The President's Message - Putting The Pieces Together

by Chris Rivers, ICHP Immediate Past President
September 21, 2012

By the time this report is published in KeePosted, my presidency year will be over. I cannot believe the busy year has passed so quickly.  Thank you for the privilege of serving as the President of a great organization.  I would like to acknowledge the guidance and leadership of Scott Meyers, my “sidekick” for the past year.  I appreciate his leadership and the wonderful staff at ICHP.  Thank you for the dedication and hard work of the Executive Committee and the Board members.  The annual reports to the House of Delegates indicate the hard work of the Divisions and Committees. I am reminded at each board meeting and amazed when I review the year end reports of all the accomplishments.

Professional Affairs created toolkits for staff development, interviewing and REMS resources; developed criteria for a student chapter award; started a new column in KeePosted titled “Medication Safety Pearls”; developed and distributed the USP 797 survey; and continued with the fifth annual ICHP Best Practice Award.  Annually the Division members meet for a full day at Midwestern University to review ICHP’s position statements.  

Educational Affairs and the meeting planning committees continue their hard work and schedule quality speakers for our members.  The Spring Meeting (Using Guidelines to Frame your Practice) was held in March 2012 in Normal, IL.  Kyle Hultgren delivered the Keynote about Lean Healthcare.  Breakout sessions were held for pharmacy practice and for clinical practice.  Saturday morning sessions continued the focus on Clinical Guidelines.  There were 18 peer reviewed posters presented at the Saturday session.  Dave Zilz will deliver the Keynote for the Annual Meeting.  Other meeting topics include a State of the State report about the PPMI, adverse drug event monitoring and interdisciplinary teamwork. There will be a roundtable session for students and another session for residency pearls at the 2012 Annual Meeting.  Educational Affairs prepares a regular column for KeePosted. Topics included several preceptor pearls, and an analysis of adverse drug reactions.  The Division prepared guidelines for article submissions to KeePosted.

The Division of Organizational Affairs proposed one bylaw change this year to clarify language related to removal from office for cause and continues to review policies and procedures.  They  reviewed multiple student affiliate bylaws this year.  We have encouraged student affiliates (Midwestern University and new bylaws from Rosalind Franklin, Roosevelt, and Chicago State) to use our model for their bylaws, and this has made the review process cleaner.  Specifically, in the 2012 business year, we reviewed and approved an update to the bylaws for Midwestern University and new bylaws for Rosalind Franklin, Roosevelt, and Chicago State.

Government Affairs members work hard monitoring and responding to current legislation presented to the General Assembly of the State as well as activities of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.  We had another successful Legislative Day in March.

Marketing Affairs continues to develop and implement marketing campaigns to promote membership.  The Division also created and implemented a network of local “champions” around the state.  These are “point persons” to help ICHP improve the delivery of high quality services to its members; recruit, expand and retain members; and better connect members to ICHP.  Several webinars were coordinated by the ICHP staff and offered including: Treatment Advances in Hepatitis C (November 2011), Fidaxomicin and Nesiritide Trials (January 2012), Antiretroviral Order (March 2012), Caring for Hospitalized HIV Patients from Admission to Discharge (May 2012), From Rabies to RSI (July 2012). These webinars were posted to HealthSystemCE.org after each presentation for home study.

During the year the NPN evaluated the past and prepared for the future.   The executive committee reviewed the original policies and procedures set when the NPN was first established, revised them to fit the organization’s current focus, and used them to create an NPN strategic plan, focusing on membership, service, and leadership and aligning with the ICHP strategic plan metrics to measure the success.  The Network assisted Marketing Affairs with presentations to college campuses promoting ICHP to students about to graduate and continued to submit a KeePosted column to highlight new practitioner issues and topics.  I hope you enjoyed the NPN annual Cubs game on April 17.   

The Southern and Central Region worked in conjunction and offered six continuing education activities during the past year.  The Affiliate Presidents of West Central and Metro East have worked to bring membership together in these regions.  The Central region held ICHP Family Night at a Peoria Chiefs baseball game in June, and thirty two people attended.  NISHP in the Northern Region offered four educational programs.

The same time last year I stood before you with my inaugural speech discussing the puzzle pieces of the ICHP organization.   We started the year with the Annual Leadership Retreat, which focused on volunteerism and finalized the updated strategic plan.   The plan was reorganized to focus on two primary goals, with multiple objectives, strategies and tasks.  The first goal is: ICHP is recognized as a High Performing Organization.  The second goal is: ICHP advances and promotes exceptional practice in the profession of pharmacy.  We need to support hospitals and health-systems in Illinois to achieve the vision of the ASHP PPMI.  This strategy required the formation of a Task Force with representation from each division and different hospital settings.  The task force will review ASHP recommendations for establishing a PPMI project at the affiliate level.  

Again, I want to thank you as well as all of the Board members and ICHP staff for all their support during this past year.  I have enjoyed working with each volunteer and staff member to help support the organization and our profession.  ICHP will be in truly great hands under Tom Westerkamp’s leadership.

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