AMCP, FMCP Recognize Outstanding Members at Annual Awards Dinner
SAN FRANCISCO, April 19, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) and its philanthropic arm, the Foundation for Managed Care Pharmacy (FMCP), held a gala Awards Dinner on April 18 to recognize a group of outstanding members for their significant contributions to managed care pharmacy and the organization.
The event was part of AMCP's 24th Annual Meeting & Expo, April 18-20, in San Francisco, California.
"The Annual Awards Dinner is an opportunity to applaud our colleagues who have made a positive and lasting impact on the practice of managed care pharmacy," said AMCP Chief Executive Officer Edith A. Rosato, RPh, IOM. "These individuals represent the best of managed care pharmacy and have been at the forefront of the profession over the length of their careers."
The awards and their recipients are as follows:
The JMCP Award for Excellence was established in 2002 to recognize a JMCP article that represents the best scholarly work in managed care pharmacy. In 2011 the winning article came from four authors who were employed by Express Scripts at the time of the research. They are Anna Vlahiotis, Jeff Eichholz, Scott T. Devine and Adam Kautzner.
The article, Discontinuation Rates and Health Care Costs in Adult Patients Starting Generic Versus Brand SSRI or SNRI Antidepressants in Commercial Health Plans, appeared in the March 2011 issue of the Journal and was selected because of its high relevance to managed care pharmacy in the study of clinical and cost outcomes in the important therapeutic area of major depressive disorder.
The Grassroots Advocacy Award was established in 2007 to recognize an individual or group responsible for significant activity around a grassroots cause. This year's winner is Tom Bizzaro.
Tom Bizzaro is Vice President of Health Policy and Industry Relations at First Databank. A member of AMCP since 1996, Bizzaro has served AMCP in various capacities, including the Legislative Committee from 2009 to the present. At the request of the AMCP Board, Bizzaro led a workgroup that developed a statement identifying characteristics of an "ideal" drug payment benchmark. In June 2011, the AMCP Board approved the document, which Academy members can use to evaluate drug payment methodologies that have been offered in place of the Average Wholesale Price benchmark.
Bizzaro's interest in advocacy runs deep. He is a regular participant in AMCP's Lobby Days Program, as well as the Joint Committee Meeting that sets core public policy issues for the Academy. Between 2010 and 2011, he has participated in multiple "mini lobby days," volunteering his time to advocate on behalf of AMCP on Capitol Hill.
The AMCP Spirit of Volunteerism Award, established in 1994, recognizes a current AMCP Committee Member who has demonstrated exemplary and outstanding service to AMCP over the past year; and, provided volunteer activities that resulted in successful and/or high quality AMCP programs, projects or services for its members. This year's winner is Kathleen Moreo.
Kathleen Moreo is President and CEO of PRIME Education, Inc. As Chair of the Health Care Practitioner Task Force, Moreo worked tirelessly to discover and promote opportunities for AMCP members and potential members to engage in the Academy.
One of the successful activities that Moreo led was an accredited live webinar in November 2011 on the expanded role of the inter-professional managed care team. Among other things, Moreo accredited the program for CE for pharmacists and nurse case managers; she developed and supported a registration webpage, which was linked from AMCP; she promoted the program to more than 50,000 managed care pharmacy professionals, and engaged the Case Management Society of America as an awareness-campaign partner in the project. Furthermore, Moreo was able to provide the webinar as a complimentary educational service.
The AMCP Individual Contribution Award was established in 2007 to recognize an AMCP member making a significant contribution to the Academy by any means other than service as an AMCP Committee Member. This year's winner is James A. Carlson.
James A. Carlson is Assistant Director of Pharmacy Administration at Group Health Cooperative in Seattle. A member of AMCP for more than 20 years, Carlson is widely recognized for his expertise in clinical practice and formulary management. He has published important articles in peer-reviewed journals, and has frequently made presentations at national and regional pharmacy and medical educational meetings.
Recently, Carlson's most significant contribution to AMCP — and to managed care pharmacy overall — has been his work developing and improving residency training programs in managed care settings.
Carlson is Program Director of his organization's postgraduate year-one Managed Care Pharmacy Residency Program. And for many years, he has served as a consultant to both AMCP and the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists on residency standards, training goals and objectives. In recent years, Carlson has participated as the guest surveyor on multiple accreditation survey teams.
The AMCP Distinguished Service Award was established in 1994 as the AMCP Leadership Award. In 2001 its name was changed to the Distinguished Service Award to recognize an AMCP member who has made exceptional and sustained contributions to AMCP over at least a five year period. This year's winner is Brian Kolling.
Brian Kolling is Senior Director of Pipeline and Trend Forecasting for Medicare Part D at OptumRx. He has been an important part of each AMCP national meeting for the past decade, and his sessions on the pharmaceutical pipeline are always standing room only. Attendees have come to rely on Kolling's knowledge about key drugs in the pipeline, and their projected time to market, to get an overall picture of the potential value of each emerging therapeutic agent and its impact on managed care pharmacy and medicine.
He has presented his session on the pipeline at each national meeting since 2006. His dedication to presenting the pipeline session each year adds value to every meeting, and he has become a staple in many attendees' itineraries.
The FMCP Steven G. Avey Award (previously titled The Foundation Award for Achievement) was established in 2001 to recognize an AMCP member for sustained, exemplary and distinguished service to the profession of managed care pharmacy. This year's winner is John D. Jones.
John D. Jones is a long-time member of the Academy and has served in many leadership roles, including as Board Director, Treasurer and AMCP President in 2000. Jones' distinguished 35 year career covers experiences in many areas of pharmacy practice, including retail, home health care, pharmacy benefit management, and managed care. He currently is Senior Vice President of Professional Practice & Pharmacy Policy at OptumRx in Irvine, Calif.
His background in both law and pharmacy has enabled him to play a leading role in the development of managed care pharmacy regulatory and legislative issues at both the national and state levels.
Throughout his career, Jones has worked to bring issues of quality to the forefront of how organizations design and implement the pharmacy benefit. Jones represents AMCP on the URAC Board of Directors, and as chair of the URAC PBM Accreditation Standards Committee. In addition, he has served as a board member of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy.
Jones has been invited to speak before many important bodies, including testimony before the House of Representatives' Health Subcommittee; and panels convened by the White House, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Institute of Medicine; and various state legislatures.
SOURCE Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy
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