Pharmacists Urged to Advocate for Their Profession

Balassone lecturer says faculty, students must work for pharmacy’s needed changes.

By Jeffrey Raymond
November 16, 2007

Bruce Canaday began the 2007 Balassone Lecture on Oct. 30 at the School of Pharmacy with a pair of questions: What is the contribution of pharmacists to health care? And, what system of incentives supports their contribution to health care?

The answers are troubling. Fulfilling prescription orders is almost certainly a path to oblivion, as automation and outsourcing show the ability to handle those duties. Pharmacists want to shift their focus to patient care, where they can potentially do more good and make more money, but they find the system that reimburses them is not set up to reward patient care.

That brought Canaday, PharmD, BCPS, FASHP, FAPhA, clinical professor and vice chair in the Department of Pharmacy Practice and Experiential Education at the University of North Carolina School of Pharmacy, to his third question: Will the pharmacists themselves step up to make sure the systems-in terms of money, time, and facilities-are in place to support patient care? “We have to change how the game is played,” he said.

While some programs have demonstrated the value of getting pharmacists more directly involved in patient care, other projects have fallen short because pharmacists didn’t take full advantage of the opportunity, Canaday said. He urged the faculty and students to become leaders in their evolving field. “Somebody is going to make decisions about pharmacy practice,” he said. “It ought to be you.”

Pharmacists must be superb clinicians and constantly update their credentials, he said, but also must be “entrepreneurially aware” of the economic influences on their industry. Finally, he added, pharmacists must join their professional associations and advocate for industry and regulatory reform, “because that’s what changes things.”

The Francis S. Balassone Memorial Lecture is named for a 1940 University of Maryland School of Pharmacy graduate who held jobs in the pharmaceutical industry and as a community pharmacist. He was a leader in all levels of the profession, and among his many honors was the nation’s highest award in the field of drugs, food, and cosmetic law, the Harvey W. Wiley Award.