In mid-December, I notified you that GPhA CEO Scott Brunner will be leaving us shortly to begin a new position with the National Community Pharmacists Association. We thank him for his distinguished service and we wish him much success in his new endeavor.

Your GPhA Board of Directors aims to be transparent in sharing information with you as we begin the search for a new CEO for our association. Be assured that your board is dedicated to identifying the best possible candidate.

To that end, the board has formally approved the following plan of action:

• We have engaged Association Services Group (ASG), an association management firm led by Charles Hall, to oversee our CEO-search process. Charles served as our consultant in the successful 2013 – 2014 search, and his duties in this search process will be similar to those from the previous search.
• We have appointed Vice President of Finance & Administration Dianne Jones and Vice President of Public Policy & Association Counsel Greg Reybold to serve as interim co-executive officers of the association after Scott’s departure. They will conference weekly your elected leadership to ensure that GPhA maintains its forward momentum through this transition.
• The GPhA Board of Directors will serve as the search committee for the new CEO. We ask that you not reach out to individual board members to inquire about the position or to request that a board member serve as a reference. Instead, address any inquiries to ASG’s Charles Hall at chall@asginfo.net.
• The CEO position announcement was formally posted last Friday, December 30. You may review the position profile by clicking here.
• Résumé collection and review will be handled exclusively through Association Services Group. We urge any interested, qualified candidates to apply prior to the January 31, 2017 deadline.

Thank you for your patience and support as we undertake this important process.

Lance Boles, RPh, MBA

President

It is with bittersweet feelings that I share with you the news of the resignation of Scott Brunner, CAE, as Chief Executive Officer of the Georgia Pharmacy Association. While your elected leadership is disappointed to lose Scott and his many talents, we find comfort in knowing that he will continue to advocate for the pharmacy profession in his new endeavor. Scott has accepted a newly created position as Senior Vice President of Communications and State Affairs for the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA).

Scott came to GPhA in the summer of 2014 — tasked to lead a turn-around of the association. He brought with him new ideas, new ways of doing things, and even new personnel to pursue our reinvigorated mission. His prints are on every major effort that GPhA has undertaken in the past two and a half years; the accomplishments that he has led in such a short time are really quite extraordinary. Some of the highlights include:

• Transitioning to a policy governance model and the restructuring of the GPhA Board of Directors;
• Creation of an ends-based strategic plan, by which the Board measures our progress toward strategic goals;
• Elevation of advocacy as our core competency, and the restructuring of that division
• Rebranding of GPhA, including new logo, magazine, website and print materials;
• Creation of GPhABuzz, which has nearly 5,000 subscribers and a national following;
• Relocation of GPhA to a new, upscale suite of offices in Sandy Springs;
• Creation of an association management rotation program with two schools of pharmacy
• Mending and cultivation of stakeholder relationships
• Revitalization of GPhA’s education division and convention
• Growing annual PharmPAC fundraising and guiding our strategic political influence

Scott’s impact on GPhA is remarkable, especially when considering it was accomplished in such a short tenure.

On behalf of GPhA, we congratulate Scott for being sought out and recognized for the great results that he has delivered while leading our association. Our partnership and efforts with NCPA will only strengthen with Scott serving in his new role. We will miss him greatly, but be assured that his work on our behalf will continue.

It has been my profound pleasure to work closely with Scott Brunner, and I wish him, his wife, Karen, and their three children all the best that life has to offer and my deepest gratitude for the way in which he has rebuilt and guided GPhA with purpose, consistency and class.

Sincerely,

Lance P. Boles, RPh, MBA
2016 – 2017 President & Chairman of the Board

As your association, GPhA’s job is to look out for your interests. One way we do that is to advocate for legislation that protects you, your patients, and the profession. As a member of GPhA, your voice in the state legislature is amplified … but we still need your voice to make the biggest possible impact.

Please click here for a short (three minutes!) survey that will help us immensely as we head into the 2017 legislative session.

We’re forming a group of “pharmacy advocacy teams,” and we might need some folks to make an extra push on a certain issue. Please fill it out, and make sure your pharmacy friends fill it out as well!

We appreciate your help!

As your association, GPhA’s job is to look out for your interests. One way we do that is to advocate for legislation that protects you, your patients, and the profession. As a member of GPhA, your voice in the state legislature is amplified … but we still need your voice to make the biggest possible impact.

