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A Dedicated Leader in the Clinic and Classroom

By: Caitlyn Romanski

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When it comes to displaying leadership in a pharmacy career, Mark Huffmyer excels. Huffmyer, a 2014 graduate of the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy, is the UK College of Pharmacy 2021 Preceptor of the Year award recipient and works as a Clinical Staff Pharmacist in the Anticoagulation Clinic at the UK HealthCare Gill Heart and Vascular Institute. He helps patients taking high-risk blood thinning medications and adjusts their medication doses based on laboratory monitoring, goals of care, provider recommendations and duration of therapy. On top of his clinical duties, Huffmyer has also held a 5-year-long position as a preceptor for UK College of Pharmacy students. His desire to become a preceptor originated from his personal experience as a pharmacy student and the mentorship his preceptors provided him. He wants to give back to students the same way his preceptors invested in his education. “I knew from an early age that I enjoyed teaching and educating. Before finding pharmacy, I had originally planned to become a teacher,” Huffmyer said. “My experiences in pharmacy school showed me how pivotal preceptors are for their students. Precepting is one of my favorite methods for teaching and learning because it is so hands on and impactful for both the learner and the teacher.” Huffmyer shared that forming bonds with students that are eager to learn is the most rewarding aspect of being a preceptor. “I love watching the students’ confidence grow in decision making and communication as they spend more time in my clinic. It brings me pleasure to watch them flourish and hone their skills through patient interactions, documentation and interprofessional collaboration,” said Huffmyer. “I like to think the bonds formed between preceptors and students are lifelong and unbreakable. I enjoy seeing my previous students go on to have bright careers in pharmacy and interacting with them as colleagues.” One piece of advice that Huffmyer has for students is for those having trouble determining the path they want to take in practicing pharmacy. “There are so many options and fields within pharmacy to specialize in, which can be daunting,” Huffmyer said. “My advice is to get as many different experiences as you can now, even ones you may not be sure about. You never know what you may enjoy or what passions you may find if you take the opportunity to seek them out.” In honor of the hard work and dedication of its preceptors, the UK College of Pharmacy is recognizing preceptors throughout the month of June. A virtual appreciation event is scheduled for June 24, 2021, at 7:00 p.m. EDT. For more information about the event or information on becoming a College of Pharmacy preceptor, email copexperiential@uky.edu.

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Sources:

1. Feola, DJ. Antimicrobial Stewardship. The University of

Kentucky College of Pharmacy. Accessed January 22, 2020. 2. Antimicrobial stewardship. APIC. https://apic.org/

Professional-Practice/Practice-Resources/Antimicrobial-

Stewardship/. Accessed December 5, 2020. 3. Sanchez, Guillermo V., et al. “Core Elements of Outpatient Antibiotic Stewardship.” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report:

Recommendations and Reports, vol. 65, no. 6, 2016, pp. 1–12. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/24904408. Accessed December 5, 2020. 4. Lesprit, Philippea; Brun-Buisson, Christian. Hospital antibiotic stewardship, Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases:

Volume 21 - Issue 4 - p 344-349 doi: 10.1097/

QCO.0b013e3283013959

Campus Corner

Sullivan Celebrates Ten Years of Graduating Pharmacists

By: Misty M Stutz PharmD, Dean, Sullivan University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

On June 26th, Sullivan University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences welcomed 63 new graduates to the profession of pharmacy, celebrating 10 years of graduating pharmacists at Sullivan. And what a year it has been. This year’s graduating class has had a crash course in flexibility and resilience. The pandemic experience has sent us all scrambling to rethink our situations and our paths forward. Students of this year’s class have had to adapt and change like none other. The events of this past year have challenged us to rethink our purpose and role within the healthcare team. The profession of pharmacy has been highlighted and appreciated in the media, within communities, and by government officials. Our role has shown not only to be essential, but worthy of the national recognition we received. The class of 2021 was able to witness firsthand our ability to be the forerunner in delivering patient care amongst what seemed like insurmountable obstacles and students witnessed firsthand the thought process we used to solve problems, prioritize need, and execute. And yet even in this crazy year, the profession was able to accomplish something we have been trying to achieve for over a decade: reimbursement for the services of a pharmacist. By unanimous vote, legislators in Kentucky recognized the value of the pharmacist by mandating reimbursement for our knowledge, our skill, and our ability to take care of patients. If you are reading this article, you probably know this. But there are many pharmacists in this state that not only don’t know but have no idea the impact this will have on our profession. Our profession is on the precipice of moving into a world where script count will no longer dictate the number of technicians or our percent raise. Pharmacists will now be paid to do what they have been trained to do, improve patient care and safety, while improving quality of life through the management of medications. Ten years ago, I was able to speak to the class of 2011, promising them a day when counting and pouring would not be their main job. And here we are. This year, the Advancing Pharmacy Practice in Kentucky Coalition (APPKC) has made it a priority to begin implementation of HB-48, reimbursement of pharmacy services. This coalition includes SU, UK, KSHP, KPhA, KY BoP, and APSC. The University of Kentucky has also hired a Practice Implement Pharmacist to help lead these efforts. Yes, the state is uniting to bring about change. If you are a practicing pharmacist or a student graduate, make sure you are a member of a KY professional organization. You will want to be in this new decade of pharmacists. Congratulations to the class of 2021, and to all the alumni of Sullivan University. This is a great time to be a pharmacist, and I can’t wait to hear about how you are using your education to advance practice.

