At about the time I was getting out of pharmacy school, one of the popular television shows of the era was The A-Team. Each episode involved some kind of plot in which this team of ex-military guys would rescue someone or capture a bad guy. But their hallmark was a carefully planned and executed strategy. That’s where the famous quote by their leader, Hannibal Smith, came from—“I just love it when a plan comes together.” OK, I’ll admit that those closest to me are right: I’m a planner, and perhaps obsessively so. Hannibal’s line strikes a chord with me. So does one taught to my daughter when she worked for Hotdog on a Stick (yes, the ones with the funny hats): “prior planning promotes peak performance” or, as I call it, the “5 Ps.” I’ve been reflecting on the past year at ACCP as I near the end of my term as president. One thing that stands out for us during the past year is that ACCP’s plan is coming together. And it’s exciting to see.

Those of us who are long-standing members of the College know that ACCP believes in the strategic planning process. You may have been involved in developing the ACCP strategic plan in some way because we are truly a member-driven organization. You may not know what goes on behind the scenes, but I can assure you that the Board and executive staff read in detail your comments in the various surveys that ACCP conducts. Those comments, plus others gained from other sources such as focus groups and town hall meetings, are carefully considered in the strategic planning process. That is how we arrived at the current iteration of the College’s plan. As you’ll note from the plan itself, we have three major priorities: develop, advance, and position clinical pharmacists. Several things came together for me this summer that made me say, “I just love it when a plan comes together.” I’ll tell you three things that led me to this realization.

Committee Work

Starting in early summer, the Board reviewed the progress of our 2011 committees. The 2011 committee and task force charges were developed at about this time last year and were based on initiatives spelled out in our strategic plan. I was struck by the progress we’ve made toward achieving these initiatives when I recently inventoried the various “deliverables” from our 2011 committees. Committee work will move us forward in the area of “developing” clinical pharmacists in the following ways. The National StuNet Advisory Committee has written a commentary from the student perspective on optimal approaches to introductory pharmacy practice experiences. We will soon release a paper from the Residency Task Force describing issues related to current PGY2 residency standards and providing some recommendations for new approaches to residency training. The Board of Regents will begin in-depth analysis and planning based on a report submitted by the Organizational Affairs Committee, which suggests ways in which ACCP can play a key role in the development and implementation of CDSS (clinical decision support system) software, anticipating that this area will become increasingly more important to future clinical pharmacists. The Member Relations Committee has once again provided the Board and staff with suggestions on how we can increase support for you, our members, through the pursuit of innovative products and services—implementation of several of that committee’s recommendations are already under way. The ACCP Guide for Health Professionals, developed by the Educational Affairs Committee, will be a resource to help clinical pharmacists educate patients about pharmacogenomics and genetic testing. The Clinical Practice Affairs Committee will soon submit to the Board of Regents its report on the delivery of clinical pharmacy services to geographic regions that have no routine access to clinical pharmacists.

We’ve also made progress toward advancing and positioning clinical pharmacists. Thanks to the Credentials: Membership Committee, a new Member Spotlight series to increase the visibility of our members will soon debut in the ACCP Report. As you may have seen, the ACCP Web site has a library of important papers on clinical pharmacy practice and pharmacotherapy. However, the Publications Committee has now grouped papers falling under a common theme into “electronic paper packets,” and cover letters have been created to accompany each packet for dissemination to targeted audiences inside and outside the profession. The Board and staff will soon use these packets to promote clinical pharmacy to a variety of groups. A forthcoming ACCP white paper developed by the Public and Professional Relations Committee will describe quality measures of clinical pharmacy services during transitions of patient care. The Certification Affairs Committee has written an editorial characterizing the credentials that should warrant the recognition of clinical pharmacists as credible providers of patient care. We will also make available later this year a series of “talking points” developed by the National Residency Advisory Committee that describe clinical pharmacy services in layman’s terms. In addition, this committee (which is composed of PGY1 and PGY2 residents, together with fellows who have completed residency training) has developed an exit form that can be given to patients, telling them what care they’ve been provided by their clinical pharmacists during an individual clinic visit or other clinical encounter. Finally, the Presidential Task Force will soon provide recommendations to the Board of Regents for some strategic steps the College might follow to increase the appointment of qualified ACCP members to national panels and committees that develop pharmacotherapeutic treatment guidelines.

Advocacy

We’ve also made significant strides in advocating for clinical pharmacy and clinical pharmacists. Health care reform has made us all rethink what clinical pharmacy has to offer to patients and our health care system, and two important questions have emerged. (1) What services do clinical pharmacists provide? (2) Who is qualified to provide them? Our 2011–2012 ACCP Advocacy and Communications Platform, which is published on the ACCP Web site (see http://www.accp.com/docs/about/ACCP%20Advocacy%20Platform%202011-2012.pdf), clearly describes the strategies we are employing to answer these questions to ensure that clinical pharmacists will be included as an essential component of the reformed health care system. You will note that this agenda includes communication and advocacy issues that touch several governmental and non-pharmacy health care organizations. I am pleased to report that we are well on our way to implementing these steps of the agenda and that discussions with a variety of external stakeholders have already begun. Our advocacy will be partly facilitated by the newly formed ACCP Political Action Committee, which I encourage you to support. Advocacy is critical to achieving our goals.

Research

Research documenting the value of clinical pharmacy services will be an essential element in affirming our role in the health care system as efficiency in health care delivery and positive patient outcomes assume increasingly important roles in the policy-making process. Last month, I participated in the ACCP Research Institute Board of Trustees meeting. I was pleased to see that the Board is aggressively pursuing the question of how the ACCP Practice-Based Research Network (PBRN) can play a role in providing empirical evidence of the value of clinical pharmacy services. Planning is well under way to make this happen. Once again, I encourage you to participate as a member of the PBRN or as a researcher who accesses the network for your projects.

I actually have my own quip about planning: “you make the plan, and you work the plan.” I often have to remind myself of this when faced with challenges and unsure what to do. We all have times when challenges are seemingly presented from all sides and the way around (or through) those challenges doesn’t seem clear. Stepping back, considering options, developing a plan, and then implementing it is a process I’ve found very useful. Well, speaking for ACCP, let me tell you that we’ve made the plan, and now, we’re working it. We’ve decided what to do, we’ve said how we will do it, and now, we’re doing it, an important step in achieving organizational integrity. It’s been a great year, and I’m grateful you’ve given me this opportunity to serve as ACCP president. I’m looking forward to the College’s making even greater strides in the coming years. I hope to see many of you in Pittsburgh!