Please click here for a short (three minutes!) survey that will help us immensely as we head into the 2017 legislative session.

We’re forming a group of “pharmacy advocacy teams,” and we might need some folks to make an extra push on a certain issue. Please fill it out, and make sure your pharmacy friends fill it out as well!

We appreciate your help!

Good news: PharmPAC is on the verge of its biggest fundraising year ever. We’re projecting we’ll hit $135,000 by December 31 – money PharmPAC spends in supporting candidates who think like you do about pharmacy and your patients.

Better news: More than one-third of GPhA member pharmacists have already invested in PharmPAC this year, our highest participation rate ever.

Disappointed sigh: There are still about two-thirds of you who haven’t paid your 2016 “political insurance premium” by investing in PharmPAC. If you’re one of those, there’s still time this year: Go to the PharmPAC page on our website to make your investment. Or call us at 404-231-5074 and invest by phone. Takes about three minutes. Even a token $25 helps. And for those of you in an established pharmacy practice, please consider making a $100 or $250 investment, and we’ll list your name in our January issue of Georgia Pharmacy magazine.  It’s the least you can do to protect your profession and the patients you serve.

Thank you!

Georgia congressman Tom Price of Roswell has been nominated by President-Elect Trump as the new secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, and we couldn’t be prouder of our fellow Georgian.

Price earned his medical degree from the University of Michigan, came straight to Georgia for his residency at Emory University — and hasn’t left. He ran an orthopedic clinic in Atlanta, was an assistant professor of orthopedic surgery at Emory, and was director of the orthopedic clinic at Grady Memorial Hospital.

From 1996 to 2005 Price served as a Georgia state senator, and in 2004 he won election to the U.S. House of Representatives, filling Johnny Isakson’s seat when Isakson ran for Senate. At the moment, Price is chair of the House Budget Committee, but that will change with the new administration.

As a U.S. Congressman, Price has expressed support for GPhA on a range of pharmacy issues. We’re looking forward to working with him in his new position at HHS, where he’ll have oversight of CMS, CDC, the Food & Drug Administration, and dozens of other government agencies that regulate or impact pharmacy practice.

Congratulations, Secretary-designate Price!

Learn more about Tom Price:

• Price’s Wikipedia entry
• APhA’s announcement of Price’s HHS appointment
• Stat News on “What [Price] believes about medicine”

Since launching in late 2014, GPhABuzz has become a valued source of pharmacy news. Our primary audience is Georgia pharmacists, but we’ve developed a national readership, with nearly 5,000 subscribers who now receive our daily digest email. I’m proud of the following GPhABuzz has garnered, and I appreciate the positive feedback we often get from readers about Buzz’s substance, format and tone.

Our aim from the beginning has been to provide “quick-read” summaries and excerpts of association, state and national news we think can be useful to pharmacists, with links to the original (often longer) pieces for readers who want to know more. Implicit in that aim is that GPhABuzz will be a non-partisan source of news and information, and not of opinion about political issues. The only exception to that rule is on public policy issues for which the Georgia Pharmacy Association or one of our partner national associations has adopted a position; When that is the case, we do report, explain and advocate for that position.

In recent weeks, in a handful of instances, we have posted pieces that seemed to some readers to enunciate or advocate for a point of view about certain issues on which GPhA has taken no position. Whether it was through an excess of passion or a deficit of judgment in our part, in doing so, we violated our mandate to report and not to opine, and we may have inadvertently alienated some readers in the process. We can – and will – do better.

As GPhABuzz begins its third year, count on us to continue to provide you with the latest news in pharmacy – whether substantive or whimsical – and to remain above the fray on issues for which our association has taken no official position.

Thank you for reading us.

Best,
Scott Brunner
GPhA Chief Executive Officer

Since launching in late 2014, GPhABuzz has become a valued source of pharmacy news. Our primary audience is Georgia pharmacists, but we’ve developed a national readership, with nearly 5,000 subscribers who now receive our daily digest email. I’m proud of the following GPhABuzz has garnered, and I appreciate the positive feedback we often get from readers about Buzz’s substance, format and tone.

