Honoring Pharmacy's Patient Care Champions

Sponsored by Novo Nordisk, the 2011 Next-Generation Pharmacist Patient Care Provider category will honor pharmacists who go the extra mile for their patients.

As the pharmacist’s role in health care expands to include patient care, individual pharmacists are taking pride in delivering services that employ their full range of medical training and expertise. Medication therapy management, compounding, counseling, and immunization services are just a few of the official services these pharmacists offer.

But their dedication to patient care doesn’t end there. In any given week, these pharmacists take on dozens of unofficial responsibilities—from hand delivering medications to a patient who can’t drive to helping seniors and low-income patients find ways to pay for their prescriptions.

The Next-Generation Pharmacist Patient Care Provider of the Year Award, sponsored this year by Novo Nordisk, was created to recognize this outstanding group of pharmacists, for whom top-notch patient care and customer service are integral components of pharmacy practice.

“Bottom line, we know these pharmacists aren’t doing it for the recognition—they’re doing it for the personal satisfaction they get from helping people,” said Pharmacy Times Editorial Director Bea Riemschneider. “This award is just our way of honoring that spirit of advocacy and service in the profession.”

Nominate a Pharmacist

Submitting a nomination for the Patient Care Provider of the Year Award is a way to thank pharmacists who consistently build strong relationships with patients, and in doing so, strengthen the foundation of the profession as it grows and evolves within the health care system.

Pharmacy Times, in partnership with Parata Systems, is honoring finalists in a total of 11 categories in this year’s Next-Generation Pharmacist Awards. All finalists will be profiled online and in the pages of Pharmacy Times, and both pharmacists and their nominators will be invited to attend the 2nd annual Next-Generation Pharmacist Awards event in Boston on August 29, 2011.

Profiles of last year’s finalists in the patient care category are available at http://phrmcyt.ms/eOElvA.

The deadline for entries is April 8, 2011. Entry forms can be downloaded and mailed or completed online at www.nextgenerationpharmacist.com. PDFs of the nomination forms are available at www.pharmacytimes.com as well.

For other articles in this issue, see:

• $4 Generics Could Save Billions in Health Spending
• FDA Warns of Fake "Anti-Radiation" Pills