Beyond the Sig: Prescription for Transformative Pharmacy Care
PPA has partnered with Pharmacy Podcast to bring you a series of podcasts designed to help community pharmacists implement change and practice transformation. These podcasts are developed in collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy and their Flip The Pharmacy team and paid for through CDC grant funding provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Health to the Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association.
Find Out More:
March 2021 Podcasts
Ep 24:Flip the Pharmacy: 1 Year Later
Notes: In March of 2020, we launched Beyond the Sig by hosting Randy McDonough, Director of Practice Transformation of Flip the Pharmacy, to discuss how the Flip the Pharmacy initiative was supporting pharmacies in practice transformation.
During this episode of Beyond the Sig, PPCN Executive Director Stephanie McGrath sits down with Randy virtually to reflect on the past year, how Flip the Pharmacy has supported pharmacies through the COVID-19 pandemic, and highlight some of the brightest innovations demonstrated by participating pharmacies.
Ep 23: Not All Heroes Wear Capes
Notes: Skippack Pharmacy has been leading mass COVID-19 vaccination efforts in the Schwenksville, Pennsylvania community and their efforts have gained national attention. you might recognize Skippack’s owner as the Superman pharmacist recently featured on Good Morning America. Today, we will hear from two members of the Skippack team, who have been working behind the scenes to help Skippack Pharmacy administer over 10,000 COVID-19 vaccines.
On this episode of Beyond the Sig,third-year student Pharmacist Brook Kulusich chats with Skippack Pharmacy intern, Erica Mabry, and American Pharmacists Association (APhA) Chief of Governance & State affiliates and Executive Director of the APhA Foundation, Mitch Rotholz, who is the policy lead for immunizations for the profession. They share their experiences working together to coordinate these clinics and their perspectives on the future of community pharmacy practice transformation.
February 2021 Podcasts
Ep 22:Demonstrating Value Through a Patient Care Program
On this episode of Beyond the Sig,third-year student Pharmacist Brook Kulusich chats with Eric Yarnell, Vice President of Pharmacy at Gateway Health. He brings both Pharmacist and payer perspective as a member of the Flip the Pharmacy Payer Advisory Board. In this conversation, Eric shares how Gateway Health has worked with a community pharmacy network to implement a patient care program and how community pharmacy enhanced services bring value to health plans.
Ep 21: 1 Vaccine Every 12 Seconds: Strategies for COVID-19 Vaccine Success
On this episode of Beyond the Sig, student pharmacist Brooke Kulusich chats with Pennsylvania Pharmacists Care Network Luminary Molly Beimel, PharmD of St. Marys Pharmacy in St. Marys, Pennsylvania. This independent pharmacy has been a leader in the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, providing over 8,700 COVID-19 vaccines. Molly shares her pharmacy’s step-by-step process for successful vaccine clinics, social media tips, and strategies to engage students and staff.
January 2021 Podcasts
Ep 20: The Road to Provider Status: Lessons from Ohio
On this episode of Beyond the Sig, third-year student pharmacist Brooke Kulusich chats with Kevin Day, PharmD, President of Day’s Miami Heights Pharmacy in Cincinnati, Ohio and Managing Network Facilitator of CPESN Ohio. Kevin shares his insight into the network’s efforts to provide enhanced patient care services and the implications of provider status for pharmacists in Ohio.
Ep 19: Demonstrating Pharmacists’ Value through Quality Metrics
On this episode of Beyond the Sig, third-year student pharmacist Brooke Kulusich sits down with Jeff Covelli, RPh of The Hometown Pharmacies, a regional independent pharmacy chain with 16 locations across Pennsylvania and Ohio. As Medication Therapy Management Coordinator at The Hometown Pharmacies, Jeff has become an expert on leveraging the metrics of pharmacy adherence and medication therapy management to provide value-based care. He explains how pharmacies can begin utilizing quality metrics to improve clinical outcomes and positively impact financial operations.
December 2020 Podcasts
Ep 18:Pharmacists-provided Care: Demonstrating Our Value
On this episode of Beyond the Sig, third-year student pharmacist Brooke Kulusich sits down with Michelle Murphy, PharmD, MS, Director of Pharmacy at Amerihealth Caritas Pennsylvania. As a member of the Flip the Pharmacy Payer Advisory Board, Michelle shares her insight into how pharmacists can demonstrate their value to payers in a rapidly changing healthcare landscape.
Ep 17:Medical Billing for Community Pharmacists: What We Know and Where We Need to Go
On this episode of Beyond the Sig, student pharmacist Brooke Kulusich chats with Ashley Keller, Partner Relationship Manager at OmniSYS. In this role, she works to develop strategic relationships within the pharmacy industry that advance the role of pharmacists as providers. Listen as Ashley shares her take on current trends in medical billing and what’s next for community pharmacists.
