Pharmacists Encouraged To Be A Catalyst For Change

Main Category: Pharmacy / Pharmacist
Article Date: 15 Apr 2009 - 7:00 PDT

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The American Pharmacists Association's (APhA) incoming President Ed L. Hamilton of Lake Alfred, Florida, spoke to APhA2009 Annual Meeting attendees during its second general session. The meeting drew nearly 6,200 attendees from a variety of practice settings to San Antonio, Texas, April 3-6. He began his remarks by encouraging pharmacists to guide patients toward better health by serving with passion, professionalism and individualized patient focus during these tough economic times.

Hamilton also spoke of eliminating the silos that exist within the health care delivery system and pharmacy practice to better serve patients. To this end, he talked of APhA's commitment to ensuring that pharmacists are included in the discussions on how to best reform the nation's health care system. "Together with many of our colleague organizations, we developed and are now promoting Pharmacy's Principles of Health Care reform," said Hamilton. The Principles identify what is necessary to fully utilize the medication expertise to address the epidemic of medication misuse. They demonstrate how the nation's pharmacies and pharmacists can play a critical role in providing accessible, affordable and quality health care for patients.

"The current financial crisis has focused us all," said Hamilton. "While we cannot solve the root causes of the economic meltdown, we may help relieve some of the suffering. Our patients are feeling anxiety and stress over job loss, worsening diets due to financial struggles and missed doses due to lost health insurance or other competing priorities."

Hamilton further encouraged attendees to expand their practice to provide broader patient care services and to collaborate with other members of the health care team to improve patient outcomes. "The Association has moved aggressively to ensure that our pharmacists own the medication therapy management (MTM) space," said Hamilton. "No matter what your practice setting is, when we focus on pharmacists' patient care role and its value on health outcomes, the profession's stars will shine."

"As we face the challenges and explore the opportunities that health care reform can bring to our profession, we must stand with a united voice," said Hamilton. "The doors of opportunity will be heavy, but together, standing side by side, tall and proud for the profession that we all dearly love, all pulling in the same direction, we will have the strength to open those doors and many more doors to come."

About the American Pharmacists Association (APhA)

The American Pharmacists Association, founded in 1852 as the American Pharmaceutical Association, represents more than 62,000 practicing pharmacists, pharmaceutical scientists, student pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and others interested in advancing the profession. APhA, dedicated to helping all pharmacists improve medication use and advance patient care, is the first-established and largest association of pharmacists in the United States. APhA members provide care in all practice settings, including community pharmacies, health systems, long-term care facilities, managed care organizations, hospice settings, and the uniformed services.

Source
American Pharmacists Association