12 th ANNUAL VA NATIONAL PHARMACY CONFERENCE March 24 th -28 th, 2008 What will be the image of VA Pharmacy by the patient and the profession?

12th ANNUAL VA NATIONAL PHARMACY CONFERENCE

March 24th-28th, 2008

What will be the image of VA Pharmacy by the

patient and the profession?

IMAGE

Is it important?

Consensus Statement

The image of the VA Pharmacist in the future will be that of a healthcare professional at the hub of the health care system. To the patient, the VA pharmacist will be their

advocate; a purveyor of health knowledge who delivers quality care to them at a personal level in an effective manner.

To the profession, the VA pharmacist will be the model; taking the profession to new levels of expansion, pioneering new technologies, incorporating evidence based medicine and teaching values into fulfilling careers.

Action Plan

Through initiatives at the local and National levels, move from where we are now to the proposed image of VA Pharmacy.

We developed a “Pharmacy Image Pilot Study” Collect best practices and then share

with all VA sites

Slogan for Campaign

VA Pharmacists, Aiming for Excellence VA Pharmacists, Better than Perfect VA Pharmacists, Beyond Excellence VA Pharmacists, Best Care, Best Career Pharmacists do it Best At the VA, Pharmacy means family. We care

for our family of heros. VA Pharmacy, you chose to be our heros, we

choose to be yours.

VA Pharmacy: For those who served, the best deserved.

Pilot Study Action Plan

With the help of the VFLs, each VISN selected one participant site (some selected multiple sites)

Each site was sent an email with suggested initiatives

Sites picked 2 initiatives and were given 6 months to implement and assess success

Examples of Initiatives

Brochures for patients Business cards for pharmacists Banners for the pharmacy Patient newsletters Post a list of contact phone numbers in

the pharmacy Attend local career fairs and pharmacy

meetings Attend “brown bag” events, wear white

coats and VA name badges Add a slogan to local website

Additional Resources for Initiatives

On our Sharepoint site: ASHP's "Just Ask" Campaign

Toolkit with patient brochures, greeting cards, posters, table tent cards, patient education tip sheets and buttons

VHA Healthcare Recruiter's Toolkit Recruitment brochures, handouts, VA

logos, exhibit display request, contact info for Pharmacy recruiter

Timeline for Image Pilot Study

Selection of 1 site from each VISN - May 1st, 2007

Start of pilot- June 1st, 2007 Initial follow up with each site-

September 1st, 2007 Completion of pilot- December 1st,

2007 Compilation of comments and

document collection from each site- January 1st, 2008

Participating Sites

19 VISNs participated

VISN 1- Connecticut VISN 2- Canandaigua/ROPC VISN 3- Hudson Valley VISN 4- Wilmington VISN 5- Martinsburg VISN 7- Columbia SC/Atlanta VISN 8- San Juan VISN 9- Louisville VISN 10- All Sites

Participating Sites cont.

VISN 11- Detroit VISN 12- Chicago Health VISN 15- St. Louis VISN 16- Little Rock/Jackson VISN 18- Amarillo VISN 19- Grand Junction, CO VISN 20- Anchorage/Spokane VISN 21- Martinez/Northern CA VISN 22- San Diego VISN 23- Omaha

Follow Up

It was decided that we would check in with the sites after 3 months (instead of 6 months)

We gathered comments and documents and posted them on our Sharepoint site

Results of the Pilot Study

Overall sites felt Image had improved after implementation of the initiatives

A couple of sites reported that their SHEP scores had not changed

Initiatives Completed by Sites

Banner hung in Pharmacy Added slogan to Pharmacy website Attended local career fairs, association

meetings and brown bag events Developed a Pharmacy brochure Listed contact phone numbers in

Pharmacy Pharmacist printed in bold on name

badges Pharmacy Information table during

Pharmacy Week

Initiatives Completed cont.

Poster “Get to Know Your Pharmacist” in the waiting area

Greeter in an information booth outside of Pharmacy

Remodeling of pharmacist consultation areas

Assigned pharmacists to clinic areas Business cards for pharmacists

Documents Gathered

Business card template Pharmacy patient newsletter Pharmacy patient brochure Poster for the Outpatient Pharmacy

“What we are doing while you are waiting”

Pharmacy Mission Statement Poster

Example of Poster

Should We Continue?

We have completed our pilot We will share what we have learned

with all sites Improving Pharmacy Image should

always be continued

Thank You to the Pharmacy Image Team from Dallas

Ed Baker Renee Baker Nick Beckey Ron Boneberg David Carden Tim Cmelik Bo Cumbo David Fell Jane Gault Jim Gibson Bob Grasso Todd Harrison Charlie Hostettler

Jennifer Howard Nan Hunn George Knight Ron Lovly Lynnae Mahaney Scott Mambourg Richard Martinez Angie Paniagua Jim Pessetto Jeff Ramirez Earl Rogers Frank Russell Subash Tannin

Thank you again to the pilot sites!

VISN 1- Connecticut VISN 2- Canandaigua/

ROPC VISN 3- Hudson Valley VISN 4- Wilmington VISN 5- Martinsburg VISN 7- Columbia

SC/Atlanta VISN 8- San Juan VISN 9- Louisville VISN 10- All Sites VISN 11- Detroit VISN 12- Chicago Health

VISN 15- St. Louis VISN 16- Little

Rock/Jackson VISN 18- Amarillo VISN 19- Grand

Junction, CO VISN 20- Anchorage/ Spokane VISN 21- Martinez/ Northern CA VISN 22- San Diego VISN 23- Omaha

Questions?