Erin Albert

While we often hear the statistics highlighting how many women are studying and practicing pharmacy, there is a growing number of women who are assuming leadership roles and driving change that will impact generations of pharmacists to come. We sat down recently with 3 such women who are thought leaders and changemakers within the pharmacy profession: 

Theresa Tolle, BPharm, who is owner and pharmacist of Bay Street Pharmacy  

DeAnn Mullins, BPharm, CDE, who is co-owner and pharmacist of Mullin’s Pharmacy

Erin L. Albert, MBA, PharmD, JD, PAHM, founder of Pharm, LLC

Moderator: Eden Sulzer, director of the Women and Pharmacy initiative at Cardinal Health

Left to right: Theresa Tolle, DeAnn Mullins, Erin L. Albert, and Eden Sulzer.

What are the biggest changes happening in pharmacy and how have you adapted?

After 18 years as an owner, one thing I have learned is that our industry is constantly evolving!  The status quo is never enough; we need to stay one step ahead of the changes that are coming.  We should monitor trends, be an active member of an association, and network with our colleagues to learn what is working and what is not. Today, some of the biggest challenges are the impact of DIR fees (which are retroactive), as well as closed or preferred pharmacy networks that Independents are unable to participate in.  These challenges force us to find other ways to drive revenue.

That reminds me of a quote from Leonardo Da Vinci

All great acts of genius began with the same consideration: do not be constrained by your present reality.

Independents are fighting for survival in a rapidly changing healthcare ecosystem. Fortunately, transformative trends like value based care, precision medicine, consumerism and healthcare consolidation bring enormous opportunities for market disruption and economic viability.

Like it or not, change is our new normal and the speed of change will continue to accelerate like nothing we’ve ever experienced.

Leveraging technology to improve efficiencies and implementing processes like med sync, medication adherence strategies and financial analysis of DIR fees is a big part of our strategy to survive and thrive.

I'm also trying to approach challenges by using First Principles thinking. Aristotle defined the concept over 2,000 years ago. Elon Musk brought it to my attention. Our current challenges are complex, and reasoning from First Principles just makes sense. True innovation isn't tweaking a current process. It's inventing a new one. 

The same concept applies to battling the PBMs.  If you hate the current payment model, build a new payment model that makes our current one obsolete.  I believe that the Community Pharmacy Enhanced Services Network (CPESN) can help us build a new payment model through a clinically integrated network of pharmacies.

 - In my world, the potential for Amazon to tap into the pharmacy business is huge. On top of that, we're watching huge mergers unfold.  The big players are getting much bigger, which is somewhat concerning. What about the pharmacists serving the underserved? While I understand the economies of scale argument for the large chains, I am very concerned about the independents who serve populations that the big chains can't or won't cover.

 -Specialty drugs and new drugs are significant in my business, and the cost of drugs is becoming astronomical. Hundreds of thousands of dollars for one treatment can burst budgets quickly. How can we balance innovation in pharma and biotech to revolutionize patient care, shift to value-based outcomes for reimbursement, and yet keep drugs, biologicals and therapies affordable? I adapt here by being as educated as I can be in watching trends and identifying best practices to reapply within the profession.

 - I'm extremely concerned that educational standards are not keeping up with the skills pharmacists require for the evolving industry. Pharmacy students are not offered enough entrepreneurial education, big data management, pharmaceutical pricing, and health outcomes curricula. They also need to learn advocacy and policy and legal issues; I'm seeing pharmacy schools treat these critical topics as optional. I try to make a difference by ensuring students where I precept have projects in these areas.

How can people make a difference to inspire change in the current environment?

We need to be involved!  This includes active participation in pharmacy associations at the local, state and national level. Also, as Erin discussed previously, we should be monitoring legislative activity to be aware of changes that might impact our profession or our small businesses. We must work through our associations to advocate for legislation that will benefit patients and our businesses. We are the leaders in our communities; if we don't step up, who will?

