the day we finally become the seniors on campus, yet we fear not knowing enough as we are thrown out into the real world to face direct patient care and clinical practice. As I reflect back to my didactic courses, I can confidently say that Chicago State University College of Pharmacy has equipped me with a plethora of tools to succeed in various pharmacy settings, ranging from pharmacokinetics to how to master a patient counseling session. I even had the opportunity to get involved in several organizations on campus to develop leadership skills. However, one thing they do not tell you in pharmacy school is EXACTLY what your calling is and where you will end up working when you graduate. They tell you that you will figure it out, and that you may change your mind multiple times throughout your rotations. Maybe that holds true for every other pharmacy student, but I knew I wanted to be an inpatient clinical pharmacist from my first experience on an IPPE rotation during P2 year. Or so I thought. Working on a multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals who share a similar passion for patient care was inspiring to me.

Since the beginning of my APPE rotations in May, I have learned more than I can wrap my head around, about myself and my future calling as a pharmacist. I have the utmost respect for inpatient clinical pharmacists, but I have come to the shocking realization that my love for pharmacy does not stop at inpatient clinical pharmacy. My module 2 rotation was at the Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic in Oak Lawn, IL, where I spent six weeks specializing in ambulatory care with a focus in diabetes with my professor and capstone research mentor, Dr. Diana Isaacs. It was after this rotation that I had a clear vision of what I wanted to do after graduation. Prior to that rotation, I had learned about ambulatory care but never truly understood what it entailed. It was during that module that I discovered I loved ambulatory care; it was a cross between clinical pharmacy in a hospital setting with a touch of retail pharmacy. Each day, I looked forward to meeting my patients, which usually consisted of an older population of men who had served our country. It was the greatest feeling knowing that I had exchanged a handshake, built a direct patient-pharmacist relationship and improved their diabetes regimen. They had wonderful stories to make me laugh and graciously wished me luck on the next step of my education.

Looking back, I realize that my love for direct patient care first started when I became a Walgreens Pharmacy intern in 2009. One thing I have discovered about myself during rotations is that I enjoy being in an outpatient setting, whether it is retail or ambulatory care. I enjoy having the opportunity to manage chronic disease states while building life-long relationships with my patients. While I thought I had my future goals figured out, I realized that being solely in the inpatient setting did not fulfill my desires to directly communicate with patients as much as I wanted to. I found myself getting most excited to do medication reconciliation solely because it allowed me to perform medication histories and directly speak to patients. I do love being surrounded by a multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals who inspire and motivate me; I was excited to learn that ambulatory care pharmacists also work on these teams.

Words of Wisdom

A lot of career-driven decisions a student makes will be influenced by their experiences on rotation. Thoughts and visions can be changed as you experience different aspects of pharmacy and work closely with inspiring preceptors. It is challenging to figure out what career path to take. The key is to determine what truly makes you happy and to also keep an open-mind to new experiences. Currently, I am exploring ambulatory and community residency programs with hopes to provide the best patient care and make a difference to patients in my community.

Season of Giving: Blanket Making for Local Dialysis Center Patients

by Kate Henderson, P3, Professional Practice Chair and Cassandra Collins, P3, Secretary, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

For those who are unaware, it is often freezing in a dialysis center. Almost every patient who undergoes dialysis complains about the cold. There are, of course, many factors that can cause a dialysis patient to be cold, including anemia secondary to chronic kidney disease, the dialysate itself, or simply having to sit absolutely still for four hours.

Many patients are forced to bring with them what amounts to full winter gear in an effort to stay warm. Even in the height of summer, patients often wear sweat suits, winter hats and gloves, and, if they have one, a portable blanket. However, many patients forget to bring this gear, or cannot afford a nice enough blanket that can keep them warm.

This is where we came in. We are the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Pharmacy (SIUE SOP) chapter of the Student Society of Health Systems Pharmacy (SSHP). Our chapter really wanted to reach out to the community and offer whatever help we could provide. We decided to contact the local dialysis center and see if there was a need for blankets. As it turned out, the answer was yes - yes there was. A rather urgent need.

