In 2013, the American College of Clinical Pharmacy Board of Regents engaged in a process to formally revisit and update the College’s strategic plan as part of its ongoing planning process (see below). Like past planning efforts, the desired outcome of this process is to develop, implement, and monitor an integrated strategic plan for all facets of the organization. This process requires a shared vision of organizational direction and recognition that the individual missions of ACCP, the ACCP Research Institute, and Pharmacotherapy all contribute to achieving this vision in unique ways.

In organizing this strategic plan update, ACCP reviewed the critical issues identified in the 2010 strategic plan and, having determined that these issues were still relevant and critical, developed new or revised strategic directions for each critical issue and established new objectives for each strategic direction. Critical issues are current questions or concerns determined to be vital to the College’s success in achieving its mission. They are not intended to reflect all aspects important to achieving ACCP’s mission. Rather, they are meant to capture the issues most important in the short- to midterm time horizon. Strategic directions are statements of intent designed to express the organization’s approaches to addressing a critical issue. In some strategic planning models, they are referred to as “goal statements.” Objectives are specific, achievable, and time-specific actions or outcomes designed to accomplish a strategic direction.

In developing this strategic plan update, ACCP also sought to identify any new or emerging critical issues that should be added to the plan. Although no new critical issues were identified, many new strategic directions and objectives have been developed in this plan update. ACCP also folded into the update any strategic directions and objectives from the 2010 plan still deemed relevant and in-progress. Figure 1 provides an overview of the updated plan’s focus and its main components (the three critical issues and their respective strategic directions). Figure 2 depicts the ongoing planning process that the College implemented in 2011.

Core Values and Mission

The College’s strategic plan is built on a foundation composed of the organization’s core values and mission. All organizations—whether for-profit businesses or professional associations such as ACCP—are guided by their values and mission. Although many organizations have never taken the time to examine and articulate them, truly successful organizations are often distinguished by the nature of their values and mission.

Values are beliefs, often deeply held, about what is important. They comprise principles, standards, or qualities considered inherently worthwhile or desirable. Everyone has a value system that determines what they stand for, how they judge the world around them, and how they examine and interpret their experiences. Good organizations also have clearly identified values on which they formulate, and against which they judge, their actions. Clarifying an organization’s values makes it more likely that organizational actions will be principled, consistent, and clear. An organization’s mission reflects its core purpose and serves as its fundamental reason for being—this mission serves as a beacon to guide the organization in its long-term endeavors.

A Vision for Pharmacy and ACCP

A dynamic and forward-looking organization will establish a long-range vision for itself and then set about working to make that vision a reality. ACCP’s vision was first articulated during the College’s 2002 strategic planning process and has been reaffirmed and/or revised in subsequent new strategic plans and updates. Consistent with ACCP’s core values and mission, such a vision should be attainable but should also fall well outside an enterprising organization’s comfort zone. It should be sufficiently bold and exciting to stimulate progress for many years to come. Finally, such a vision should have a relatively long-term horizon, looking as far as 10–30 years into the future.

In developing this update, the Board of Regents revisited and validated ACCP’s core values (Box 1) and mission (Box 2). The Board also reviewed the existing vision statements for the profession of pharmacy (Box 3) and ACCP (Box 4) and found them consistent with the College’s current view of the future. In both cases, the vision statements are accompanied by a series of brief descriptors to help determine when the vision is achieved. These accompanying statements also provide a general road map to suggest what should be accomplished to make the vision a reality.

ACCP’s Strategic Plan Update

The intention of the plan’s update is to guide the organization for the next few years. The plan remains focused on the three critical issues that formed the basis for the 2010 plan. Expressed concisely, the plan concentrates on how ACCP will continue to strive to develop, advance, and position clinical pharmacists within the current health care environment.

• Develop refers to the College’s provision of effective methods to help clinical pharmacists accomplish continuous professional development across the entire spectrum of its membership.
• Advance details ACCP’s efforts to achieve recognition of the value of clinical pharmacists by payers, regulators, and the scientific/professional community throughout the world.
• Position refers to the College’s work with constituencies external to the profession to establish and affirm the credibility of clinical pharmacists as clinicians, educators, and researchers and to provide resources to support clinical pharmacists’ pursuit of these roles.

In keeping with ACCP’s organizational practice, the plan will determine how most of the College’s professional, human, and financial resources will be applied. Pursuing a given strategic direction (i.e., achieving the stated goal) by meeting defined objectives is intended to address a given critical issue. A variety of specific initiatives may be required to achieve each objective. In each case, the target date for meeting a given objective is by the end of the respective year listed in the objective.

Although this plan articulates the College’s current focus, including the issues most critical to the organization, it does not address all of the initiatives or priorities the College will pursue now or in the future. ACCP’s identification of these initiatives and priorities is a member-driven process. Therefore, in an effort to maintain responsiveness to environmental changes, solicit ongoing member input into the College’s future, and provide more rapid organizational response to this input, ACCP will continue to use its ongoing strategic planning process (Figure 2). It is hoped that this process will provide opportunities for all ACCP members to provide input and feedback regarding the College’s direction, far exceeding the number of members who provided input into previous strategic plans. Ways in which members can contribute to this ongoing planning process will be featured in forthcoming articles and announcements in the ACCP Report. In addition, specific input can be submitted at any time by accessing the ACCP Web site’s feedback page at http://www.accp.com/feedback/index.aspx.

