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I get by with a little help from my New Practitioner friends
I've been thoroughly enjoying the recent discussions to the Task Force on Organizational Structure Connect Community. Last week, participants posted their thoughts on engaging technicians, increasing new practitioner involvement, and continuing delegate participation throughout the entire year (not just leading up to and attendance at the House of Delegates). Some really thought-provoking questions with creative ideas offered. All of this chatter has encouraged me to share the February edition of the ASHP New Practitioners Forum Executive Committee (NPFEC) Message. The monthly message is written by different members of the NPFEC throughout the year and shared with all ASHP new practitioners. The February 2013 message aligns with the Task Force Community's request to engage members and to talk about policies all year-round (and not just at specified times of the year).

Have you been wondering what the ASHP Councils and Commissions have been working on over the past few months?  I know I have!  I caught up with the designated new practitioner representative on these committees and would like to share a few of their updates with you: 

Council on Education and Workforce Development: A proposed policy - Pharmacy Resident and Student Roles in New Practice Models - will appear in front of the House of Delegates at the 2013 ASHP Summer Meeting.  This policy expands on previous ASHP policies and emphasizes that learning occurs in teams and by teams.  It asserts that the entire pharmacy team should be involved in the successful training of students and residents, and this training should occur in an interprofessional, team-based environment when possible.  As the health care environment continues to rapidly evolve in the era of health care reform, the training of pharmacists must also evolve in order to meet the needs of our patients, collaborate with the health care team, and reach the goals of the Pharmacy Practice Model Initiative (PPMI). 

Council on Pharmacy Practice: The Council on Pharmacy Practice voted on a working document:The Role of Pharmacists in Sports Pharmacy and Doping Control.  This statement encourages pharmacists to engage in community outreach programs that educate athletes on the risks associated with performance-enhancing substances.  This is an important hot topic, especially given the recent news events involving performance-enhancing substances.  New practitioners can have a big impact in this area as it is a newer issue for pharmacists to provide clinical knowledge and participate in public education programs. 

Council on Therapeutics: Members of the Council on Therapeutics have been focusing on policy related to the pharmacist's role in preventing medication overuse.  Per the Council, medication overuse can be defined by: medication use without an indication, therapeutic duplication, inappropriate therapy duration, or a specific instance where the potential risks outweigh the potential benefits for the patient.  In addition to potential adverse drug events and other patient harm, the Council believes that medication overuse represents a significant system burden through increased overall health care costs and wasted time/resources spent preparing and administering unneeded medications.  The Council strongly believes that pharmacists should take a leadership role in interprofessional efforts to address medication overuse, similar to current efforts in antimicrobial stewardship.    

Commission on Affiliate Relations: The Commission on Affiliate Relations has discussed various ways that ASHP can help individual state organizations thrive, particularly in their efforts to promote the PPMI.  Time has been spent talking about optimizing the use of social media on the state level as well as encouraging states to share their success stories with other affiliate organizations. 

Commission on Credentialing: This year, the Commission on Credentialing is working on the new Accreditation Standard for PGY1 Pharmacy Residency Programs.  The prior standard was approved by the Board of Directors in 2005 and took effect January 1, 2007.  Discussions will focus on advancing residency training and identification of the skills/attributes desired in a residency graduate. 


(Note: updates from the Council on Pharmacy Management and Council on Public Policy were unavailable at the time of message publication. Perhaps any member on these two Councils can provide a brief update for the ASHP Connect Community- for completeness sake!)

Do you want to learn more about the Council on Therapeutics' work on medication overuse?  Do you have a personal experience to share with the Council on Education and Workforce Development regarding the pharmacy resident's roles in new practice models?  Post your questions and comments in the New Practitioners Forum Digest to start more chatter! You can also read the rest of the February 2013 NPFEC message or past NPFEC messages to see how new practitioners are staying engaged!
Created By: Christina Martin On: Sun, Feb 17, 2013 05:54 PM

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