November 2020 Podcasts
Ep 16:Pharmacist’s Guide to COVID-19 testing
On this episode of Beyond the Sig, third-year student pharmacist Brooke Kulusich chats with Garrett Sipes, PharmD of Chambers’ Apothecary in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. Recently, this pharmacy has successfully implemented COVID-19 testing. Garrett walks us through this process step-by-step and shares valuable lessons learned for pharmacists looking to get involved.
Ep 15:A Story about a Patient
If you didn’t document it, it didn’t happen. In this episode of Beyond the Sig, Stephanie McGrath, PharmD, Executive Director of t he Pennsylvania Pharmacists Care Network sits down with Josh Howland of PioneerRx and Kristen Hartzell’s Pharmacy to discuss how technology is supporting pharmacists in documenting their impact on patient care in an innovation. But at the end of the day, it’s just a story about a patient.
October 2020 Podcasts
Ep 14:Student Perspective: Engaging Students in Community Pharmacy Practice Transformation
On this episode of Beyond the Sig, Brook Kulusich, third-year student pharmacist at the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, talks with Cameron Carpenter, fourth-year student pharmacist at Wilkes Nesbitt School of Pharmacy. In this student-to-student conversation, they discuss ways to engage student pharmacists in practice transformation efforts and Cameron shares his experience from completing an elective community APPE rotation at leading PPCN pharmacies across the state.
Ep 13: Changing of the Guard
The Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association (PPA) Board of Directors has named Victoria E. Elliott, RPh, MBA, CAE as Chief Executive Officer. Victoria will succeed Patricia A. Epple, CAE, who is retiring at the end of 2020. In this episode of Beyond the Sig, Brooke Kulusich, a third-year student pharmacist at the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, sits down with Pat and Victoria to reflect on Pat’s tenure with PPA and what’s on the horizon for the organization.
September 2020 Podcasts
Ep 12: Community Pharmacy Practice: Looking Back and Looking Forward
In this episode of Beyond the Sig, Brooke Kulusich, a third-year student pharmacist at the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, sits down with Melissa S McGivney, PharmD, FCCP, FAPhA who serves as Associate Dean for Community Partnerships and Professor of Pharmacy and Therapeutics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy. As a national leader in advancing pharmacists-provided patient care in the community for 20 years. Dr. McGivney shares her perspective on the progress our profession has made and the challenges that lie ahead.
Ep 11: Flip the Pharmacy Best Practices from CPESN Luminaries
In this episode of Beyond the Sig, Brooke Kulusich, a third-year student pharmacist at the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, chats with Deborah Bowers, pharmacist and owner of Yorkville Pharmacy in York, South Carolina, and Cheri Schmidt, Director of Clinical Pharmacy at Medicap Pharmacy in Ames, Iowa. These CPESN luminaries talk medication synchronization, expanding the roles of pharmacy technicians, immunizations, and diabetes management to kick off a new progression of Flip the Pharmacy.
August 2020 Podcasts
Ep 10: A Win-win: Engaging Student Pharmacists in Community Pharmacy Practice Transformation
When student pharmacists are involved in practice transformation efforts, it can be mutually beneficial for both the student and the community pharmacy. In this episode of Beyond the Sig, Brooke Kulusich, a third-year student pharmacist at the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, chats with Dr. Nicole Pezzino, Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice and Director of Community Outreach and Innovation at Wilkes University Nesbit School of Pharmacy. Nicole shares her passion for community pharmacy practice transformation and innovative ways to engage students in these efforts.
Episode 9: From the Front Line of the Opioid Pandemic
In our second episode covering the opioid crisis, Stephanie McGrath, PharmD Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Pharmacists Care Network talks with pharmacist Alex Lavella, PharmD from Hilltop Pharmacy, a Flip the Pharmacy site. Alex shares details about their opioid crisis patient services and the impact they are having on their underserved community. Alex inspires us to be more than “just the pharmacist behind the counter” to take a stand in the fight against opioid misuse.
For More information on Hilltop Pharmacy
For more information on Flip the Pharmacy Program
July 2020 Podcasts
Episode 8: Expressing the Pharmacist’s Value Directly to Patients
Pharmacies in Pennsylvania and across the country are transforming their care delivery model and documenting the care provided to patients to express their value to payers. This transformation is setting them up to sustain and thrive in a new era of healthcare with value-based payment models. In this episode of Beyond the Sig, we talk to one pharmacist who started his pharmacy with this care delivery model in mind and is expressing his value to a payer often forgotten in health care – the patient. Kyle McCormick, PharmD is the owner of Blueberry Pharmacy in Westview, Pennsylvania, a different kind of pharmacy that sets itself apart from the rest by providing access to low-cost medications without the need for insurance. With optional membership programs available to fit patients’ needs, the savings people see on their medications are substantial. Kyle offers his insight on how pharmacists can provide care and value directly to patients.
