PRESIDENT’S PAGE
“CHANGE IS GOOD, CHANGE IS OUR FRIEND”
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Diane Reist, PharmD, RPh IPA President Cedar Rapids
can’t stand one more change!” “Why does everything have to change all the time? “They went and changed the ____ (insert your change of the day here) on me again!”
Does anyone ever feel like the changes just keep coming at you, and you haven’t even learned to live with the last one? Welcome to life in healthcare! (Or any aspect of life for that matter). The Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, 2,500 years ago said, “Change is the only constant in life.” When I get frustrated with yet another change being thrust upon me, I try to reflect on Heraclitus’ wisdom. Embrace the change, make it your own, and look for the positives that come from change. A recent quote from Guy Kawasaki, author of Wise Guy: “If you’re in a game that you cannot win – when the odds are stacked against you – change the game!” In my last article, we talked of making lemonade from the lemons that roll our way! Add some sugar, orange juice or maybe even some spirits to the lemonade to make that change work for your patients and you. We have proven to ourselves time and again through the pandemic that we can embrace change. Change is rarely easy; wearing masks, staying away from our patients while helping them, and organizing vaccination clinics have not been a walk in the park. But because of the masks, social distancing, and vaccinations, we are bringing COVID numbers down. We have learned new ways of doing things, telemedicine can reach farther than we could before, and providers and patients see us as a valuable resource on their care team. One of the best changes I’ve heard was from Emma, a student pharmacist, who said, “For the first time since I’ve worked in a pharmacy, patients are stopping to say ‘Thank you for all you do!’” Do we get to this acceptance of change without changing the game? Not often. We must put work into that change to make it right. Do we have to do it alone? No. We have each other to help change the game. As I am writing this, I am thinking about the learners graduating and moving on to some of the biggest changes of their lives! I am sad to say good-bye to the newly minted doctors that I have worked with in our interdisciplinary Upstream Clinic (students from medicine, pharmacy, public health, nursing, health administration, and more who volunteer their limited time to help patients address the social factors that prevent them from achieving positive health outcomes). I know that working hand in hand with other disciplines to achieve
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| The Journal of the Iowa Pharmacy Association
positive changes for patients will help to mold future changes in a collaborative way. I am sad to say goodbye to the bright and talented new pharmacists whose education I have been a part of. They will make fantastic colleagues for all of us as we navigate changes together. The association is there to help with these changes through the Bill Burke Student Pharmacist Leadership Conference for students, NAPLEX-MPJE review sessions for new grads, and the Research & Innovation Conference for residents. I am also thinking about the changes to take place in our association as we say good-bye to colleagues; Anthony Pudlo, VP of Professional Affairs, as he moves on to become Executive Director of the Tennessee Pharmacists Association; Amanda Abdulbaki, Director of Membership, as she takes on family medical changes; and Sharmi Patel, Executive Fellow, as she moves on to Seattle Genetics and an Oncology Regulatory Affairs fellowship. Oh no! More changes that seem too much to handle! Although we are sad to see them move on, we are supportive of their change journeys. We will truly miss them. However, working together we will embrace these changes for positives as well. I think of successful legislative changes in December when SCOTUS unanimously upheld Rutledge v. PCMA, which gives states regulatory authority of PBMs. We supported Arkansas in the national fight and are fighting hard to turn it into a positive change in Iowa. I think of the Iowa law changes signed by the Governor in May, expanding patient access to pharmacy services, point of care testing and treatment, and collaborative pharmacy practices. The Board of Pharmacy’s legislation to broaden pharmacists’ ability to delegate duties to pharmacy technicians and allowing the Board to approve innovative pilot projects for patient care. Also, Medicaid’s approval of updated fees and the speed in which they are implemented. All changes that could be viewed by some as scary and overwhelming. However, through the collaboration, education and grit of colleagues and programming by our association we will turn these changes into sweet, sweet lemonade. The sugar being our collaborative efforts with APhA & ASHP, Insight to Advocacy updates from Casey Ficek, VP of Public Affairs, and IPA Office Hours for Medicaid Provider Enrollment help. I think of changes for us as individual practitioners to learn more, do more, expand our scope of practice and protect our mental wellbeing. Embrace the Mental Health resources on our IPA’s webpage and social media posts, podcasts from our partner CEimpact, Emerging Leaders Program in collaboration with the Pharmacy Society of Wisconsin, BPS Study groups, and Member