We decided to put the might of the SSHP behind a blanket making drive, in order to make a fleece tie blanket for every dialysis patient currently receiving treatment at the local dialysis center.

Step one: We contacted various chain stores to determine the best deal on fabric. The best deal available was from Hobby Lobby.

Step two: We negotiated financing with our Treasurer. We determined that due to prior successful fundraising, we, as an organization, would be able to buy all of the fabric required.

Step three: We sent our Community Chair, Taylor Hunt and our Treasurer, Bryant McNeely to procure the enormous amount of fabric needed to make at least 45 blankets.

Step four: We recruited and put to work about 20 school of pharmacy volunteers to make the blankets in two separate blanket making sessions. For those who have never made tie blankets, it is incredibly simple and only requires a pair of sharp scissors and the ability to tie a knot. Anyone and everyone can do it! The blankets are wrapped in ribbon, and a small tag with the saying, “Happiness is a warm blanket,” is fixed to them.

The final step: We delivered the blankets to the patients. The dialysis center stated that only one person would be needed for this step, but when mentioned to the Board of SSHP, that everyone wanted to become involved. In order to accommodate everyone who wanted to participate, we came up with a system of shifts to take place over two days during the week of delivery.

For those wondering about the title, this blanket drive will reach fruition right before Thanksgiving. This holiday, for us, is about giving back to the community in a meaningful way that can significantly improve many people’s quality of life. This might sound like a lofty goal for something as minor as making blankets, but the truth is, small gestures speak louder than big ones. We are making a difference in any way possible; one blanket at a time.

Officers and Board of Directors

LINDA FRED

President

217-383-3253
linda.fred@carle.com

MIKE FOTIS
Immediate Past President
michael.fotis@northwestern.edu

JENNIFER PHILLIPS
President-Elect
630-515-7167
jphillips@midwestern.edu

GINGER ERTEL
Treasurer
660-342-5022
gertel@msn.com

CHARLENE HOPE

Secretary

773-292-8200 x4190

chope@nahospital.org

TRAVIS HUNERDOSSE
Director, Educational Affairs
thunerdo@nmh.org

CARRIE VOGLER

Director, Marketing Affairs

217-545-5394

cvogler@siue.edu

DESI KOTIS
Director, Professional Affairs

312-926-6961
dkotis@nmh.org

KATHY KOMPERDA
Director, Organizational Affairs
630-515-6168
kkompe@midwestern.edu

KATHRYN SCHULTZ

Director, Government Affairs

312-926-6961

kathryn_schultz@rush.edu

MIKE WEAVER
Chairman, House of Delegates
815-599-6113
mweaver@fhn.org

ANA FERNANDEZ

Technician Representative

312-926-6980

abfernan@nmh.org

DAVID TJHIO
Chairman, Committee on Technology
816-885-4649
david.tjhio@cerner.com

BRANDI STRADER

Chairman, New Practitioners Network

217-544-6464

brandi.strader@hshs.org

JACOB GETTIG
Editor & Chairman, KeePosted Committee
630-515-7324 fax: 630-515-6958
jgetti@midwestern.edu

JENNIFER PHILLIPS
Assistant Editor, KeePosted
630-515-7167
jphillips@midwestern.edu

SCOTT MEYERS
Executive Vice President, ICHP Office
815-227-9292
scottm@ichpnet.org

Regional Directors

NOELLE CHAPMAN
Regional Director North

312-926-2547

nchapman@nmh.org

JENNIFER ARNOLDI
Regional Director Central
jennifer.arnoldi@st-johns.org

LYNN FROMM
Co-Regional Director South

618-391-5539

frommL@andersonhospital.org

TARA VICKERY-GORDON
Co-Regional Director South

618-643-2361 x2330

tvgordon@hmhospital.org

Student Chapter Presidents

KEVIN CHANG
President, Student Chapter
University of IL C.O.P.
kchang29@uic.edu

JULIA SAPOZHNIKOV
Student Chapter Liaison
University of IL C.O.P.
sapozhn1@uic.edu