More information about Blueberry Pharmacy
Episode 7: My Community Needs Me
Patients visit their pharmacies up to 35 times a year. As the most accessible health care provider, community pharmacists play a unique role in the health of their communities. During this episode of Beyond the Sig, Stephanie McGrath, PharmD sits down with pharmacy owners Tom DePietro, PharmD of DePietro’s Pharmacy and Mayank Amin, PharmD of Skippack Pharmacy to learn about their innovative and successful strategies to engage their communities.
Learn more about DePietro’s Pharmacy
Learn more about Skippack Pharmacy
June 2020 Podcasts
Episode 6: Unsung Heroes in the Opioid Epidemic
Long before COVID-19 began ravaging the nation, pharmacists were already on the frontlines of another epidemic: the opioid crisis. In this episode of Beyond the Sig, Brooke Kulusich, a rising third-year student pharmacist at the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, chats with Pete Kreckel of Thompson’s Pharmacy, who has garnered nearly 40 years of expertise in providing care to patients in the community, especially to those with substance-use and opioid-use disorders. They discuss innovations in community pharmacy practice, the essential role of pharmacists, and the new Flip the Pharmacy change package as they relate to opioid dependency.
Episode 5: Unite Mobilize Amplify
The ACT (Academia-CPESN Transformation) Pharmacy Collaborative is an operational learning and ACTing collaborative between schools of pharmacy and established clinically integrated networks of community-based pharmacies. During this episode of Beyond the Sig, Stephanie McGrath, PharmD sits down with ACT Task Force members and fellow CPESN network facilitators Jenny Bacci, PharmD, MPH, BCACP, Assistant Professor University of Washington School of Pharmacy and Megan Smith, PharmD, BCACP, Network Facilitator for Arkansas CPESN and Assistant Professor at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences to learn more about how CPESN, ACT and Flip the Pharmacy are all uniting to mobilize and amplify innovation in community pharmacy practice.
The ACT Pharmacy Collaborative: www.actforpharmacy.com
Flip the Pharmacy: www.flipthepharmacy.com
Links to register for CPESN webinars:https://register.gotowebinar.com/rt/1432664038544125442
May 2020 Podcasts
Episode 4: It Takes A Village
As community pharmacies across the nation upend their traditional workflows and business models, pharmacy teams are unifying and growing together more than ever before. In this episode of Beyond the Sig, Pennsylvania Practice Transformation Team Lead Stephanie McGrath, PharmD chats with Flip the Pharmacy coaches Margie Lydon, RPh, Manager LTC Strategy and John DeJames, RPh, Manager, Clinical Services and Development from Value Drug Company, Flip the Pharmacy PA Team Partner, to illuminate the importance of collaboration and teamwork in practice transformation.
Contact for more info: Margie Lydon and John DeJames
Episode 3: The Show Must Go On – Continuing to Care for Patients in Light of COVID-19
While our healthcare system has been adapting to build capacity and meet the needs of caring for patients impacted by COVID-19, community pharmacies continue to stay open to meet the needs of all their patients. Pharmacies quickly responded to continue to provide care to patients in a safe manner, especially those managing chronic diseases. Brandon Antinopoulos, PharmD sits down Rob Maher Jr, PharmD, BCGP, Director of Pharmacy Services for Klingensmith’s Drugstores, to discuss how they’ve adapted to continue to meet the needs of all their patients and where pharmacy goes from here.
April 2020 Podcasts
Episode 2: Best Practices in the COVID-19 Response
With the development of the COVID-19 pandemic, the national Flip the Pharmacy program has pivoted from its normally scheduled programming to support pharmacies in best practices for the COVID-19 response. During this episode of Beyond the Sig, Stephanie McGrath, Executive Director of Network Operations for the Pennsylvania Pharmacists Care Network chats with colleague Brandon Antinopoulos, Sr Program Manager of Practice Transformation at the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy to learn how pharmacies are responding in the COVID-19 pandemic.
Episode 1: Flip The Pharmacy: The Time is Now!
On our inaugural show, Dr. Stephanie McGrath, PPCN Executive Director of Network Operations, talks with Flip the Pharmacy national leaders Dr. Randy McDonough, Director of Practice Transformation for Flip the Pharmacy and Dr. Suzanne Feeney, Vice President of Business Development for CE Impact about their roles in community pharmacy practice transformation. They share a sneak peak at future progressions, and how pharmacy teams and student pharmacists can get involved in the ground-breaking Flip the Pharmacy initiative.
