AMCP Foundation Visits the Pacific Northwest

Originally published in the December 2022 AMCP Foundation Impacts e-newsletter.  

By: Mason Johnson, PharmD, BS, AMCP Executive Fellow

In November, a delegation from AMCP and AMCP Foundation had the great honor of visiting important partners in the Pacific Northwest. I joined the group visiting the University of Washington, Premera BlueCross and AMCP Northwest in Seattle, Washington.

Susan Cantrell, AMCP CEO, Paula Eichenbrenner, AMCP Foundation Executive Director, and I visited with John Watkins, PharmD, MPH, BCPS, and Pete Fullerton, PhD, RPh at the University of Washington School of Pharmacy to speak with their managed care pharmacy elective course. The AMCP team presented pertinent topics and events going on within AMCP. Paula shared the deep ties between AMCP/AMCPF and the University of Washington, the 2022 AMCP Student Chapter of the Year. Paula also discussed AMCP Foundation, our national P&T Competition, internships and other student programs. Susan provided background on AMCP by discussing AMCP’s mission, members, current strategic priorities and hot topics. Susan provided exciting updates on the Preapproval Information Exchange (PIE) Act as it was re-introduced on the day the team visited the University of Washington. As the current Executive Fellow, I discussed the post-doctoral fellowship position at AMCP and engaged with students who were interested in post-graduate training.

The following day we visited the Premera BlueCross BlueShield headquarters in Seattle. John Watkins, PharmD, MPH, BCPS, the residency program director at Premera, hosted the AMCP team. Susan, Paula, and I discussed various topics within managed care with team members, including Chief Clinical Officer Chad Murphy. AMCP Foundation looks forward to hosting the current Premera pharmacy residents, Amelia Brown, PharmD, and Eva Carlson, PharmD, next spring during a custom rotation.

The trip also featured a special event with the AMCP Northwest Affiliate, with dinner and a panel discussion on “Managing Costs for Cell & Gene Therapy.” Panelists were Aimee Loucks, PharmD (Director, Clinical Pharmacy Services, Kaiser Permanente Washington), Megan McIntyre, PharmD, MHA (Vice President, Pharmacy and Clinical Consulting, Premera), and Omar Daoud, PharmD (Senior Director of Pharmacy, Community Health Plan of Washington). The speakers shared their experience on navigating new therapies, financial tools, and potential policy solutions related to these very costly therapies. Susan and Paula also provided key updates from AMCP’s perspective, including the recommendations from our Partnership Forum on High-Investment Medications.

AMCP’s trip to the greater Seattle area was a unique experience that showed how AMCP remains a crucial driver of patient outcomes. The future of managed care is bright, with many young student pharmacists motivated to make an impact in the healthcare field through managed care pharmacy. We would like to thank the University of Washington, Premera BlueCross and AMCP NW for their hospitality while visiting Seattle. We look forward to seeing our northwest friends again in the future!

Are you interested in organizing an executive exchange with AMCP and AMCP Foundation leaders? Contact me to learn more, and support our efforts to continue inspiring the next generation.