Pharmacy Angle didn't have to take a trip to the North Pole to visit with this jolly fellow. Instead, the Angle's Greg Herring visited with Dana Darger, Director of Pharmacy for Monument Health Rapid City Hospital (Rapid City, South Dakota) at the Health Connect Partner's Conference. 

With a career that spans over four decades, Dana shares his insights on not only his professional journey but also his obsersations when it comes to the evolution of the role of a pharmacy director, the pharmacy's shift from a cost to a profit center, staff shortages and technician training, and much more. 

With more than 15 years of experience in the pharmacy field, Angela Nash, CPHT-ADV has proven to be a passionate, knowledgeable, and effective leader. Her diverse pharmacy background includes sterile compounding, project management, team development, and supply chain management.  Angela has worked with pharmacy technicians from across the country to assist them in discovering their ideal career paths in pharmacy, assessing their career values and goals, and ultimately creating a strategic plan for obtaining their dream job and enjoying a rewarding and fulfilling career. Angela has successfully implemented numerous cost-saving initiatives, reduced inventory waste, developed medication management education for the nursing staff, and improved standards of practice to prevent diversion.

Recently, Ken Perez, Healthcare IT, marketing & policy consultant and former Vice President of Healthcare Policy and Government Affairs for Omnicell, Inc. moderated a round table conversation with three pharmacy leaders - including interestingly two sisters - who have pursued different paths during their pharmacy career journeys. 

The panel included:

Nicolle Rychlick, Director of Advisory Services at Premier, Inc.

Janelle Rychlick, Medical Science Liaison Oncology at Novartis Oncology 

Nilesh Desai, Chief Pharmacy Officer for Baptist Health System

Its our hope that their experiences and insight might provide you with valuable information when determining what is the right path for your career. 

Dwight de Vera is the Vice President of Healthcare Strategy at Inmar Intelligence. Previously, Dwight was the founder and CEO of RxTransparent which was acquired by Inmar in 2020. He obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in Supply Chain and Information Systems from the Pennsylvania State University.

Dwight is recognized as an expert in healthcare analytics and drug supply chain. He is the recipient of many healthcare and technology industry awards and his work has been featured in several industry publications. Dwight is frequently asked to represent the drug dispensing community at regulatory meetings and industry events specially focused on drug data standards and the Drug Supply Chain Security Act or DSCSA.

While the deadline for enforcement has been postponed until November 2024, hospitals and pharmacists need to continue working towards DSCSA compliance. We invited Neal Long, CEO of ConsortiEX to explain the changes that are being implemented, the in's/out's of the scope of DSCSA, what these changes mean for pharmacist, and his recommendations for working towards implementation. 

Laura Monroe-Duprey, PharmD, BSPharm, is currently Inova Health System’s (IHS) Medication Safety Officer in northern Virginia. Inova Health System is a five-hospital system with ambulatory, primary care and off site urgent and emergency centers for which this role spans. Prior to working at IHS she was the Division Direction of Medication Safety for sixteen hospitals on the west coast of Florida. 

Laura has a comprehensive background in healthcare which includes roles as a pharmacy director, operations manager, pharmacy quality coordinator and clinical pharmacist for small and large community hospitals, a regional pharmacy director, as well as a Chief Quality Officer. She has also been a residency program director (RPD), preceptor and for PGY-1 residents and is the current RPD for a PGY-2 Medication Use Safety and Policy (MUSP) resident and worked as consultant with NECC-MERPS. She has given state and national continuing education presentations on medication safety and error prevention strategies including smart pump library best practices. Her experience spans over thirty years in three states giving her an abundance of knowledge and insight into medication management opportunities.

While at the Health Connect Partner's Pharmacy Conference in Indianapolis, Pharmacy Angle had the opportunity to sit down with Urshila Shah, Executive Director of Pharmacy Services at Saint Joseph's Health in Patterson, New Jersey to get her thoughts on topics, trends, and challenges facing the industry.

Ms. Shah discusses her professional journey that led to her current position, and the evolution of focus for a pharmacy director - from primarily focused on inpatient acute care operations and expense management to now being business strategy leaders that are asked to optimize growth and bring in new revenue. Urshila also provides her thoughts staffing & drug shortages, AI and the use of technology, and much more. 

Dr. Neil Hunter, PharmaD., MBA, BCSCP, is the System Director – Sterile Drug Compounding for Ochsner Health, encompassing oversight for forty-seven hospitals. His practice expertise includes sterile compounding and healthsystem automation. His focus is to automate processes, in a system setting, which allow for a data driven approach to ensure medications are delivered safely, and in a timely manner. 

Nationally, Dr. Hunter serves on the BD Connected Medication Management and SCA Advisory Board’s. In the state of Louisiana, he serves as President-Elect for the LSHP, and as the President of the South-East LSHP local chapter. In this setting, he is an advocate for hospital pharmacist and is striving to increase Louisiana Pharmacist participation in LSHP. 

Pharmacy Angle had the opportunity to sit down with Jon Albrecht, Vice President & Chief Pharmacy Officer for Methodist Health System while at the Health Connect Partner's Pharmacy Conference in Indianapolis to get his thoughts on challenges and trends across the industry. 

Jon, based in Dallas, Texas, is responsible for thirteen hospitals, two retail pharmacies, about thirty to thirty five, clinics...all told about seventeen hundred beds. On the way to the top of his profession, Jon has seen what beinga pharmacy leader means and requires while also witnessing the roller coast that is manpower and staffing. Jon talks about the changes that are necessary to recruit pharmacy technicians in today's work force, drug shortages, and much more. 

Fred Pane, R. Ph, FASHP, FABC, is currently Director, Pharmacy Services, Capstone Health Alliance, where he is developing new contracting models to address todays evolving healthcare ecosystem and supporting technology to improve pharmacy operations, address current staffing shortages, and improve patient and medication safety, while delivering clinical and financial value to Capstone members and their patients. Fred has a diverse background which allows him to see healthcare, customers, and patient care delivery, through many lenses and apply his experience. His experience includes, Sr. VP Business Development, Comprehensive Pharmacy Services; VP,
Pharmacy Services and Interim VP, Supply Chain for Coordinated Health, Allentown, Pa; PhRMA industry as Sr. Director, National Accounts/Health Care Systems and Sr. Director, Pharmacy Solutions, The Medicines Company. Prior to The Medicines Company, Sr. Director, Pharmacy Affairs at the GPO, Premier Inc. He was Administrator of Pharmacy Services, Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network (LVHN) leading an Enterprise Pharmacy Operation and provided Pharmacy Leadership for an 11 hospital IDN called PennCare. While at LVHN he chaired the P and T
Committee, with a focus on developing an outcome and value-based formular.

Fred received his BS Pharmacy from St. John’s University, School of Pharmacy, attended Leadership Programs in Pharmacy and Health Care, Univ. of Pa. Wharton School, and Thunderbird/Mid-Western University. He is a Fellow of The American Society of Health-system Pharmacy (FASHP) and completed an 18-month Fellowship, Healthcare Leadership, with The Advisory Board Company (FABC) with a focus on understanding the current and future healthcare ecosystem, along with leadership.

He provides input to American Society of Health-systems Pharmacy (ASHP) addressing issues that are impacting the profession of Health System Pharmacy, the Healthcare Ecosystem, and with The Advisory Board Company on Healthcare, Industry, Supply Chain, and Pharmacy issues. He has numerous publications including, the first article on “White Bagging” and “Value Based Contracting” and has presented at numerous industry and pharmacy conferences.