After the success of last year’s PAC fundraising efforts, ACCP is pleased to announce the launch of the 2016 ACCP-PAC PRN Challenge.

Consistent with the priorities set by ACCP’s strategic plan and the College’s organization-wide commitment to clinical practice transformation, ACCP’s Washington, D.C., office has focused for the past 4 years on an advocacy effort that calls on Congress to enact legislation to provide Medicare patients with coverage for comprehensive medication management (CMM) within the Part B medical benefit.

Now we are specifically calling on PRN members to demonstrate their commitment to the College’s advocacy priorities through contributions to ACCP’s Political Action Committee (ACCP-PAC).

Click here to make a contribution today!

How the Challenge Works

The ACCP-PAC PRN Challenge will determine which PRN provides the greatest PAC support. PRN members who make a PAC contribution online will be given an option to designate a PRN to receive credit for their contribution.

• This year, the challenge will recognize two winners:
  • The PRN whose members contribute the most money in total
  • The PRN with the highest percentage of members who contribute to the PAC
• ACCP members who belong to several PRNs can make multiple contributions in the name of each PRN, but only one PRN can receive credit for any single contribution.
• Unlike contributions to the Frontiers Fund, ACCP-PAC cannot accept contributions directly from PRNs. All PAC contributions must be made by individuals from personal funds. Because of Federal Election Commission (FEC) regulations, PAC contributions are NOT deductible as charitable donations for federal tax purposes and must be made from personal funds and/or post-tax dollars.
• To qualify for the challenge, PRN members must contribute a minimum of $5. However, to increase the funds available to give to candidates this election season, we urge PRN members to contribute at least $25 to this effort.
• The winning PRN will be awarded coveted preferential timeslots for PRN business meetings at the next two ACCP Annual Meetings.
• The results will be announced at the ACCP Annual Meeting in October.
• Please contribute online at www.accpaction.com.

We encourage PRN leaders and members to take the time to highlight the challenge in PRN meetings and online communications to PRN members. For more information, contact John McGlew ([email protected] or 202-621-1820).

More About ACCP-PAC

ACCP-PAC is the only means by which ACCP can provide financial support to help candidates for Congress who understand and support the College’s issues and share its vision of a team-based, patient-centered, quality-driven approach to health care delivery.

ACCP-PAC is nonpartisan and supports candidates regardless of political party affiliation. ACCP-PAC is regulated by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) based in Washington, D.C. The PAC files quarterly FEC reports declaring all PAC receipts and disbursements, which are publicly available at www.fec.gov.

ACCP-PAC Governing Council

ACCP-PAC is member-driven, and the strategic policy decisions—including those related to which candidates receive financial contributions from ACCP-PAC—are made by the PAC Governing Council. The ACCP-PAC Governing Council consists of the following ACCP members:

• Suzanne A. Nesbit: PAC Governing Council President (and past Regent)
• Gary R. Matzke: Treasurer
• Michael S. Maddux, Secretary
• Sara D. Brouse: Member (Sitting Regent)
• Bradley G. Phillips: Member (and past ACCP Treasurer)

Who Receives ACCP-PAC Support?

All decisions regarding financial contributions to candidates are made by the PAC Governing Council according to certain established criteria:

• Position on key health care committees in Congress
• Proven support for pharmacy and health care–related issues
• Previous health care experience

The key health care–related committees in the House of Representatives are the Appropriations, Ways & Means, and Energy & Commerce committees; in the Senate, these consist of the Appropriations, Finance, and Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (H.E.L.P.) committees.

ACCP members who contribute to the PAC may recommend candidates to receive contributions. All PAC contributor recommendations will be considered; however, we may not accommodate all requests. The ACCP-PAC Governing Council must approve all candidate contributions.

As a federal committee, ACCP-PAC can only contribute to candidates who are running for federal office (candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives or U.S. Senate, not candidates for state legislatures or gubernatorial races).

Thank you in advance for your support of this important initiative. For more information, visit the ACCP-PAC website at www.accpaction.com or contact John McGlew ([email protected]).

CMMI’s Enhanced MTM Pilot

Earlier in July, ACCP participated in a 2-day consensus-building meeting and follow-up conversations regarding the anticipated launch of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation’s (CMMI’s) enhanced MTM (EMTM) pilot (https://innovation.cms.gov/initiatives/enhancedmtm/). The meeting, sponsored by AMCP, PQA, and the Public Health Improvement Training (PHIT) Collaborative, sought to develop consensus definitions for MTM-related terms and subsequently map them to SNOMED-CT codes for use in electronic health records. Partly because of the perceived shortcomings of existing MTM services under Medicare Part D, EMTM intends to engage practices and practitioners to realize better outcomes for Medicare beneficiaries. Within this pilot, CMMI will track data at a more granular level, including practice site (e.g., within a pharmacy vs. within a medical practice), practitioner type (e.g., pharmacist, technician, other health care provider), and clinical outcomes. The EMTM pilot will launch in January 2017.

Pharmacogenomics and the Pharmacy HIT Collaborative Council

In August, ACCP staff presented for the quarterly meeting of the Pharmacy Health Information Technology (HIT) Collaborative Council regarding the implementation of pharmacogenomics and considerations for clinical pharmacy practice. This panel discussion, convened by the PHIT Collaborative, included Dr. Jon White, deputy national coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), and Dr. Summerpal Kahlon, director, Care Innovation for Oracle Health Sciences Global Business Unit. The discussion predominantly focused on large-scale challenges to—and opportunities for—pharmacogenomics implementation in our rapidly evolving health and health IT landscape. The PHIT Collaborative expects to increase the activity and focus for pharmacogenomics and precision medicine in the coming months.

