The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) and the ASHP Research and Education Foundation today announced a commitment from Omnicell, Inc., to provide “Gold Level” funding sponsorship in support of the Pharmacy Practice Model Initiative (PPMI). The PPMI, launched earlier this year, is the next major step in the evolution of pharmacy practice in hospitals and health systems.

A joint project of ASHP and the ASHP Foundation, the PPMI has three components, including an invitational summit to be held in 2010, a social marketing campaign to promote change, and demonstration projects. ASHP is currently seeking additional funding for these key activities.

“We are extremely pleased that Omnicell is supporting this important initiative,” said Stephen J. Allen, M.S., FASHP, Executive Vice President of the ASHP Foundation. “Omnicell’s commitment will help the initiative to redefine, reconstruct, and reinvent pharmacy practice in hospitals and health systems. As an industry leader in hospital pharmacy automation, Omnicell’s support is a strong indication of its commitment to support the optimization of the pharmacist’s patient care role.”

The PPMI will build on the landmark work of the Hilton Head conference, held by ASHP in 1985. The Hilton Head conference brought together a group of visionary pharmacists who helped establish the concept that the practice of pharmacy is a clinical profession and that the role of pharmacists in health systems should be focused on direct care of patients as part of multidisciplinary care teams.

“Omnicell welcomes the opportunity to support this critical need to further enhance pharmacy practice within health systems by enabling the collection, dissemination, and demonstration of best practices to health-system pharmacists,” said Randall Lipps, president, chairman and CEO of Omnicell. “We are committed to continually innovating medication management processes to allow pharmacists to devote more time to direct patient care activities, and the goals of the PPMI are well-aligned with the Omnicell mission.”

The Pharmacy Practice Model Initiative will:

1. Create a framework for ensuring the provision of safe, effective, efficient, accountable, and evidence-based care for all hospital/health-system patients;

2. Determine patient care-related services that should be consistently provided by departments of pharmacy in hospitals and health systems and increase demand for pharmacy services by patients/caregivers, health care professionals, health care executives, and payers;

3.Identify the available technologies to support implementation of the practice model, and identify emerging technologies that could impact the practice model;

4. Support the optimal use and deployment of hospital and health-system pharmacy resources through development of a template for a practice model which is operational, practical, and measurable; and

5. Identify specific actions pharmacists should take to implement practice model change including determination of the necessary staff (pharmacy leaders, pharmacists, and technicians) skills and competencies required to implement this model.

To learn more, visit http://www.ashp.org/ppmi.

Source
ASHP
The ASHP Foundation
Omnicell, Inc.

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