Pharmacy and Law Collaborate to Host State Legislator
Delegate David Rudolph Provides Update on P3 Program
By Melissa Kim
December 3, 2008
On November 11, 2008, the Society of Workforce Advocates in Pharmacy (SWAP) from the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy and the Student Health Law Organization (SHLO) from the University of Maryland School of Law co-sponsored a presentation by Delegate David Rudolph of Cecil County entitled, “Informative Session on the P3 Program: Expansion through Activism.” Delegate Rudolph has been instrumental in the drive to implement the P3 (Patients, Pharmacists, Partnerships) Program. He spoke on the current status of the program and the need for student and professional involvement to expand it statewide to more employer sites and disease states. Delegate Rudolph is also an Honorary Alumnus of the School of Pharmacy and is a member of its Board of Visitors.
The event was held at the School of Law in the Ceremonial Courtroom, preceded by an opening reception sponsored by Walgreens Pharmacies. Delegate Rudolph, along with Christine Lee, PharmD, assistant director of clinical services for the P3 Program, and Magaly Rodriguez de Bittner, PharmD, professor and chair of pharmacy practice and science at the School of Pharmacy, outlined the program and the progress it has made in Maryland. They also explained the partnership which made the P3 Program so successful, emphasizing that it “empowers patients to make decisions for themselves.” Delegate Rudolph lauded the School of Pharmacy’s leadership role in the implementation of the program, pointing out that “if it weren’t for the School of Pharmacy, the program would not be where it is today.”
The P3 Program began as an innovative diabetes management program modeled after the highly successful Asheville Project in North Carolina. Current Maryland participants include employees from Western Maryland Health System, Upper Chesapeake Health System, Unilever, and WR Grace. The program targets disease states that pose extensive economic and medical costs to the state, and that often require a high level of disease management. By managing these diseases, the program aims to diminish the frequency of costly emergency room and hospital visits, reduce participants’ out of pocket healthcare costs, and improve participants’ quality of life.
Similar to the Asheville Project, the P3 Program focuses on the role of the pharmacist as the medication expert on the healthcare team. Delegate Rudolph stated that the program is “not taking away the physician’s scope of practice, but rather joins with them in partnership.” The structure of the program highlights the unique expertise of the pharmacist in using medication management to manage chronic disease states. Pharmacists counsel patients on an individual basis on the importance of adhering to medication therapy, the purpose of their medications, adverse effects, and possible drug interactions. They are responsible for coaching patients in self management to ensure that they comply with necessary lab work, annual physical examinations, dental checkups and influenza vaccines.
Maryland Pharmacists Association Executive Director Howard Schiff, put it simply, “This program is the single most important thing that has happened since I became a pharmacist.”
At the end of the informative session, Delegate Rudolph reinforced the need for continued student and professional pharmacist presence with the state legislator in Annapolis. The P3 Program is currently funded through a grant provided in the annual state budget, and despite the current economic downturn, he urged us to “continue to go to Annapolis and educate [representatives] one-on-one.” The evening closed with a question-and-answer session where students and pharmacists asked for further clarification on the impact of the P3 Program and its availability to students and pharmacy professionals.
“It was a fabulous experience to be able to speak with a delegate and actually have an informative dialogue about issues affecting my profession,” expressed first-year pharmacy student Nikunj Patel. “I learned a lot about the program and the implications it has for the future practice of pharmacy.”
Pharmacists and student pharmacists interested in the program may contact Christine Lee at clee@rx.umaryland.edu for more information.
Article co-authored by James Wang.