NEHA KAPUR
President, Rockford Student Chapter
University of IL C.O.P.
kapur4@uic.edu

CAROLYN TOY
President, Student Chapter

Midwestern University C.O.P.
ctoy59@midwestern.edu

MARIA LAURA ITUAH
President, Student Chapter
Chicago State University C.O.P.

mituah@csu.edu

KIMBERLEE KABBES
President, Student Chapter
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville S.O.P
kikabbe@siue.edu

COURTNEY MAKOWSKI
President, Student Chapter
Roosevelt University C.O.P.

cmakowski@mail.roosevelt.edu

AMANDA OUTINEN
President, Student Chapter
Rosalind Franklin University C.O.P.
Amanda.outinen@my.rfums.org

ICHP Affiliates

GARY PEKSA
President, Northern IL Society (NISHP)

gary_D_peksa@rush.edu

JULIA SCHIMMELPFENNIG
President, Metro East Society (MESHP)
jschimmelpfen@sebh.org

MEGAN METZKE
President, Sangamiss Society
memiller8@yahoo.com

ED RAINVILLE
President, West Central Society (WSHP)
309-655-7331x
ed.c.rainville@osfhealthcare.org

Vacant Roles at Affiliates —
President, Rock Valley Society; Southern IL Society; Sugar Creek Society

Welcome New Members!

New Member	Recruiter
Patricia Morgan
Haneen Ghanayem
Ameera Azmeh
Selina Ayoub
Neveen Eed
Bee Greulich	Christine Lo
Amy Blocher
Ryan Trieglaff
Aaliya Aslam
Sanya Siddiqui
Daniel Dinh
Megan Hartranft	Kathryn Schultz
Bryan McCarthy
Tina Spriggs	Charlene Hope
Diana Nowicki
Faith Anomachi
Jorie Kreitman
Mark Sundh
Jacqueline Knightly
Beata Lawniczuk
Hayoung Kim
Hung Thang
Jennifer Tran
Jonnah Song
Lisander Vainiko
Alexandria Sweetman
Tu Anh Vo
Valentin Pacuraru
Maria Resendiz
Dalia Aguiler
Andrew Budzynski
Anastasiya Koshkina
Margaret Olson
Alfunzo Kim

ICHP Pharmacy Action Fund (PAC) Contributors

Names below reflect donations between December 1, 2013 and December 1, 2014. Giving categories reflect each person's cumulative donations since inception.

ADVOCACY ALLIANCE - $2500-$10000

Kevin Colgan

Edward Donnelly

Dave Hicks

Frank Kokaisl

Michael Novario

LINCOLN LEAGUE - $1000-$2499

Scott Bergman

Andrew Donnelly

Ginger Ertel

Linda Fred

James Owen Consulting Inc.