CRITICAL ISSUE 1: How can ACCP promote the development of clinical pharmacists as practitioners, educators, and researchers?

STRATEGIC DIRECTION 1.1: Increase practitioner access to specialist/subspecialist certification, recertification, and other means of ensuring maintenance of competence.

Objective 1.1.1 By 2014, identify and evaluate new methods (and modes of delivery) to achieve and maintain competence that extend beyond the College’s current certification and recertification programs.

Objective 1.1.2 By 2015, develop programs and services to prepare clinical pharmacists to transition into evolving professional practice environments.

Objective 1.1.3 By 2015, establish mechanisms for emerging clinical pharmacists to develop the clinical knowledge and skills needed to provide direct patient care and contribute to optimized population health.

Objective 1.1.4 By 2014, Pharmacotherapy Publications, Inc. (PPI), and ACCP will explore the feasibility of developing collaborative new publications, including those that focus on professional development and maintenance of competence.

Objective 1.1.5 By 2015, ACCP and/or PPI will develop new publications focused on professional development and maintenance of competence.

STRATEGIC DIRECTION 1.2: Provide new opportunities for clinical educator/preceptor development.

Objective 1.2.1 By 2015, develop a series of educational offerings for clinical pharmacy faculty/preceptors, residency preceptors, and residency program directors that focus on teaching a consistent process of delivering direct patient care.

Objective 1.2.2 By 2015, develop a series of new educational offerings for clinical preceptors, residency program directors, and clinical faculty that address the unique challenges of clinician-educators.

Objective 1.2.3 By 2015, establish a mentoring program for new residency program directors.

STRATEGIC DIRECTION 1.3: Expand opportunities for researcher and scholar development.

Objective 1.3.1 By 2014, pursue investigator and author/scholar development programs that fill the gaps in current ACCP offerings.

Objective 1.3.2 By 2015, PPI and ACCP will develop new, collaborative professional development opportunities for emerging authors and reviewers.

Objective 1.3.3 By 2014, the ACCP Research Institute will develop a plan for practitioner-investigator development that is accessible to PBRN members and other appropriate audiences.

Objective 1.3.4 By 2015, the ACCP Research Institute will offer practitioner-investigator development programs that are accessible to PBRN members and other appropriate audiences.

Objective 1.3.5 By 2015, revise, as necessary, ACCP’s call for meeting abstracts, abstract review process, poster and platform categories, and paper awards to reflect the current emphases and needs of clinical pharmacy researchers.

Objective 1.3.6 By 2014, ACCP and the ACCP Research Institute will collaborate to develop a plan to increase member engagement with research, scholarship, and the Research Institute’s programs and services.

Objective 1.3.7 By 2016, establish a self-sustaining research enterprise under the auspices of the ACCP Research Institute that promotes clinical pharmacy research and the development of clinical pharmacist researchers and scholars.

STRATEGIC DIRECTION 1.4: Increase student engagement with the College and its programs that promotes a long-term commitment to the clinical pharmacy discipline.

Objective 1.4.1 By 2015, 25% (and, by 2017, 50%) of U.S.-accredited colleges and schools of pharmacy will have established officially recognized ACCP student chapters.

Objective 1.4.2 By 2016, student retention rate and advancement to resident, fellow, graduate student, or associate/full membership will have steadily risen during the most recent 3-year period (2014–2016).

Objective 1.4.3 By 2015, ACCP will offer a portfolio of live, online, and published programs that promote student pursuit of postgraduate training and other clinical pharmacy career pathways.

Objective 1.4.4 By 2015, mechanisms will be developed to recognize individual student member and student chapter achievements.

CRITICAL ISSUE 2: How will ACCP advance clinical pharmacists in their roles as patient care providers, educators, and researchers?

STRATEGIC DIRECTION 2.1: Advocate for appropriate credentialing and privileging of clinical pharmacists.

Objective 2.1.1 In 2014, provide formal stakeholder input to the Board of Pharmacy Specialties and other groups (as appropriate) regarding restructuring of the certification framework to increase clinical pharmacist access to specialty/subspecialty certification and recertification.

Objective 2.1.2 By 2015, publish official ACCP guidelines on the desired credentialing and privileging of clinical pharmacists.

Objective 2.1.3 By 2016, implement a communications plan for advocating credentialing and privileging of clinical pharmacists outside North America.

STRATEGIC DIRECTION 2.2: Seek recognition of clinical pharmacists by employers, payers, regulators, and evolving health care delivery systems.

Objective 2.2.1 By 2015, secure congressional sponsors to introduce legislation that establishes as a Medicare benefit the provision of comprehensive medication management by qualified clinical pharmacists.

