Society Discusses Initiatives For Small, Rural Hospitals At Conference

Main Category: Conferences
Also Included In: Pharmacy / Pharmacist
Article Date: 04 Jul 2008 - 4:00 PDT

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ASHP played a key role in a recent national conference to discuss solutions and best practices for improving medication access, use and safety for patients in rural healthcare settings.

The Society was a co-sponsor of the 2008 National Conference on Medication Access, Use and Safety in Rural America with the National Rural Health Association and University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy PREPP Institute in Minneapolis.

During a panel discussion, ASHP's director of government affairs, Brian M. Meyer, M.B.A., shared details of the Society's efforts to push for the inclusion of pharmacists in government loan forgiveness programs, which add incentives for practitioners to work in small and rural hospital settings. He also highlighted the Society's commitment to seek national standards for pharmacy technician education, training, certification and registration to allow pharmacists to devote more time to patient care activities.

Kathryn R. Schultz, Pharm.D., FASHP, a member of the ASHP Board of Directors, also spoke at the conference, emphasizing how ASHP's Section of Inpatient Care Practitioners' Small and Rural Advisory Group works to address issues involving medication access, use and safety. Schultz also pointed to the Society's efforts to achieve goals of its Leadership Agenda, which focuses on improving medication safety and expanding access to pharmacists' patient care services.

American Society of Health-System Pharmacists