ACCP Joins with Eight Other Professional Pharmacist Organizations to Endorse Prescription Drug User Fee Reauthorization

Working as part of the Pharmacy Stakeholders Group, a coalition of 15 organizations representing pharmacists and pharmacies, ACCP submitted a letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in support of the reauthorization of the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) for fiscal years 2018–2022.

PDUFA is the mechanism through which the FDA collects fees from drug manufacturers to fund the new drug approval process. Under PDUFA, the FDA collects a substantial application fee from drug manufacturers when a New Drug Application (NDA) or Biologics License Application (BLA) is submitted, with those funds designated for use only in Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) or Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) drug approval activities.

By law, PDUFA must be reauthorized every 5 years. In the letter, we applauded the FDA for its continued commitment to protect the public health by ensuring the safety and efficacy of medications in the United States and for its consideration of the evolution of health care as it contemplates the next 5 years. Specifically, we highlighted the following provisions in PDUFA reauthorization:

• Enhancing Use of Real-world Evidence for Use in Regulatory Decision-Making
• Enhancing the Incorporation of the Patient’s Voice in Drug Development and Decision-Making Advancing Postmarketing Drug Safety Evaluation Through Expansion of the Sentinel System and Integration into FDA Pharmacovigilance Activities

Click here to read the letter to the FDA in full.

In Case You Missed It … ACCP’s Government and Professional Affairs Department Advocacy Update

Building on the successful Congressional Briefing ACCP facilitated on behalf of Representatives Erik Paulsen (R-MN) and Peter Welch (D-VT), titled “‘Getting the Medications Right’: An Essential Ingredient in Achieving the Goals of H.R. 4878 – The Medicare Better Care, Lower Cost Act,” the following summarizes some of the activities ACCP’s Government and Professional Affairs staff engaged in over the summer:

ACCP Comments to CMS on Medicare Payment Reform

ACCP submitted comments to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) related to the implementation of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA). MACRA was established to reform the existing Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) payment model that encourages volume in the delivery of health care and drives up health care costs while providing little incentive for the coordinated, high-quality, team-based, patient-centered process of care that is necessary to protect the long-term structural and financial viability of the Medicare program.

Under MACRA, CMS will initiate a new Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) for eligible clinicians or group practices beginning in 2019, including a combined value-based payment program that assesses the performance of each eligible provider according to quality, resource use, clinical practice improvement activities, and meaningful use of certified electronic health record technology. The law also creates incentives for participation in certain alternative payment models (APMs), an approach consistent with the administration’s broader goals of moving more FFS payments into APMs that focus on better care, smarter spending, and healthier people.

In the comments letter, ACCP urged the administration to incorporate the direct patient care services of clinical pharmacists as members of the patient’s health care team. Specifically, identifying essential objectives for a modernized, cost-effective, and quality-focused Medicare program, the comments focused on:

• Facilitating clinical pharmacists’ full integration into patient care teams
• Achieving clinical outcomes to meet quality metrics by recognizing clinical pharmacists’ contributions in quality and clinical practice improvement activity (“CPIA”) performance measures
• Developing health information technology (HIT) resources to optimize the exchange of clinical information among members of the health care team

ACCP is confident that its Medicare Initiative is consistent with the overall structure of the agency’s proposed reformed payment approach, and the College believes that the physician payment reform process offers an opportunity to integrate coverage for CMM services within the evolving Medicare program.

Click here to read ACCP’s comments in full.

ACCP Board of Regents Hosts “A Celebration of Collaboration”

The ACCP Board of Regents (BoR) held its July 2016 meeting at ACCP’s offices in downtown Washington, D.C. In addition to regular BoR activities, the BoR set aside time to update and report on progress made to the College’s Strategic Plan, which was adopted in 2013. In conjunction with the meeting, the BoR hosted a reception titled “A Celebration of Collaboration” for the leadership of some of the organizations ACCP works with on a range of initiatives related to the College’s advocacy agenda. Attendees included groups representing physicians and other health professionals, groups focused on advancing team-based care practices and APMs, ACCP colleague organizations from the pharmacy profession, and a variety of health policy stakeholders. The event, which was a resounding success, will serve to strengthen and develop the relationships ACCP has worked to build as part of its commitment to team-based, patient-centered care.

ACCP Welcomes 2016–2017 Congressional Healthcare Policy Fellow

The 2016–2017 ACCP/American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP)/Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Congressional Healthcare Policy Fellow, Mary Abdelmalak, joined ACCP’s Washington office in July after spending a week at the Brookings Institution. Abdelmalak then spent August working with the policy staff at ASHP. In September, she began her placement as a staff member for Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA). Grassley chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee and is a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, which oversees the Medicare program. Grassley is widely admired on Capitol Hill for his leadership on health care issues and his willingness to work in a bipartisan manner to advance legislation.

Click here for more information on the ACCP/ASHP/VCU Congressional Healthcare Policy Fellow Program.

Contact Us! For more information on any of ACCP’s advocacy efforts, please contact:

John K. McGlew
Director, Government Affairs
American College of Clinical Pharmacy
1455 Pennsylvania Ave. Northwest
Suite 400
Washington, DC 20004-1017
(202) 621-1820
[email protected]