82. AI Framework for Medication Management with Janjri Desai, PharmD, MBA, DPLA, and Seth Hartman, PharmD, MBA

Dr. Kim Benner is the current ASHP President, Professor of Pharmacy Practice at Samford University McWhorter School of Pharmacy and a Pediatric Clinical Specialist at Children’s of Alabama. We talk through her goals for this year as ASHP President including her inaugural theme of pharmacy “on our way” and her advice to those looking to get involved! 

Dr. Jordan Dow is the Vice President and Chief Pharmacy Officer at Froedtert ThedaCare. We talk through the things he is currently working on as a CPO including addressing capacity challenges, specialty pharmacy network access and growing ambulatory infusion suites as part of their infusion strategy. It’s an insightful episode highlighting top issues in the profession!

In 2005 Sara J White published a leadership survey in AJHP titled “Will there be a pharmacy leadership crises?”As a follow up to that study, David Chen, Bill Kernan, and I worked with ASHP’s Section of Pharmacy Practice Leaders Executive Committee to update the national pharmacy leadership survey. The survey and results were published in a recent article in AJHP titled “Pharmacy Executive and Mid-Level Manager Perceptions of Leadership in Contemporary Health-System Pharmacy”. We talk through the origins of the survey, key results and what do as next steps with the information gathered. Dr. Bill Kernan, PharmD, MBA, FASHP, is the Director of Pharmacy at Orlando Health Watson Clinic Lakeland Highlands Hospital in Orlando, Florida. David Chen, RPh, MBA, is the Vice President for Pharmacy Leadership and Planning at ASHP.

Dr. Desai is the Interim Vice President for Pharmacy Services at Stanford Health Care and Dr. Hartman is the Vice President for Clinical Applications and Chief Pharmacy Information Officer at University of Chicago Medicine. They recently published a white paper titled “Advancing the Autonomous Pharmacy: Leveraging AI to Transform Medication Management.” Learn about their paper and more about AI in this great episode!

Kate Schaafsma, PharmD, MS, MBA, FASHP is the Vice President and Chief Pharmacy Officer at Rush University System for Health. Dr. Schaafsma started over a year ago in her role and we talk through the onboarding of a Chief Pharmacy Officer as well as her first year in the role! 

Robert Mancini, PharmD, BCOP, FHOPA is the current President of HOPA and the Oncology Pharmacy Program Coordinator and PGY2 Oncology Residency Program Director at St Luke’s Cancer Institute in Boise, ID. Dr. Mancini talks through his priorities for HOPA this year and the latest in the world of oncology!

Melanie Dodd, PharmD, PhC, BCPS, FASHP, is the current President of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) and the Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs and Professor at the University of New Mexico College of Pharmacy. Dr. Dodd talks through her priorities for ASHP this year, her involvement in the progressive New Mexico Society of Health-System Pharmacists, and her advice to those looking to get involved!

Jami Mann, PharmD, MBA, is the Executive Director of Virtual Care Services at UNC Health. Dr. Mann has a pharmacy background - I was fortunate enough to serve as one of her preceptors in residency - and then went outside of pharmacy 5 years ago to lead virtual care for UNC Health. You’ll hear about her path along with how virtual care fares in the post-COVID world. It will get your wheels turning as mine did on how we can further our virtual care offerings to expand care overall. We also talk about leadership and how to utilize your skill sets to lead an unchartered area and do it through authenticity. It’s an episode you don’t want to miss!

Vibhuti Arya, PharmD, MPH, is a Clinical Professor at St. John’s University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and is an Advisor for Policy, Resilience and Response for the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.She has worked for the past 15 years to bridge the gap between healthcare, well-being, and equity. A racial dialogue expert, Dr. Arya brings together her experiences in social justice, education, theatre, and mindfulness to create brave spaces for people and systems to intentionally work towards dismantling structural racism.In her role at the Department of Health, she works to integrate pharmacists into public health initiatives, particularly among high-risk, medically underserved areas in NYC, and advises on legislation. Dr. Arya is a Global Lead for Gender Equity and Diversity Workforce Development for the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP). She recently gave a TEDx talk on structural racism.We talk through many things including how to continue the work around equity, social justice, and inclusion!

Stephen Eckel, PharmD, MHA, FAPhA, FASHP, FCCP, is the Associate Dean for Global Engagement and an Associate Professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. He is the Residency Program Director for the Health System Pharmacy Administration and Leadership Residency at UNC Medical Center (he was also my RPD!). Dr. Eckel is also the co-founder of ChemoGlo and founder of Assure Medical Technologies, LLC. We talk through leadership training and his involvement in FIP and global pharmacy practice. In addition, he has a passion for entrepreneurship and we talk through how he has identified business opportunities and has created successful companies from them. It's a jam packed episode and one you don't want to miss!