At Yale New Haven Hospital, Sarah Perreault, Molly Schiffer and Katelyn Yamartino are the pharmacists who oversee inpatient and outpatient stem cell transplant and cellular therapy which includes CART, TIL, gene therapy and clinical trials. This is a novel and dynamic field with new therapies being studied and approved regularly. Sarah, Molly and Katelyn help onboard these new products and educate staff on workflow to ensure a smooth process.  These pharmacists counsel patients on chemotherapy and medication management and practice under a collaborative practice agreement to manage medications and toxicities of stem cell transplant and cellular therapy patients.

I hope you are enjoying the summer and finding time to take on new adventures, indulge in a good book, or just take a break and relax! I wanted to take this opportunity to share some updates, reflect on the progress we have made, and pull back the curtain and give you a sneak peek at what we are planning for the months ahead.

2024 has been a busy and exciting year so far for our Society. We planned and hosted the 5th Annual New England Residency Conference where a record number of residents from several states presented their year-long innovative projects. We had a very successful legislative session and introduced a bill that will advance pharmacy technicians’ practice and allow Technician Product Verification. This bill will enable pharmacists to redirect time to clinical functions, in line with their education and expertise, and will establish a clear career path with growth opportunities for pharmacy technicians. To keep you informed and up to date, we redesigned our website and news briefs and enhanced our social media presence. If you have any suggestions on how we can support you or support your practice, let us know. We would love to hear from you!

What is next? A proposal to amend our bylaws to change technicians’ status from “Supporting Members” to “Associate Members” will be going out to you for a vote soon. The amendment will allow technicians to vote in the general election for officers and on technician related matters. Your voice matters, so please vote! It’ll be an early practice for the Fall!  Planning is also underway for a social event in September and for Catch The Wave in November. Our education committee is putting the finishing touches on what we hope to be informative, inspiring, and thought-provoking meeting program. Hope to see all of you during these events.

Best Regards

Sam

This is your chance to nominate the incredible individuals and teams who inspire, innovate, and make a difference every day. Whether it's a colleague, friend, or leader, now is the time to give them the recognition they truly deserve. 

CSHP Meritorious Team Achievement Award

Paul G. Pierpaoli Award

Pharmacist of the Year Award

Greg Gousse Preceptor of the Year Award (NEW!)

SUBMIT A NOMINATION

LEARN MORE

Members of the Board have the opportunity to play a significant role in guiding the Society and influencing the future of your profession.

NOMINATIONS: JUNE 3, 2024 - AUGUST 15, 2024

BALLOTS: AUGUST 19, 2024 - SEPTEMBER 19, 2024

ELIGIBILITY

Any Active Pharmacist member of CSHP in good standing is eligible for nomination.

Any CSHP member (active pharmacist, resident, retired pharmacist, pharmacy technician, associate, or student) may submit a candidate nomination.

For questions, please contact Mahmoud Ammar, Nominations Chair (mahmoud.ammar@ynhh.org & office@cshponline.org)

SUBMIT A NOMINATION

Bridgeport Hospital is a 501 bed hospital servicing the most populous city in Connecticut. The Department of Pharmacy is responsible for acute inpatient care, ambulatory care, as well as hospital based clinics. After pharmacy employee feedback and leadership observation, there seemed to be operational efficiencies that could be implemented. During an analysis of each shift, operations leadership discovered that many shifts had overlapping responsibilities and unclear delineation of duties. In order to clarify and streamline workflows, the department listed each task that was required of a pharmacy technician and set up multiple working meetings with pharmacy technicians. During these meetings, the group completed an activity by placing the tasks (laminated with Velcro backing), on posterboards representing each shift. The team proposed new responsibilities per shift, based upon a “theme” for the shift, with the idea to keep all tasks related to the “theme” assigned to the shift. For example, the Nonsterile Compounding shift completed a number of tasks that were related to returns, reports and other items. Under the new workflow, the Nonsterile Compounding Pharmacy Technician now only completes tasks related to completing nonsterile compounding.

We will continue to evaluate our workflow as a result of these changes. Empowering our front line team to make changes and provide feedback promotes trust, ownership, productivity and innovation. Employee engagement naturally leads to operational efficiencies in medication distribution. Our front line team has helped to ensure that the right person is doing the right task at the right time. This allows the Pharmacy Department to provide a consistent and high quality level of service to our nursing colleagues and patients.

Submitted by Bridgeport Hospital Pharmacy Operations Management team:

June Repasi

Marta Stueve Brunot

Jim Kennedy

Teresa Papstein

We will soon begin accepting nominations for the distinguished CSHP Awards (CSHP Meritorious Team Achievement Award, Paul G. Pierpaoli Award, Pharmacist of the Year Award, and Greg Gousse Preceptor of the Year Award). Any CSHP member pharmacist will be eligible for nomination.

Description of the awards:

• CSHP Meritorious Team Achievement Award - The CSHP Meritorious Team Achievement Award is given annually to a team of pharmacy professionals who have contributed to improving patient care by 1) initiating an innovative pharmacy service or 2) helping people achieve optimal health outcomes.

• Paul G. Pierpaoli Award - The Paul G. Pierpaoli Award is given annually to a CSHP member of the highest integrity who best exemplifies the profession of pharmacy through significant contributions of a long-term nature to the practice of pharmacy in Connecticut and the development of high standards of pharmacy practice.

• Pharmacist of the Year - The Pharmacist of the Year Award is given annually to a CSHP member of the highest integrity who best exemplifies the pharmacy profession through their cooperation with the entire healthcare team, service to the pharmacy profession, and service to the community.

• Greg Gousse Preceptor of the Year Award (NEW!) - The Preceptor of the Year Award is given to a preceptor who has demonstrated significant and continued dedication to the education of pharmacy students and/or pharmacy residents above and beyond the general expectations.

On May 8th, during the last hour of the legislative session the Advanced Tech legislation passed (SB 133). Rather than focusing on one specific task (Tech product verification), the bill creates a new designation (Advanced Pharmacy Technician) that will allow the pharmacist to delegate the following to the advanced tech:

1. perform final product verifications

2. administer vaccines

3. administer COVID-19-related tests, influenza-related tests and HIV-related tests

SUMMARY

BILL NO.133

Saturday, April 27th is Drug Take Back Day. Dispose of unused medications responsibly and contribute to a safer, healthier community. Thank you to all of the volunteers and all those who participate in the day.

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YEAR ROUND PHARMACEUTICAL DISPOSAL CENTERS

The FDA has granted accelerated approval to Rezdiffra (resmetirom), making it the first FDA-approved medication available for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). It is approved for adults with noncirrhotic NASH with moderate to advanced liver fibrosis to be used in conjunction with diet and exercise. Approval was based on data from the Phase 3 MAESTRO-NASH trial. Read more here.

Xolair (omalizumab) has been granted FDA approval for IgE-mediated food allergy in adult and pediatric patients 1 year of age and older for the reduction of Type 1 allergic reactions that may occur with accidental exposure to one or more foods. Patients who receive Xolair must continue to avoid the food allergen, and Xolair is not intended for emergency treatment of allergic food reactions. Read more here.