Report of the 2012-2013 Professional Affairs Committee: Tables of Influence—Is Pharmacy Hungry Enough?

According to the Bylaws of AACP, the Professional Affairs Committee is to study issues associated with the professional practice as they relate to pharmaceutical education, and to establish and improve working relationships with all other organizations in the field of health affairs. The Committee is also encouraged to address related agenda items relevant to its Bylaws charge and to identify issues for consideration by subsequent committees, task forces, commissions, or other groups. President J. Lyle Bootman charged the 2012-2013 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Standing Committees with issues related to transforming healthcare. (1) President Bootman encourages AACP institutional and individual members to "get to all the right tables of influence at the right time" and recognizes the local/state partnerships that member schools/ colleges have with other stakeholders in health care can and does result in improving health care. Specifically, the 2012-2013 Professional Affairs Committee is charged to: (1) Identify successful practices in the development and maintenance of effective relationships between state pharmacy organizations and schools/ colleges of pharmacy and (2) Recommend strategies related to state and local policy developments to optimally position pharmacists in health reform initiatives. Members of the Professional Affairs Committee (PAC) include faculty from multiple disciplines from various schools/colleges of pharmacy as well as two executive directors of state pharmacy associations from the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations (NASPA). Prior to an in-person meeting of the committee, pertinent background information and resource materials were distributed and a conference call was held to develop a strategy, for addressing committee charges. The majority of committee members met for a day and a half in Crystal City, Virginia on October 29-30,2012 to discuss the various facets related to this issue as well as to develop a process and strategies for addressing the charges. The committee members not able to meet in person were teleconferenced in during the Virginia meeting to provide their input. Following the process development and delegation of assignments related to the committee charges, the PAC communicated via electronic communications as well as through personal exchanges via telephone and email. The result is the following report, which discusses the elements and importance of a recognized relationship between pharmacy organizations, specifically professional organizations at the state level and boards of pharmacy as well as successful practices and strategies to guide the academy to be present and active at the "tables of influence" that will enhance the profession and improve patient care.  The PAC believes the recommendations in this report are fundamental to the association's future. We approached our charges with the understanding of addressing inter-connectivity, reform, and transformation. Jim Collins' Good to Great (2) premise includes the thought that a 'good' performance is often the enemy of achieving greatness. The Committee discussed this concept and identified that in the past, schools/colleges of pharmacy have been comfortable with competitive pools of applicants and high placement rates thanks in large part to the numerous opportunities and demand for pharmacists. This comfort level, along with the different missions of schools/colleges of pharmacy, professional associations, and state boards of pharmacy has prevented our profession from working together in an effective united effort to make sure that we are at the "right tables of influence at the right time." This has contributed to our profession now struggling with our identity and place in a dynamic healthcare environment. The pharmacy profession has been left out of important discussions needed for recognizing the value that pharmacists must bring to providing patient care in an integrated team approach, as well as enhancing public health issues and society at large. …

Field of study: Education, Medicine