Shared beliefs can change the world.  I spent my NCPA presidential year writing and speaking about ways pharmacists can unite with each other and with the broader healthcare community.  Coming together requires getting out of your pharmacy and working with your fellow pharmacists through your local, state and national associations. You have no right to complain about things like DIR fees if you aren’t at least writing a membership check to your state association and NCPA. 

I’m also a big fan of the Health 3.0 movement. Leading that effort is Dr. Zubin Damania, aka ZDOGGMD.  Check him out via Facebook or zdoggmd.com. He uses humor and music to shine a light on the dysfunction of medicine.  I’m proud of the work we’ve done to bring pharmacists into this movement of over one million healthcare providers focused on changing the healthcare ecosystem.

See the tribute video to pharmacists here:

 - I preach all the time to my students that they signed up for a profession. Thus, part of being a professional means advocating for the profession. As Theresa and DeAnn said, that means getting involved in the community, talking to law makers about the profession, and advocating for the profession (as well as patients). That also may mean helping out on a political campaign or running for an office.

 - What is making you mad? Rebates? DIR fees? Non-transparency in drug pricing? Lack of access for patients? Pick a passion and start discussing it. Offer to discuss it in your community. Use social media judiciously and professionally, to communicate points of view on a topic and share process improvement.

 - Pharmacists tend to stick within the profession and network well, but we must step outside of the profession to really affect positive change. The most valuable asset pharmacists have is their knowledge. Share it widely and be sure to bring back great ideas from other professions to challenge pharmacy to think and practice more broadly.

How are women uniquely positioned to help the pharmacy profession evolve?

The face of the profession is changing due to a much higher percent of women graduating from pharmacy school each year, and more and more men retiring from the baby boomer generation.  Due to this change, women need to step up as the new leaders of pharmacy.  We are seeing a growing trend in women owners as well.  I believe that the women who are pursuing the role of ownership understand the need to be invested in their communities and create business environments that will impact health outcomes in their communities. 

 We think differently. We bring a fresh perspective to a sea of “sameness.”  Studies show that women tend to challenge the status quo when included on corporate boards. We need more female leaders to step up and speak out.  We need more role models for our girls, too. 

: As Theresa mentioned, pharmacy is unique in that the majority of professionals who have entered pharmacy since the 1980s are women.  So, we have the numbers. Unfortunately, women are not the majority in senior leadership positions within pharmaceutical, biotech and healthcare companies. While we are starting to see more women lead organizations (in 2017, for the first time, we had a woman at the helm of a top 15 pharmaceutical company, and now there is a woman taking over Anthem), we must get more women at the top of organizations faster. When women are making most of the decisions in their households for healthcare, it only makes sense for women to run more healthcare organizations.

What advice would you give to up-and-coming pharmacy entrepreneurs?

: Spend a lot of time researching and networking as you plan for being an entrepreneur.  I certainly am "bullish" on new pharmacy entrepreneurs being successful; however, you may find there are skills you need to obtain through additional education before you dive in. 

Also, it is incredibly helpful to have a team of professional advisors (banker, lawyer, CPA, etc.) and a mentor group of other pharmacy owners to lean on for guidance and advice.  Take advantage of resources offered by NCPA, Cardinal Health's Women in Pharmacy group, and others. 

 Life balance is a myth.  You will never be the perfect wife, mother, business owner and pharmacy leader all at the same time.  You prioritize. You go hard in a few areas for a while, then you re-prioritize.  For me, during the early years, I worked hard in my pharmacy, developed a successful diabetes-self management program that touched thousands of local patients and started my family. The past few years have been focused on my national leadership duties with NCPA.  Owning my own pharmacy has allowed me to be a better mom with more flexibility.  It’s also helped me show my girls, by example, how to be a leader and that finding solutions to the problems in our world is a lot better use of your time than just complaining about them.

: Stop waiting and start doing. Don't look for permission to start something as an entrepreneur - you'll be waiting for the rest of your life. You don't need permission! If you see something wrong, try and right it.  And it doesn't matter who you collect a paycheck from; you can be an employee and think like an entrepreneur (it's called an intrapreneur).

