2016 Next-Generation Pharmacist Awards: Meet the Winners!

The Next-Generation Pharmacist^® Awards is a national program that salutes pharmacy professionals who are defining the industry’s future. Now in its seventh year, Pharmacy Times and Parata Systems, cofounders of this prestigious awards program, recognize pharmacy leaders across a wide range of practice settings who embody the innovation and inspiration in pharmacy and the future vision of the profession.

Here are all the winners in 11 categories for the 2016 Next-Generation Pharmacist^® Awards! We congratulate these outstanding winners!

Civic Leader 2016

Vice President of Pharmacy, Fruth Pharmacy

Point Pleasant, West Virginia

Since high school, Tim Weber knew he wanted to be a pharmacist. He credits an independent pharmacist he met early in his life for leading him to the pharmacy profession by touting the benefits of being a pharmacist. Weber’s ambition gave him the momentum he needed to move from staff pharmacist to a top-level corporate position at Kmart in a span of just 10 years.

His inspiration primarily comes from his family. He looks to his 10-year-old son and his wife, who is also a pharmacist, to think of ways pharmacists can make a difference in the community and benefit public health.

Weber believes it is important for people in all professions to focus on the “big picture” rather than sweating the small stuff. He set out to work as hard as he could to benefit his family, his team, and the profession overall—and those reasons remain the basis of his personal philosophy.

Looking toward the future, Weber believes pharmacists need to focus more on the outcomes of therapy, troubleshooting adherence and adverse-event issues, and the overall quality of each patient’s life.

Entrepreneur 2016

Towncrest Pharmacy

Iowa City, Iowa

Randy McDonough is co-owner and director of clinical services at Towncrest Pharmacy, where he has developed and implemented a community pharmacy practice that focuses on patient care services. McDonough counts this among his greatest achievements, as it is evidence that pharmacists can enhance patient outcomes, improve utilization of health care resources, and reduce health care spend. “We have developed a collaborative working relationship with a number of physician practices and instituted several collaborative practice agreements,” said McDonough. “My business partner and I developed our own clinical documentation system, PharmClin, by which our pharmacists document up to 3000 clinical interventions per month.”

McDonough’s personal philosophy is to be the best pharmacist he can be, provide his patients with the best care possible, and work collaboratively with other providers to ensure his patients are achieving their therapeutic outcomes with safe and effective therapy. As a manifestation of his philosophy, McDonough developed a process to help community pharmacists provide patient care services during dispensing services. In this patient care process, called Continuous Medication Monitoring (CoMM), pharmacists review patients’ medication profiles, identify drug therapy problems, develop a plan to resolve the problems, and document their clinical activities. “This is done with each and every patient and each and every refill,” said McDonough.

McDonough envisions the following within the next 10 years: “Pharmacists will be interventionists, identifying and resolving drug therapy problems, working collaboratively with other health care providers, counseling and educating patients, and documenting their patient care activities. Pharmacists will be integrated into the health care team, contributing—as medication managers—to the care and outcomes of patients.” McDonough is helping make this vision a reality through his collaborative business model and tools such as PharmClin and CoMM.

Future Pharmacist 2016

Melissa Nelson, PharmD

Pharmacy Quality Alliance

University of Arizona

Tuscon, Arizona

Melissa Nelson, PharmD, is a recent graduate from the University of Arizona, where she also worked as a research assistant in quality improvement and pharmacy education in quality. Previously, she worked as a quality auditor for a popular restaurant chain and noticed many parallels to health care, such as employee retention and training, inventory management, production and sale of a high quality product, and customer service. This inspired Nelson to seek additional training and identify opportunities to measure and improve health care quality. Nelson currently serves as the Executive Fellow for the Pharmacy Quality Alliance (PQA).

One project of which Nelson is most proud is the co-development of a transitions-of-care program as a partnership among a local hospital, a health care company, and the medication management center at her college. This interprofessional program linked transitional care management to chronic care management by including touch points at 72-hours, one week, and three and communication across the patient’s health care team.

Nelson’s vision for the pharmacy profession includes recognition as fully integrated and identified members of the health care team working collaboratively and interprofessionally.

Passion, partnership, and integrity are some of her key motivators.

Health-System Pharmacist 2016

Geoff Wall, BSPharm, PharmD, BCPS, FCCP, CGP

Professor of Pharmacy Practice, Drake University

Des Moines, Iowa

Geoff Wall, BSPharm, PharmD, BCPS, FCCP, CGP, knew he wanted to be a pharmacist since he was 10 years of age, when he watched the pharmacist behind the counter of his community pharmacy vigilantly looking after bottles and pill containers. Now a professor of pharmacy practice at Drake University, Wall has taught hundreds of students and won several preceptor and mentor-of-the-year awards. He has also worked with a vibrant internal medicine and critical care team.

