Director-Purchaser Partnership Lyle Matthews, Pharm.D., MAM Director, Pharmacy Services Eisenhower Medical Center

Goals Offer Theories and Ideas Stimulate Discussion Support The Goals of the NPPA Encourage Thoughts To Take Back Home

Disclaimers One Director’s Thoughts (Mine) Each Organization is Different General Ideas And Philosophies There Are Many Ways to Slice the Pie

Take-Aways Staffing Model Options Job Description Separation and Clarifying Importance of the Buyer Position – Focus on Regulatory Compliance Salary Discussion Management Team Membership Director-Buyer Partnership

Here We Go Questions: Pharmacy Buyers – Who Are You? – Why are You Important? – Why Should Organizations Care About the Pharmacy Buyer? – How Are You Perceived by Others?

Buyer’s Perspective On Things “Nobody understands what I do?” “Everyone has their hands in my inventory and messes it up.” “Why do the other techs change my PAR levels when I’m gone?” I have to do everything to make sure it is done right.”

Technician’s Perspective On Buyer Position? “Anyone can do that job.” “It is not that difficult.” “I fill in for Him/Her all the time and it is easy.” “Everyone knows how to place the order.” “What does He/She do all day.”

Additional Staff Perspectives “Why are we ‘always’ running out of things?” “How come I can’t ever find anything?” “How come we are ‘always’ changing generics for no reason?” Etc., etc., etc.

Buyer Administration Clinical Pharmacists Informatics (Bar-Coding) Regulatory Compliance Resp. Therapy Radiology TechniciansOperations

How Do We Change It? Job Description  Ok…Place the order, but what else?  Supervisory Responsibilities?  Financial Impact?  Clinical Impact?  Regulatory Compliance Impact?  Management Team Member

Supervisory Responsibilities? Each Organization is Different, but… I Suggest Not Having Any Supervisory Responsibilities Pharmaceutical Purchasing is Too Important to the Organization to be Distracted From Regulatory Compliance Partnership is Too Important to the Director

Importance of Buyer Importance of Buyer Financial Impact –Has to be Celebrated, Publicized, Displayed, Shown off, etc. Clinical Impact –Has to be Celebrated, Publicized, Displayed, Shown off, etc. Regulatory Compliance Impact –Has to be Celebrated, Publicized, Displayed, Shown off, etc.

Financial Importance: Background and Perspective Eisenhower Medical Center Financial Sign-Off Policy (common) $1,000 – Director $2,500 – V.P $10,000 – C.O.O. $25,000 – C.E.O

EMC Pharmacy Purchasing Statistics $14,000,000 Annually $1,167,000 Per Month $38,350 Per Day (365 days) $1,600 Per Hour $27.00 Per Minute $0.45 Per Second

Financial Impact Contract Compliance Physical Inventory Management Carrying Costs and Inventory Turns Minimizing Emergencies Minimizing Waste and Expired Meds Ongoing Analysis and Optimization

Clinical Impact Arguably The Most Important Position In The Entire Pharmacy Nobody Does Anything If There Are No Medications Therapeutic Substitution Options Safety Working Through Shortages

Shortages – Are You Kidding? PropofolHeparinFurosemideHydromorphoneEpinephrineNaloxone This is Nuts!!!

Regulatory Compliance Recalls/Withdrawals Storage Requirements Automated Dispensing Cabinets Controlled Substance Monitoring Vaccines Potential Citations and Fines from Regulators

Recalls/Withdrawals How do We make Sure Everything Is Found? Where Do We Keep The Records? How Do We Segregate The Inventory? Who’s Responsibility Is It?

Storage Requirements Where are the medications? Who put the Lorazepam injections in the automated dispensing cabinet? Why is the Tisseel not in the freezer? Who’s responsibility is it?

Automated Dispensing Cabinets Who changed the PAR levels while I was gone? Why are similar drugs located next to each other in the matrix drawer? Who crammed the 100 Vicodin tablets in the single pocket? Who’s responsibility is it?

Controlled Substance Monitoring The single most important issue to the regulators and surveyors FDA, DEA, Boards of Pharmacy, State Surveyors Who has access? Where are all the records kept? Who’s responsibility is it?

Vaccines The second most important issue to the regulators and surveyors “Where are they stored? “Prove to me they have been stored correctly.” Who’s responsibility is it?

Partnering with The Director Member of Management Team Minimize Supervisory Tasks Consistent one-on-one Meetings Promote Position to the Organization Communication Within the Pharmacy Attend Budget Meetings

Salary Discussion What is this position worth? How does it fit into the overall department grid? Create Expectations of Position Create Separation from Staff Technicians Create New Salary

Elevating The Buyer Position In The Organization What Organizational Visibility Do You Have? Do you Attend P&T? Do You Meet With The Director and the Director’s Boss? Do You Attend Nursing Meetings?

Elevating The Buyer Position In The Pharmacy Are You On Staff Meeting Agendas? Daily Purchasing Updates? How Often Do You Meet With Other Managers? –Clinical –Operations –Informatics

Summary Focus On Important Things You Bring To The Organization Be Visible Remember Regulatory Compliance Separate Yourself From The Others Think Outside The Pharmacy Partner With Your Director

From One Director Thank You For All You Do Every Day

Questions?