From the Executive Director

Penny Shelton, PharmD, CGP, FASCP

Positioning NCAP for Success

First and foremost, I extend a warm “Happy Holidays” greeting from the NCAP staff to all our readers and NCAP members. This issue comes to you during that time of year which brings great joy to many of us, while at the same time can be extremely busy, overwhelming and exhausting for all. I hope that as you read this column you are doing so while taking some quiet minutes to relax and break away from all the yearend hubbub. At NCAP we are taking some break-away time to analyze 2017 and to prepare for 2018. I have recently spent some time with President Ferreri discussing strategic initiatives for the upcoming year, prioritizing and reviewing our volunteer needs. You can find more on these initiatives and volunteer opportunities on pages 9-10 in this issue of The North Carolina Pharmacist.

This is also the time of the year when many of us are reviewing our health insurance coverage and making sure we are signed up for an appropriate plan. As is the case for an individual’s health, it is also important for an association to periodically assess its organizational health. In the past, some of you may have heard me speak to the health of NCAP. Organizational health has a lot to do with operational metrics such as appropriate staffing numbers, productivity, and positive finances. However, much of an organization’s health is also determined by its agility and adaptability. Healthy organizations are both stable and dynamic, because both attributes are required of associations to function effectively. In order for NCAP to bring meaningful value to its members and to effectively represent our profession, the leadership teams, the Board and I have worked hard in 2017 to strengthen our operational metrics: finances, membership, services, resources, policies and procedures. In addition, much attention has been devoted to both internal and external partnerships.

NCAP’s mission is to “unite, serve and advance the profession of pharmacy for the benefit of society.” To fulfill this mission (i.e., to advance our role in healthcare), we need to share “our story” with others. How many times have we seen local, state, even national task forces or committees established to address healthcare issues with no pharmacy representation? In order for NCAP to effectively represent “pharmacy” in our state, NCAP needs to be at the healthcare decision-making table. We need to position the Association among other non-pharmacy organizations in order to influence and bring about pharmacypositive change. In 2017, we have broken down some of these siloes, and NCAP has been an active voice for pharmacy in a number of important external partnerships and public health initiatives.

NCAP is an active member, and I have had the privilege of representing our Association as a member of The North Carolina Opioid Prescription Drug Abuse Advisory Committee Workgroup. This is an appointed group of about thirty individuals or organizations working with our Department of Health and Human Services and Division of Public Health to problem-solve and devise solutions to address the opioid crisis and implement the NC Opioid Action Plan launched earlier this year by Secretary Cohen and Governor Cooper. NCAP is also an active member of two advisory groups with the North Carolina Association of Hospitals: opioid coalition and pneumonia workgroup. NCAP is representing pharmacists’ roles among our state’s health systems in addressing the opioid crisis; and NCAP is serving to advise in how our Association and pharmacists can help with NCHA’s “Pnockout Pneumonia” campaign. Another more recent external partnership initiative, for which NCAP has taken the lead, is the establishment of a statewide “Pharmacy Technician Educators Coalition” where NCAP is working with the community college pharmacy technician programs to identify among a number of initiatives ways that the Association can better serve pharmacy technicians.

Another positive metric for the Association indicative of improved health of our Association and also a direct result of enhanced internal and external partnerships is a resurgence in educational grants. In recent weeks we have partnered with Alliant QIO for a CMS Specialty Innovation Project grant which will be devoted to identifying eligible patients and increasing naloxone dispensing. The North Carolina Governor’s Institute for Substance Abuse provided funding to produce and edit NCAP-developed educational webinars on a number of substance abuse related topics. Most recently, on November 21, the NC Board of Pharmacy voted to provide financial support to NCAP to implement regional workshops across North Carolina designed to help pharmacists transform their practices and increase the role of pharmacists in helping curb the opioid epidemic.

How healthy is NCAP? This year has proven to be year of resurgence and one that will set us up for greater effectiveness and success. I believe even greater performance and opportunities await us in 2018. In closing, this is the time of year for giving thanks and sharing joy. I thank you for your support and membership. I wish you and yours a joyous holiday season.

Pharmacy Proud, Penny