Among his many achievements, Wall has has been instrumental in developing programs such as a postgraduate year-1 pharmacy residency program, a pharmacist-run penicillin allergy testing program, an anticoagulation monitoring program, a pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic monitoring program, and the Drake Drug Information Center.

His students and residents are his sources of inspiration. Their eagerness to learn and their new ways of thinking about problems continue to encourage him.

Wall hopes to one day see pharmacists take complete ownership of the medication-use process, including safety, efficacy, monitoring, adherence, and cost-effectiveness. He believes this is a function served by no other health care profession, and if pharmacists can demonstrate these abilities to politicians and payers, the future will be bright.

Lifetime Leadership 2016

US Agency for International Development Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance PharmacistUniversity of New Mexico College of Pharmacy

Capt. Lisa Tonrey became interested in pharmacy one summer while volunteering at a hospital. Instead of working as a candy striper, Tonrey was placed in the pharmacy department, which guided her educational choice to pursue pharmacy.

In her career of service, Tonrey’s mission has been to serve vulnerable communities. As a public health practitioner, her passion for disease prevention inspired her to push a national agenda for promoting pharmacists as immunizers.

In her 22-year active duty pharmacy career as a US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps officer, she treated patients suffering from debilitating diseases. “My career helped shape my character and helped me appreciate the fundamental importance of good health,” said Tonrey. “Along the way, I became a better pharmacist, health administrator, and supervisor, as well as a more understanding parent and person.”

Tonrey’s goal is to use her talents, gifts, and blessings to be a blessing to others. She is inspired by scriptures for encouragement and by individuals who do good deeds for others. She finds great satisfaction in helping patients improve their health and in celebrating with them when results are achieved.

Tonrey tries to be a servant leader and to walk the walk. She believes that as baby boomers age, and the country experiences a dearth of available physicians, pharmacists will continue to be a critical piece of the health care puzzle.

Military Pharmacist 2016

Vince Deguzman, PharmD, PhD, BCPS, FACHE,

US Naval Hospital Lemoore

Lemoore, California

As director, clinical support services/staff pharmacist at a US naval hospital, Vince Deguzman feels privileged to work alongside fellow military and civilian pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and other health care professionals who share the same passion about the profession and their service to the United States. “Joining the Navy and becoming a pharmacist are some of the best decisions I made in my life,” said Deguzman. He considers his greatest achievement to be serving the nation by providing health care to elite warfighters, including those who have given their lives, and the families of active-duty and retiree populations.

At his facility, he led the expansion of the clinical role of pharmacy professionals within the medical homeport model. He also led the integration of pharmacy assets in the medical homeport, leading to 95% therapeutic adherence of anticoagulation patients while maintaining 100% compliance with Joint Commission standards. In addition, Deguzman led the successful deployment of the polypharmacy initiative, creating the first clinical pharmacist position for managing chronic pain and high-utilizer patients.

Deguzman’s vision for pharmacy includes major developments in prescribing practices, more advanced technology, and increased involvement in the field of pharmacogenomics, in which pharmacists can use their knowledge to create individually tailored drug therapies.

“My family inspires and motivates me to step outside my comfort zone and be the best I can be,” said Deguzman. “My philosophy is to continue growing, personally and professionally, so I keep getting better and making a positive difference, especially in the lives of our patients.”

Patient Care Provider 2016

Unity Point at Home

Fort Dodge, Iowa

Richard Michael, a consultant pharmacist with Unity Point at Home, has advanced the role of the pharmacy professional by becoming a pharmacist volunteer to the state of Iowa Senior Health Insurance Information Program, which provides confidential, unbiased counseling to Medicare beneficiaries.

In addition to his work as a pharmacist in hospital, retail, and long-term care settings, his most cherished achievement is being part of an interdisciplinary hospice care team for more than 25 years. Michael’s inspiration is drawn from patients as they realize their pharmacist is the most accessible member of their health care team. He also credits his wife Crystal, also a pharmacist, as a source of inspiration.

“In addition, my mother was a nurse, whose example showed me what compassion was as it related to providing health care,” Michael continued. “Although nursing was not for me, I knew I could provide health care with the same dedication by becoming a pharmacist.”

Michael believes that pharmacists must first focus on the interests of the patient, family, and/or caregiver. Pharmacists must also continue to embrace their evolving roles and promote active partnerships with physicians. Michael envisions greater and well-justified recognition of pharmacists as valuable members of the health care team.