Jan Keresztes

Kathy Komperda

Despina Kotis

William McEvoy

Scott Meyers

Michael Rajski

Edward Rickert

Christina Rivers

Michael Short

Carrie Sincak

Miriam Mobley-Smith

Avery Spunt

Michael Weaver

Patricia Wegner

Thomas Westerkamp

CAPITOL CLUB - $500-$999

Sheila Allen

Margaret Allen

Rauf Dalal

Drury Lane Theater

Ann Jankiewicz

Leonard Kosiba

George MacKinnon

Janette Mark

Mary Lynn Moody

Edward Rainville

JoAnn Stubbings

UIC Student Chapter

Jill Warszalek

GENERAL ASSEMBLY GUILD - $250-$499

Tom Allen

Pete Antonopoulos

Peggy Bickham

Jaime Borkowski

Sandra Durley

Nancy Fjortoft

Michael Fotis

Travis Hunerdosse

Zahra Khudeira

Ann Kuchta

Mary Lee

Gloria Meredith

Jennifer Phillips

Justin Schneider

Kathryn Schultz

Heidi Sunday

Alan Weinstein

SPRINGFIELD SOCIETY - $100-$249

Jen Arnoldi

Jerry Bauman

Jill Borchert

Donna Clay

Mark Deaton

John Esterly

Gireesh Gupchup

Joann Haley

Joan Hardman

Charlene Hope

Diana Isaacs

Kim Janicek

Stan Kent

Kati Kwasiborski

Kristopher Leja

Ronald Miller

New Practitioners Network

Karen Nordstrom

Peggy Reed

Katie Ronald

Brandi Strader

Jennifer Tryon

Carrie Vogler

Marie Williams

William Wuller

Cindy Wuller

GRASSROOTS GANG - $50-$99

Brett Barker

Susan Berg

Jeanne Durley

Mary Eilers

Lara Ellinger

Clara Gary

Tory Gunderson

Carol Heunisch

Brian Hoff

Robert Hoy

Mike Koronkowski

Kim Lim

Mark Luer

Bella Maningat

Milena McLaughlin

Megan Metzke

Katherine Miller

Mark Ruscin

Stacy Schmittling

Evanna Shopoff

Lucas Stoller

Jerry Storm

Dave Willman

Janeen Winneke

Amanda Wolff

CONTRIBUTOR - $1-$49

Renee Advincula

Yinka Alaka

Lisa Ball

Roger Ball

Marci Batsakis

Greg Biedron

Amy Boblitt

John Chaney

Kathy Cimakasky

Mardhia Dayisi

Andreea Ducu

Veronica Flores

Deb Fox

Janice Frueh

Crystin Gloude

Linda Grider

Alisa Groesch

Rebekah Hanson

Margaret Heger

Ina Henderson

Julie Kasap

Dijana Keljalic

Nehrin Khamo

Josephine Kochou

Huda-Marie Kuttab

Irvin Laubscher

Chris Little

Kristopher Lozanovski

Laura Mazzone

Kit Moy

Syed Munawer

Whitney Palecek

Hina Patel

Abby Reeder

Cheryl Scantlen

Elba Sertuche

Hannah Sheley

Chris Shoemaker

Carrie Silverman

Theophilus Simon

Jennifer Splawski

Gloria Sporleder

David Tjhio

Zakarri Vinson

Michael Wilcox

Christina Yates

Thomas Yu

Click here to make a donation to the PAC.

Upcoming Events

Visit the ICHP Calendar for the most up-to-date events!

Thursday, December 4 & Friday, December 19

LIVE Webinar! An Ebola Primer for Pharmacy Professionals

Pharmacist & Technician specific Champion Webinar

Monday, December 8

Illinois Reception at the Midyear

Anaheim Hilton, Ballroom D | Anaheim, CA

Tuesday, January 13

LIVE CPE Program! The Role of Dalbavancin and Oritavancin in the treatment of Acute Bacterial Skin and Skin Structure Infections (ABSSSI)

Pharmacist specific Sangamiss Program

Brickhouse Grill & Pub | Springfield, IL

Thursday, January 15 & Wednesday, January 28

LIVE Webinar! Incorporating Pediatric Medication Safety in your Health System

Pharmacist & Technician specific Champion Webinar

Tuesday, February 10 & Thursday, February 19

LIVE Webinar! Technicians – Keeping Pharmacy Safe

Technician specific Champion Webinar

Print Entire Issue

November 2021

KeePosted Info

Feature

Important Continuing Education News HealthSystemCE.org is shutting down as of Jan. 1, 2015

Columns

President's Message Collaboration at the National Level

Directly Speaking The No Shave November Challenge

Educational Affairs Primer: Moving toward High-Reliability Pharmacy Practice

The GAS From Springfield A Pharmaceutical Waste Plan That Could Work!

Medication Safety Pearl Medication Error Follow-Up

New Practitioners Network How to Stand Out in a Revolutionary Time

Board of Pharmacy Update Highlights from the November Meeting