ACCP-PAC Launches PAC Captains Program at 2019 ACCP Annual Meeting
As part of ACCP’s ongoing efforts to help members understand how the College’s Political Action Committee (PAC) helps advance ACCP’s strategic priorities beyond just its engagements on Capitol Hill, the ACCP-PAC Captains Program was formally launched at an invitation-only breakfast at the 2019 ACCP Annual Meeting in New York City. The inaugural group of captains met with the aim of enhancing PRN engagement in ACCP-PAC and ultimately growing its PAC fundraising through the leadership of PRN PAC captains.
ACCP-PAC is a vital asset in ACCP’s ongoing initiative to integrate coverage for comprehensive medication management (CMM) services as part of value-based care models within Medicare and across other delivery systems. The PAC is the only means by which the College can make campaign contributions to help elect members of Congress who share this vision of a team-based, patient-centered, quality-focused approach to health care and recognize the need to get the medications right as part of this delivery system through coverage for CMM.
To learn more about ACCP-PAC, contact [email protected]. Your financial support of ACCP advocacy initiatives through PAC donations is greatly appreciated as the College builds momentum for the PAC going into the 2020 election. Click here to contribute today!
GTMRx Policy Summit: “Get the Medications Right Summit: Innovations in Team-Based Care”
In April 2019, ACCP helped lead the effort to launch the groundbreaking Get the Medications Right Institute (GTMRx) – a multi-stakeholder initiative dedicated to advancing transformative health care policy that embraces coordinated, team-based, patient-centered care models that leverage technology and diagnostics breakthroughs and engage medication experts.
It has now been almost a year since ACCP provided the financial foundation to bring GTMRx to life. Since then, GTMRx has established four key work groups built around key foundational focus areas:
- Practice Transformation
- HIT & AI Support
- Payment & Policy Solutions
- Precision Medicine Enablement
Within this structure, 70 volunteers have committed over 500 hours to establishing core principles and strategies that will ultimately drive an effort to fix the trial-and-error approach to medication use that is costing 275,000 lives annually according to the journal Annals of Pharmacotherapy.
On February 6, 2020, GTMRx held its policy summit as part of an exciting collaboration with the prestigious Bipartisan Policy Center for an event that brought together business, policy, and health care leaders who are at the forefront of delivery and payment models that support comprehensive medication management services.
Get the Medications Right Summit: Innovations in Team-Based Care was an all-day event that provided a platform for experts from across the entire health-delivery continuum to provide updates and solicit input on collaborative, multi-stakeholder activities that encourage practice transformation, create pathways for dissemination of evidence and innovation, and encourage payment and policy reform.
ACCP Director, Strategic Initiatives Amie D. Brooks, Pharm.D., FCCP, BCACP, provides updates from the GTMRx Practice & Care Delivery Transformation Workgroup.
About the Bipartisan Policy Center
The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) is a Washington, D.C.–based think tank that actively fosters bipartisanship by combining the best ideas from both major political parties and applying them to policy solutions that are the product of informed deliberations by former elected and appointed officials, business and labor leaders, and academics and advocates who represent both sides of the political spectrum. BPC was founded by former Senate Majority Leaders Tom Daschle (D-SD), George Mitchell (D-ME), Howard Baker (R-TN), and Bob Dole (R-KS).
This partnership with GTMRx will provide unique opportunities to elevate the dissemination of evidence and innovation and encourage payment and policy reform to advance an evidence-based, systematic approach to medication use.
Anand Parekh, M.D., chief medical advisor, BPC, moderated the morning event and commented that the partnership with GTMRx was a perfect fit for BPC as the center looks to increase its recent efforts to build consensus in areas including the 21st Century Cures legislation and drug pricing discussion.
GTMRx Policy Summit Highlights
Part I of the policy summit opened with a keynote address from two well-known health policy leaders: Elizabeth Fowler, JD, Ph.D., executive vice president, programs, Commonwealth Fund, and Gregory Downing, D.O., Ph.D., founder, Innovation Horizons, LLC, and co-chair of Health Datapalooza.
Fowler is familiar with ACCP’s longstanding effort to integrate coverage for comprehensive medication management (CMM) services into the Medicare benefit, dating back to her former work as chief health counsel to former Senate Finance Committee Chair Senator Max Baucus (D-MT). Fowler noted that the GTMRx message represents a long policy journey, with its roots in the establishment of the Medicare Part D drug benefit.
Next on the program, which included over 400 attendees in-person and online, was a panel discussion titled “Optimizing Medication Use in Team-Based Care: Making It Real,” featuring:
- Susan Dentzer, MPH, senior policy fellow, Robert J. Margolis Center of Health Policy, Duke University (moderator)
- Carolyn Clancy, M.D., deputy under secretary for Discovery, Education and Affiliate Networks, Veterans Health Administration
- Jerry Greskovic, RPh, CACP, CDE, director, Ambulatory Pharmacy Programs, Geisinger
- Dan Rehrauer, Pharm.D., senior manager, Medication Therapy Management Program, HealthPartners
Clancy, a past ACCP Annual Meeting keynote speaker, commented on the challenges that the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) faces in confronting the opioid crisis and, at the same time, the improvements that clinical pharmacists are bringing to the quality of care through the innovative Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT), which brings together each veteran working with health care professionals to plan for whole-person care and lifelong health and wellness.
Part II of the event shifted to an invitation-only executive roundtable featuring workgroup reports from:
- Overview of Practice and Care Delivery Transformation Opportunities. Led by: Anthony Morreale, Pharm.D., MBA, FASHP, BCPS, associate chief consultant for clinical pharmacy services & policy, Pharmacy Benefits Management VACO.
