To celebrate American Pharmacists Month, Pharmacy Times® interviewed Teresa Messick, PharmD, supervisor, clinical pharmacy, UPMC Health Plan, about how she got involved in pharmacy. Messick also discussed how her roles in the pharmaceutical field taught her about managed care, and how she celebrates American Pharmacist Month by recognizing and encouraging her teammates.
Pharmacy Times: Can you introduce yourself and discuss how you got into pharmacy?
Teresa Messick, PharmD: My name is Teresa, I am a supervisor at UPMC Health Plan on the care management clinical pharmacy team. I've been at the Health Plan for over 5 years. In my current role, I help to support and oversee a team of over 30 pharmacists with a primary focus of member and provider facing outreach. So, this outreach is based on various chronic disease state management programs, post-discharge programs and initiatives, quality measures with the goal to really help our members get the best results from their medications.
As far as [my] background, my family actually owned an independent pharmacy when I was growing up, so I moved through working through the front-end gift section, over the counter, to being a pharmacy technician, delivery driver, intern, all of those types of roles. After graduation, I worked as a clinical program coordinator and clinical consultant in community pharmacy settings in Virginia and North Carolina. Moving through these roles definitely created a foundation, I think, for my career development and goals and reflecting back a direction towards managed care.
Pharmacy Times: Throughout your career, how have you seen the profession change? What has been surprising or noteworthy?
Messick: So for me, I really think it's the awareness, the growth, the value of the managed care space...I see this from when I graduated over 10 years ago, to now working with our interns. Early in my career, I really didn't have much awareness of managed care and after graduation, I worked at independent pharmacies with unique opportunities implementing clinical programs, so teaching diabetes education classes, [medication therapy management] programs, immunization programs, and found what I was trying to do on a community pharmacy level was leaning towards the concept of managed care, but unfortunately, lack the resources of what an integrated system—such as UPMC—provides. Over time, I learned more about the managed care space and knew it was kind of a perfect fit for me in my career direction. When in conversation with students today, they are definitely more aware and more interested in managed care space. They see the value of patient care being collaborative and accessible, and it's definitely an exciting shift and rewarding to share this space with our students and see how impactful it can be in the pharmacy setting.
Pharmacy Times: In your opinion, what is the most rewarding part about being a pharmacist?
Messick: Being on our team, I would say the most rewarding part for me is finding ways to meet our members where they are, supporting them holistically through medication management and beyond. Like I said, because UPMC is an integrated system, we're often [able to] put that whole puzzle together for our members with a shared goal of best patient outcomes. So, our pharmacists definitely help with post-acute needs, being creative, problem-solving, building trusting relationships with our members and providers alike, and working to connect our members with community resources when needed. Our pharmacists focus a good bit on social determinants of health (SDOH), so really, identifying any barriers to getting medications or attending appointments, we connect our members with social workers for things like transportation, food, [and] safe, housing resources in the area, so it's definitely rewarding to be able to fully and completely help our members.
Pharmacy Times: What does the value of the pharmacist mean to you personally, and to the industry?
Key Takeaways
- Pharmacy Background and Managed Care Focus: Teresa Messick's pharmacy career was influenced by her family's independent pharmacy, and her experience in clinical roles led her toward managed care. She now leads a team at UPMC Health Plan, where they focus on patient outreach and chronic disease management.
- Evolution of Pharmacy, Celebrating American Pharmacists Month: Messick has seen a significant shift in the profession toward managed care, with students and new pharmacists showing greater awareness of the field's importance. She emphasizes the value of a collaborative and integrated system to provide better patient outcomes. Although she notes the importance of doing this throughout the year, Messick likes to celebrate American Pharmacists Month by recognizing members of her team and watching them to pay it forward.
- Personal Experience and Holistic Care: Drawing from her personal experiences as both a patient and a caregiver, Messick emphasizes the importance of pharmacists meeting patients "where they are" and addressing social determinants of health. She finds fulfillment in supporting patients holistically through medication management, problem-solving, and providing access to resources.
Messick: I think the value of pharmacist for me really comes down to being a supportive, trusted resource, so for both our members [and] our pharmacists on our team. Personally, in 2010 while I was in pharmacy school, I was diagnosed with cancer. And then recently, my husband has been dealing with stage IV cancer since 2020, so both my being in the patient and the caregiver roles, I really want to be sure the patient and their support feel supported. So, how this translates for pharmacy is really—like I mentioned earlier—meeting our patients where we are, making sure they understand the value of their medication regimen, instilling confidence in the regimen, providing space to ask questions, making sure the regimen is manageable, accessible, affordable, all of those things, and helping our patients with any tools or tricks to remember to take medications as prescribed.
As far as for the industry, I really think being a managed care allows there to be a widespread impact. So with our team's work, we're helping our members be healthier, but the interventions on the individual level lead to less hospital stays and utilization and then a reduced cost overall.
Pharmacy Times: How are you celebrating American Pharmacists Month, and how would you encourage others to celebrate?
Messick: I'm really, really grateful to work on a team of such caring people. Our team comes from a variety of backgrounds and experiences—retail, residency, hospital, specialized subjects, cardiac, or oncology, just to name a few—and for me, American Pharmacists Month is about celebrating and supporting those on our team, right? So, letting them know they're valued. I do try to be mindful of sharing positive thoughts, wins, or words of kindness throughout the year, but October is kind of the time to reset and really be vocal when thanking those on our team for their hard work. I think there's definitely great value in letting those around you know they're appreciated on an individual level, but through sharing that positivity, they're likely to pay it forward to somebody else and kind of give a positive energy push.
Pharmacy Times: Any final or closing thoughts?
Messick: Overall, I'm excited to see the direction of pharmacy and managed care in the future, to continue to have programs based on guidelines and help navigate members with SDOH, improving the patient accessibility to care, and a holistic approach for our members.
