Ask an Alumnus - Denise Scarpelli

Denise Scarpelli, PharmD ’96, MBA

Executive Director of Ambulatory Pharmacy and Business Development, University of Chicago Medicine

Dr. Denise Scarpelli has served as the executive director of ambulatory pharmacy and business development at the University of Chicago since 2017. Previously she held many leadership roles at Walgreens, leading Pharmacy Operations in Chicago for over 20 years.

Dr. Scarpelli earned a Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Illinois ChicagoCollege of Pharmacy in 1996 and a Master of Business Administration from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in 2021. She is currently the chair of the Illinois Board of Pharmacy and on the Dean’s Advisory Board for Midwestern College of Pharmacy. Denise has also served as the chair of the ASHP Section of Specialty Pharmacy Practitioners Section Advisory Group (SAG) on Business Development in 2020. She serves as a committee member of many ASHP groups.

Scarpelli serves as the clinical leader within the actuarial organization, guiding financial initiatives related to medical and pharmacy spend across the organization and influencing the risk management of major developments in the industry, such as gene therapy and the COVID-19 vaccines.

Q - As a pharmacist, how can I best prepare to adapt to the inevitable changes in the next ten years?

A - As I reflect on three decades of experience, pharmacy has changed dramatically. The one thing I came to learn is that change is constant, and as a pharmacist, you need to be aware of the changes, or you will not be relevant to the industry. To adapt, you need to be reading about the changes in healthcare, network with other pharmacists and healthcare providers to discuss the changes, and create strategies around how you fit or your practice fits with those changes. I have seen so many pharmacists not keep up with the changes and have been left behind due to not changing with the profession.

Q - What are you working on right now, and what have you learned from it?

Q - Currently, I am building a central fill pharmacy and a home infusion pharmacy. I have learned that no matter how much experience you have, there are always new things to learn. I have learned to reach out to my colleagues in the industry to pick their brains to learn from them. Also, no matter how much planning you do, there are always hiccups along the way with a project and having a flexible plan to let you adjust to the changes. The changes happening in the world around the supply chain and resources have made new projects difficult, and we need to learn that new projects might take longer than anticipated. You should always have a contingency plan when developing new pharmacy services.

A - With three decades in pharmacy, what were the things that most influenced or informed your career?

A - Over my three decades in pharmacy, the things that influenced or informed my career were the organizations I became involved with and the networking contacts I developed outside of my work environment. These contacts helped me learn what else there was to do in pharmacy and helped me make connections for career growth and opportunities. I advise students all the time to get involved. It will help their careers and network outside your work environment; it enables you to grow professionally. Being involved with the board of pharmacy has also informed and influenced my career. In every aspect of my job or projects I am involved with, I always have my legal hat on to ensure we are following the rules of the law. Pharmacy law is as important as the clinical side of pharmacy; it helps protect the health and safety of our patients.

Q - What career highlight has given you the most satisfaction given your incredible career?

A - Some of the highlights might not seem so significant anymore, but to me, it was exciting to see the advances in the industry over the years. The first one was when pharmacists could start vaccinating. When I was at Walgreens, this was a game-changer for the profession and showcased that a pharmacist can provide clinical services in a retail setting. The next one was the collaborative agreements and standing orders; the creative pharmacists were building pharmacy services within a clinic and demonstrating the impact that can improve outcomes. The other one was the Affordable Care Act and all the initiatives involving pharmacists such as meds-2-beds programs in reducing readmissions or pharmacists embedded in clinics to help with MTMs. All things were just ideations or in their infancy stages when I first started as a pharmacist.

Q - Has being a woman in leadership/pharmacy impacted you in any way?

A - Being a woman in leadership has impacted me and how I work. I don’t think this is isolated to pharmacy but all woman leaders. We have come a long way, but there is still work to be done to have the same equality as men leaders. When I first started in leadership, only a few women were in leadership roles. I learned early on that I can impact future women leaders by mentoring and encouraging them to take on these roles. When you still look at the profession, which is predominately women, there are still more men in leadership roles, but it is improving, so we still have work to promote more women into these roles.

Q - What was the most important thing you learned while in pharmacy school? Who has influenced your career?

A - The most important thing I learned is that it is challenging to know all aspects of pharmacy and know all medications, but by the training we received, we understand how to look it up, conduct research, and ask the right questions to make the best clinical decision for the patient. In pharmacy, it is continuous learning every day from your patients and colleagues. There have been many people that influenced my career over the years. I have had many mentors that I still lean on today for advice. But the most significant influencer was my mother; she continuously pushed me to do more, set high goals, and told me to say yes to every opportunity that came my way.

Q - You’ve had success at several professional stops—how?

A - First to stop, listen, and learn that professional stop and your team. Never come into a new position with the plan to change it, but come in with a strategy to listen and learn, have the team get to know you and you them. As you understand, look for improvement, efficiencies, and new approaches. The team will respect you and, in the long run, follow your lead over time. This has worked time and time again. Also, celebrate the wins even if they are little wins. A team wants to be on the winning team and continue to support the team’s success. My success has been the amazing teams I had the opportunity to work with over the years.

Second, anticipate and accept innovation. As human beings, we are often resistant to change. In the face of change, our first instinct is to question it, resist it, and dismiss it as being short-lived. Those who anticipate innovation, embrace it, and evolve with it are the ones who will be successful long-term.

Q - Where do you see pharmacy/healthcare going in the years ahead, and what opportunities do you see for our current student pharmacists?

A - Over the next few years, there will be a growth in telehealth and telepharmacy—a focus on providing care in patients’ homes with the hospital at home and home infusion. With the continued growth of specialty, there is a need for pharmacists to work in this space as well. Also, with collaborative agreements, there is a need to have more specialized pharmacists to provide clinical services in ambulatory. Ambulatory services continue to grow with healthcare shifting patient care from hospital to home. Patients recover more quickly at home and have less risk of exposure to infections.

The other area is analytics; there is a lot of patient data available, there will be a need for pharmacists to publish outcomes of the great work they are doing. The data and research can provide more prescriptive prescribing with pharmacogenomics. This is the area of pharmacy where there will be an opportunity in the future, and we need pharmacists trained to provide this type of care.