Feature article

Commercial Insurance to Reimburse for PharmacistProvided Services in Kentucky

By: Sara Hart, PharmD Candidate 2022 and Kyle Bryan, PharmD

On March 18th 2021, Kentucky House Bill 48: An Act relating to reimbursement of pharmacist services sponsored by pharmacist and Representative Danny Bentley1, was signed by Governor Beshear. The passage of this bill followed three years of legislative advocacy by the Kentucky Pharmacists Association and the Advancing Pharmacy Practice in Kentucky Coalition (APPKC), an advocacy group of pharmacy stakeholder organizations in Kentucky, including the Kentucky Pharmacists Association, the Kentucky Society of Health System Pharmacists, the Kentucky Board of Pharmacy, the American Pharmacy Services Corporation, the Sullivan University College of Pharmacy, and the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy’s Center for the Advancement of Pharmacy Practice.

What does the bill do? The bill amended KRS Chapter 304 to establish when an insurer or third-party administrator for an insurer will provide reimbursement to a pharmacist for a service or procedure they provided. For this statute, an insurer is defined as “any insurer, self-insurer, self-insured plan, or self-insured group and shall include any health maintenance organization, provider-sponsored integrated health delivery network, or nonprofit hospital, medicalsurgical, dental, and health service corporation.” An insurer shall provide reimbursement if the service or procedure “is within the scope of practice of pharmacy; would otherwise be covered under the policy, plan, or contract if the service or procedure were provided by a physician, APRN, or PA; and is performed by the pharmacist in strict compliance with laws and administrative regulations related to the pharmacist’s license.” In addition, the reimbursement will be at a rate not less than that provided to other nonphysician practitioners. Why is this important? In 2017, regulation 201 KAR 2:380 established procedures by which pharmacists, acting in collaboration with a prescriber, can provide mutually agreed-upon services as outlined in a specific care protocol. At the time, the hope was that this new regulation would help address limited access to care across Kentucky. It was estimated that Kentucky would experience close to a 30% shortfall in primary care provider adequacy by 2025. In addition, evidence has shown that pharmacists providing protocol-driven direct patient care can improve both patient and public health. As of July 1, 2021, sixteen protocols have been approved by the Kentucky Board of Pharmacy; however, many pharmacies still have not implemented these protocols in their practices. How does this bill help? A major barrier to widespread implementation of care has been a lack of reimbursement. HB 48 addresses this issue by requiring commercial insurances to reimburse pharmacists for theprotocol-driven services they provide. With this statute in place, pharmacies have one less barrier to offering protocol-driven patient care. More pharmacists offering protocol-driven care will help further address limited access to care and improve both patient and public health throughout

Kentucky. This is a positive first step towards getting pharmacists reimbursement for their services. However, additional work is needed to ensure full access for all patients, as HB 48 applies only to commercial insurances and does not apply to Medicare and Medicaid. What are the first steps in implementation? To prepare for reimbursement for pharmacy services, there are important steps that your pharmacy must complete: • Examine the current services provided by your pharmacy and identify those that are eligible for billing. • Each pharmacist should obtain a National Provider Identifier (NPI) number. • Pharmacists must become credentialed and contracted with health payers. It is important to specify that you are enrolling as a pharmacist for the purpose of providing care. Keep in mind that to date, few states have required insurers to credential and contract with pharmacists; therefore, persistence is key. Many health plans utilize the Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare (CAQH) ProView2 service for their credentialing process. More information on credentialing and contracting will be forthcoming from the APPKC and its stakeholder organizations. It is paramount that we work together to support profession-wide implementation of this important legislation across all practice settings. On behalf of its stakeholder organizations, the APPKC is establishing a work group focused on implementation and the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy has hired a practice implementation pharmacist to lead implementation efforts. While this progress is game-changing for Kentucky pharmacists, it is new legislation with little precedent and will require much time and effort to completely and successfully implement. If you are interested in assisting APPKC with HB 48 implementation efforts, please contact Kyle Bryan at kyle.bryan@uky.edu. Call to Action To ensure full access to pharmacist-provided services for ALL patients, federal authority for reimbursement of pharmacist services within Medicare is paramount. The Pharmacy and Medically Underserved Areas Enhancement Act (S 1362 and HR 2759) is bipartisan legislation that will amend section 1861 (s) (2) of the Social Security Act to allow pharmacists to receive reimbursement for services provided to patients within Medicare Part B. This bill was first introduced in the 113th Congress in the House and has been refiled this year in the 117th Congress. For this bill to pass, pharmacists across the state and nation need to speak out. One way to do this is by sending an email asking your legislators to cosponsor S. 1362/H.R. 27593. Personalize the provided email with descriptions of your role on the healthcare team that demonstrate the importance of giving Medicare patients access to pharmacists’ services. Sources: 1 Available at: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/recorddocuments/bil l/21RS/hb48/bill.pdf 2 https://www.caqh.org/solutions/caqh-proviewproviders-and-practice-managers 3 https://ashsp.ac360.aristotleactioncenter.com/#/ale rtId/7a08b943-77c9-4b09-b500-17f965bbf41c/

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