- Overview of Payment & Policy Solutions to Ensure Appropriate and Personalized Use of Medication and Gene Therapies. Led by: Kathy Pham, Pharm.D., BCPPS, director of Policy and Professional Affairs at the American College of Clinical Pharmacy.
- Overview of HIT and AI Barriers and Opportunities to Support Optimized Medication Use. Led by: Bassel Abul-Hajj, MPH, lead data scientist, Medecision; and Molly J. Ekstrand, BPharm, BCACP, AE-C, medication optimization expert, North Star Medication Optimization, LLC; GTMRx Distinguished Fellow.
- Overview of Precision Medicine Enablement via Advanced Diagnostics. Led by: Steve Goldberg, M.D., MBA, vice president, medical affairs, population health, and chief health officer, Health & Wellness, Quest Diagnostics; and Jill Bates, Pharm.D., M.S., FASHP, BCOP, PHASeR pharmacy program manager, Durham VA Health Care System; associate professor of clinical education, UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy.
What Can We Expect Next from GTMRx?
It is no exaggeration to say that, in the history of the profession, GTMRx represents the single biggest investment in a comprehensive advocacy campaign to advance team-based medication optimization. The GTMRx workgroups now have formally established goals and charters to serve as the framework through which they will develop recommendations to be included in the GTMRx Blueprint for Change.
Want to learn more?
All ACCP members are invited to join GTMRx as individual members:
Celebrating the ACCP-ASHP-VCU Congressional Healthcare Policy Fellow Program
In 1973, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) launched its Science & Technology Policy Fellowships program, providing funding for outstanding scientists and engineers to learn firsthand about policy-making and contribute their knowledge and analytic skills in the policy realm through placement in offices on Capitol Hill. Since then, over 3000 policy leaders have graduated from this program who now work across academia, government, nonprofits, and industry to serve the nation and citizens around the world.
Among the graduates of the AAAS program was ACCP Past President Gary R. Matzke, Pharm.D., FCCP, FCP, FASN, FNAP, FAAAS. In 2003, Matzke served as an AAAS fellow on the health policy team of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, then chaired by Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH). The impact of this enriching experience in Washington, D.C., laid the groundwork for a similar program specifically designed for pharmacists. Then, in 2006, together with ACCP’s Dr. Ed Webb and leaders at ASHP and VCU, the American College of Clinical Pharmacy/American Society of Health-System Pharmacists/Virginia Commonwealth University Congressional Healthcare Policy Fellow program was launched.
The program year begins in July with an immersive introduction to policy program at the prestigious Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. The fellow then spends 3 weeks each with ACCP’s and ASHP’s government affairs offices. During that time, the fellow secures placement in a congressional or committee office in the U.S. House of Representatives or Senate and serves on the health policy staff of that office for 12 months.
The 2019–2020 fellow, Kyle G. Robb, Pharm.D., currently holds the position of health policy advisor for the Minority Committee of the Senate HELP Committee. Before moving to Washington, D.C., Robb worked as a pharmacy supervisor with the University of Virginia Health System. He holds a Pharm.D. degree from the Eshelman School of Pharmacy at the University of North Carolina and bachelor’s degrees in history and chemistry from North Carolina State University.
Robb took time out from preparing for a full hearing of the Senate HELP Committee related to coronavirus preparedness to chat with ACCP staff about his experience so far on Capitol Hill.
Q: What motivated you to get involved in health policy and apply for the program?
A: Before entering the program, I spent several years as an outpatient pharmacist at a large medical center. I interacted with a large and diverse population of patients and was always struck by how often treatment decisions were primarily dictated by insurance formularies and medication list prices rather than safety and efficacy. Ultimately, I felt that the best way to improve care for my patients was to work on crafting policies to make our nation’s health care delivery system more equitable and sustainable while maintaining the highest levels of quality for everyone.
Q: How did you decide on the HELP Committee for your placement?
A: I’m particularly passionate about finding solutions to increase overall access to affordable health care and reduce the number of uninsured individuals. As the primary committee of jurisdiction for the Medicaid program as well as the Affordable Care Act (ACA), HELP is positioned to exert great influence over health policy. Furthermore, working on a committee affords more opportunities to participate in-depth in policy development and bipartisan, bicameral negotiations.
Q: We understand that there is no such thing as a typical day on Capitol Hill, but can you describe some of the activities you are engaged in as a Senate staffer?
A: Each week, I take several meetings with stakeholder constituents, including employers, trade associations, citizen advocates, and state/local government officials. At these meetings, we discuss constituents’ policy priorities and/or their stance on legislation under consideration by the committee.
I often assist in drafting memos that summarize and analyze policy proposals as well as briefing memos to prepare the senator for important meetings with stakeholders and government officials. I also collaborate with the communications team to develop talking points and draft letters of correspondence to be signed by the senators.
Q: Because the program focuses on health policy in general – not just pharmacy policy – what are some key issues you are working on?
- Surprise Medical Billing/Air Ambulance Billing
- Medicaid, Individual Insurance Markets (ACA), and Overall Health Care Access
- Rural Health and Telemedicine
- Medication-Assisted Treatment for Substance Use Disorder (with a focus on rural populations and care delivered via telemedicine)
Q: Do you have any advice for a potential candidate?
A: Get strong patient care experience. No one expects you to be a policy expert on day 1. Pharmacists add value to a health policy team by understanding the needs of patients, and that’s best accomplished through working directly with patients to deliver optimal care. The triumphs and struggles of each of your patients will reveal the successes – and gaps – within our health care delivery system.
Applications for 2021–2022 Pharmacy Healthcare Policy Fellow Program
Interested candidates should visit the Pharmacy Healthcare Policy Fellow program’s website for more information and instruction on submitting an application. For more information, click here.