Our aim from the beginning has been to provide “quick-read” summaries and excerpts of association, state and national news we think can be useful to pharmacists, with links to the original (often longer) pieces for readers who want to know more. Implicit in that aim is that GPhABuzz will be a non-partisan source of news and information, and not of opinion about political issues. The only exception to that rule is on public policy issues for which the Georgia Pharmacy Association or one of our partner national associations has adopted a position; When that is the case, we do report, explain and advocate for that position.

In recent weeks, in a handful of instances, we have posted pieces that seemed to some readers to enunciate or advocate for a point of view about certain issues on which GPhA has taken no position. Whether it was through an excess of passion or a deficit of judgment in our part, in doing so, we violated our mandate to report and not to opine, and we may have inadvertently alienated some readers in the process. We can – and will – do better.

As GPhABuzz begins its third year, count on us to continue to provide you with the latest news in pharmacy – whether substantive or whimsical – and to remain above the fray on issues for which our association has taken no official position.

Thank you for reading us.

Best,
Scott Brunner
GPhA Chief Executive Officer

It’s only about six weeks away: the 2017 Southeastern Girls of Pharmacy Leadership Weekend, January 13-15, 2017 at the Omni Grove Park Inn in beautiful Asheville, N.C.

Last year saw more than 240 girls from 10 states join in, and this year promises to be even bigger. Besides the top-notch program with amazing speakers, the organizers promise “plenty of time for spa appointments.”

Learn: Sleep issues, medication safety, pharmacogenomics, immunization, and more.

Enjoy: Glass making, spa time, and all the resort amenities.

More info at scrx.org/se-girls-of-pharmacy!

GPhA is rolling out some great new insurance options. Look for an e-mail from our partner, Unum, with the details — it’ll come from “EnrollVB” and explain how to get more info.

GPhA members and their families are eligible, so you owe it to yourself and them to at least take a peek at the kinds of policies we have. Look for the mail, go to www.EnrollVB.com/GPhA, or call (877) 454-3001.

PharmPAC had a busy year, providing contributions to dozens of candidates who are friends of pharmacy, pharmacists, and their patients. Of those, 14 had opponents in the general election, and 12 of them won their seats:

Rep. Buzz Brockaway
Sen. Gloria Butler
Rep. Bubber Epps
Rep. Rich Golick
Rep. Gerald Green
Sen. Hunter Hill
Rep. Rick Jasperse
Sen. Greg Kirk
Sen. Josh McKoon
Rep. Brian Strickland
Rep. Darlene Taylor
Rep. Sam Teasley

Unfortunately, Representative Valerie Clark and Senator VaNice VanNess (who served on their respective house’s Health and Human Services committees) were defeated. They were good friends to pharmacy in Georgia, and we’re proud to have had a chance to work with them.

To everyone who invested in PharmPAC, thank you for all you have done this election year on behalf of PharmPAC and on behalf of Georgia pharmacy!

The Georgia Department of Community Health, Division of Medicaid has information regarding a Work Around – Suspension of Providers Who Have Not Revalidated. You can read it here, and it has also been posted on the Georgia Medicaid Management Information System (GAMMIS).

If you have any questions, please call HPES at 1-800-766-4456 (option #1).

GPhA staff and members were on hand at PCOM’s Career Fair, meeting first- through fourth-year pharmacy students and talking up the advantages of membership in GPhA — and all that goes with it, including insurance and loan refinancing.

(l to r) GPhA member Amber Brackett of Decatur; GPhA staffers Denis Mucha, Mary Ritchie, and Verouschka Whigham; and GPhA member William Huang of Smyrna.

Protecting your practice from fraud and abuse is one of your biggest concerns. That’s why we’re bringing you our November webinar series, Reducing Fraud and Abuse Risk in Pharmacies.

We kick off November 3 with The False Claims Act and Pharmacies — it tells pharmacists how to lower the risk of an FCA investigation or liability. It starts at 7:30 and costs just $20. To find out more, go to GPhA.org/cpeasy.

Don’t forget to mark your calendars for the 2017 Southeastern Girls of Pharmacy Leadership Weekend: January 13-15, 2017 at the Omni Grove Park Inn in beautiful Asheville, N.C.

Last year saw more than 240 girls from 10 states join in, and this year promises to be even bigger. Besides the top-notch program with amazing speakers, the organizers promise “plenty of time for spa appointments.”