Objective 2.2.2 By 2015, receive endorsement from three or more key stakeholder groups (outside the pharmacy profession) of comprehensive medication management by qualified clinical pharmacists practicing team-based patient care.

STRATEGIC DIRECTION 2.3: Generate scholarship that demonstrates or attests to the impact on patient outcomes of clinical pharmacists’ comprehensive medication management activities in team-based care environments.

Objective 2.3.1 By 2015, initiate with a key stakeholder group one jointly developed and jointly funded demonstration project to examine the impact of comprehensive medication management provided by qualified clinical pharmacists on the quality and outcomes of team-based patient care.

Objective 2.3.2 By 2015, develop an RFP (request for proposal) process through ACCP and the ACCP Research Institute to conduct research on the impact of comprehensive medication management by qualified clinical pharmacists on medication therapy–related outcomes.

Objective 2.3.3 By 2016, publish a systematic review of the emerging evidence of the value of comprehensive medication management provided by qualified clinical pharmacists.

STRATEGIC DIRECTION 2.4: Develop and nurture leaders to advance clinical pharmacy’s future.

Objective 2.4.1 By 2014, create a plan for a pilot program to develop future leaders that is modeled after the Focused Investigator Training (FIT) Program and/or other successful professional development experiences.

Objective 2.4.2 By 2015, offer a pilot program to develop future clinical pharmacy leaders.

Objective 2.4.3 By 2015, engage past ACCP leaders and senior members in the development and implementation of the clinical pharmacy leaders program (see Objectives 2.4.1 and 2.4.2).

Objective 2.4.4 By 2014, explore the feasibility of developing a “Leadership Ambassador Program” that involves current and past ACCP leaders who serve as role models for emerging clinical pharmacy leaders (e.g., individuals assuming leadership roles in educational, health care, research, or policy-making environments).

STRATEGIC DIRECTION 2.5: Support the advancement of clinical pharmacy beyond North America.

Objective 2.5.1 By 2014, develop a portfolio of international programs and services to support the development of clinical pharmacists and clinical pharmacy education, practice, and research outside North America.

Objective 2.5.2 By 2015, establish formal agreements with at least four entities (e.g., health care organizations, governmental bodies) outside North America to support the development of clinical pharmacy education, practice, or research.

Objective 2.5.3 By 2014, explore the development of mechanisms to match international graduates with available U.S.-based traineeships (e.g., guided training experiences of 1–6 months in duration) in clinical pharmacy practice and/or research.

Objective 2.5.4 By 2015, complete a feasibility analysis of establishing an ACCP international office or division, with part- or full-time staff based outside the United States, that facilitates the delivery of ACCP’s international portfolio of products and services.

Objective 2.5.5 By 2016, make available professional development programming for clinical pharmacists outside North America that is delivered using distance learning technology.

CRITICAL ISSUE 3: How will ACCP position clinical pharmacists to best collaborate with other health professionals and patients to fully contribute our expertise to direct patient care?

STRATEGIC DIRECTION 3.1: Communicate and work with stakeholders outside the pharmacy profession to affirm clinical pharmacists’ credibility as clinicians and researchers who contribute value to direct patient care.

Objective 3.1.1 By 2015, establish and/or expand working relationships with at least one representative from each of the following external constituencies:

• Physicians, other health care providers, professional societies, and interprofessional collaboratives
• Public/private funders of research
• Employers and employer collaboratives
• Health care financers and insurers
• Consumer groups and health advocacy organizations
• Government agencies linked to health care

Objective 3.1.2 By 2015, one or more key external constituencies (see Objective 3.1.1) will promote clinical pharmacists’ direct patient care and/or research contributions.

Objective 3.1.3 By 2016, convene a conference involving key external constituencies (see Objective 3.1.1) to codify the roles and responsibilities of clinical pharmacists as essential providers of team-based care.

Objective 3.1.4 By 2016, begin releasing public service announcements, position statements, letters of support, or other communications detailing clinical pharmacists’ patient care and/or research contributions in collaboration with one or more key external constituencies (see Objective 3.1.1).

STRATEGIC DIRECTION 3.2: Support clinical pharmacist practice in team-based, patient-centered care environments.

Objective 3.2.1 By 2014, publish ACCP’s Standards of Practice for Clinical Pharmacists, which will include an articulation of the clinical pharmacist’s consistent process of care.

Objective 3.2.2 By 2014, publish ACCP’s Scope of Practice for Clinical Pharmacists, which will include the clinical pharmacist’s professional role, education, accountability, and responsibility.

Objective 3.2.3 By 2015, publish ACCP’s Guidelines for Clinical Pharmacy Practice, which will articulate the clinical pharmacist’s philosophy of practice, process of care, and practice management system.

Objective 3.2.4 By 2015, develop resources to support ACCP members involved in team-based, patient-centered practices.

Figure 1. Overview of the 2013 ACCP Strategic Plan Update.

Figure 2. Summary of ACCP’s Strategic Planning Process.

BOD = Pharmacotherapy Board of Directors
BOR = ACCP Board of Regents
BOT = ACCP Research Institute Board of Trustees