Rising Star 2016

United Sates Air Force

Aviano Air Base, Italy

Capt Kellie Zentz is the Chief of Inpatient Pharmacy at Aviano Air Base, Italy. She was introduced to the world of pharmacy in high school when she worked at a physician’s office. In particular, the drug reps who came by with information and sample products piqued her interest. Her curiosity led her physician, Dr. Dorn, to encourage her to pursue a career in pharmacy—for which she says she is “forever thankful.”

Among her many achievements, Capt Zentz successfully set up a new pharmacy in the Middle East while deployed in 2015. That pharmacy was located in a tent that was often subject to temperatures of up to 120ºF during the summer. “I had to make decisions on which drugs were most critical for temperature control,” said Zentz, “and I worked out a plan to have the most crucial drugs stored in a small room with very limited space, but that had some temperature control capability.”

Capt Zentz cites her faith as her largest, if not her only, source of inspiration. Scripture, she says, encourages us to serve others and work to glorify God, which in her mind, means to always put forth our greatest effort.

She believes in always working toward saying “yes” and welcomes new opportunities. She is always looking for new opportunities to collaborate with other services within the hospital and she strives to support student pharmacists to attend medical missions that she is actively taking part in.

Specialty Pharmacist 2016

Pharmacist in Charge

Lumicera Health Services, LLC

Madison, Wisconsin

Having witnessed from an early age the essential roles that pharmacists play in their communities, Sharon Faust, PharmD, views her vocation as an opportunity to connect with, and have a lasting impact on, her patients.

As the pharmacist in charge for Lumicera Health Services, Faust has strived to cultivate mutual respect among all members of the health care team while fostering a culture of patient assistance and care through specialty pharmacy. To achieve this goal, she has led the development of several clinical programs centered on building and strengthening relationships between pharmacists and their patients. This focus on conversational style, pharmacist availability, and personal follow-ups helped to create a positive experience for patients and pharmacists, Faust explained, with this approach giving patients the individualized care they required and ultimately improving outcomes.

“I find pride and great achievement in the day-to-day impact of having a great conversation with a patient,” Faust told Pharmacy Times. “Hearing that I’ve made a difference to even just 1 person is all the achievement I could ever ask for. My personal philosophy is to provide leadership as a peer, with a dynamic of mutual respect, admiration, and grit.”

Technician 2016

Lead Adherence Technician

University of Florida Medication Therapy Management Communication and Care Center

Orlando, Florida

Zipporah-Darvi Redding, CPhT, is driven by a passion for helping others, especially regarding their health. An outspoken advocate for the evolving role of the pharmacy technician, Redding frequently serves as a guest lecturer in pharmacy technician classes, where she speaks to aspiring technicians about the expanding responsibilities of technicians and career opportunities. She also develops and presents pharmacy technician continuing education activities. In recognition of her efforts to elevate the profession, Redding was named the Florida Pharmacy Association’s Technician of the Year in 2012 and the Florida Society of Health-System Pharmacists’ Pharmacy Technician of the Year in 2015.

Redding is preparing to enroll in pharmacy school and hopes to open a compounding pharmacy and work as a pharmacist in rural areas with underserved populations.

“I serve patients, pharmacists, and the community better because I understand what it means to be a servant and help support people who are in need of assistance,” Redding told Pharmacy Times. “I am a student of life, and each lesson is an opportunity for me to improve myself and have a positive impact on others.”

Technology Innovator 2016

CEO and Chief Clinical OfficerTherigy, LLC

Maitland, Florida

Throughout his career, Russel Allinson, RPh, MS, has strived to find innovative ways to improve pharmacy practice. In his previous role as the pharmacy director at Shadyside Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Allinson implemented a decentralized clinical pharmacy service in which pharmacists and technicians were added to nursing units, enabling them to play a more active role in patient care; it was the first such service model of its kind in the Pittsburgh market.

In 2006, Allinson and a business partner founded Therigy, LLC, with the hopes of developing software and biotech products for specialty pharmacy. The company’s flagship product, TherigySTM, is a web application that allows management, tracking, and reporting of data on the treatment of patients on specialty medications. Currently used by nearly 125 pharmacies, TherigySTM has assisted in the management of more than 125,000 patients.

Additionally, Allinson lends his time and talents to educating his community on drug abuse. In order to raise awareness and promote understanding of the issue, he wrote a book, Drug Abuse: Why It Happens and How to Prevent It, which is used in college courses.

“The overwhelming cost and the human tragedy resulting from improper use of medications are intolerable and unsustainable,” Allinson told Pharmacy Times. “I strive to continually advance the role of the pharmacist in promoting safe and effective drug therapy.”