If you see an opportunity, start doing something to seize it. Don't wait for your boss, a mentor, your significant other, or some external force in your life to tell you to go for it. You already have a permission slip from the universe! 

To read more about how these women leaders are changing pharmacy, click 

Articles

Three female leaders in pharmacy discuss the changes in this industry. 

Women at the Forefront of Pharmacy  

There is a growing number of women who are assuming leadership roles and driving change that will impact generations of pharmacists to come. We sat down recently with 3 such women who are thought leaders and changemakers within the pharmacy profession:

• Theresa Tolle, BPharm, who is owner and pharmacist of Bay Street Pharmacy

• DeAnn Mullins, BPharm, CDE, who is co-owner and pharmacist of Mullin’s Pharmacy

• Erin L. Albert, MBA, PharmD, JD, PAHM, founder of Pharm, LLC

• Moderator: Eden Sulzer, director of the Women and Pharmacy initiative at Cardinal Health

Left to right: Theresa Tolle, DeAnn Mullins, Erin L. Albert, and Eden Sulzer

What are some steps you, personally, are taking to lead change in your local community, and at the national/profession level as well? 

: I have been extremely involved in associations most of my career. I currently serve on the Cardinal Health National Retail Advisory Board, and I am incoming Trustee for the American Pharmacists Association. I am also active with NCPA and the Florida Pharmacy Association, particularly with legislative activities and political action committees. In other words, I do my best to practice what I preach; I try to serve my profession and take steps to make it better for patients and pharmacists.

In addition, I would say my No. 1 advocacy goal is to achieve provider status for pharmacists. This will impact our profession in countless positive ways and allow us to prove the impact we can make in the healthcare of our communities.

: Nationally, I’ve just completed a year as NCPA president and will continue to serve on the board of directors for NCPA and other various advisory boards.

In Florida, I’m stepping up to become a luminary in establishing and growing the 

, which I believe, is the solution to many of our economic challenges.

Locally, I often say that my daughters are my best and most important work in making the world a better place. Better communities happen when you populate them with better humans. My best advice for leading change: Perfection is the enemy of good, so do what you love and believe that you can make a difference.

: In 2017, I was president of the Indiana Chapter of 

. I ensured we honored men (called them manbassadors) and women in our state who are supporting gender parity in healthcare, and who are innovative leaders.

Also, women in Indiana aren't speaking much on social media; so, I'm co-founder of an educational series called 

.  Along with my co-founder, Amy Stark (who is not a pharmacist, but a digital maven), we can help all women raise their voices on social media channels. We'd love to spread that educational platform to other cities and states in 2018 as we turn 5 this year!

From 2015 to 2017, I served on the national board of the American Society for Pharmacy Law. We created a first-ever benchmarking survey of pharmacy law and ethics educators in schools of pharmacy in the US, and shared the inaugural survey results with our members in 2017. Last, I serve the Pharmacy Podcast Network as a co-host, since 2016, and focus specifically on career development, entrepreneurship, women in leadership, and healthcare IT/big data topics. That bleeds into my writing over at 

Women industry leaders are making changes for pharmacy.

Women Leading Changes in Pharmacy

Nonclinical pharmacists can still have a meaningful impact on patient care. 

 As pharmacists, we are in the business of taking care of patients. That’s why we are all required to complete patient care rotations before becoming licensed pharmacists.

Patient care is at the very essence of what pharmacists do. The word “clinical” means of or relating to the observation and treatment of actual patients.

However, I argue that there’s a new, less explored pathway that is available to the new pharmacist: that of the nonclinical pharmacist. By nonclinical, I mean that the new pharmacist in some cases may not have direct contact with individual patients one-on-one; instead, she works in an area of pharmacy or health care that has indirect impact on hundreds or thousands of patients. She’s still using her clinical knowledge but at a broader or wider level.

The nonclinical pharmacist could work in administration, technology, managed care, formulary management, entrepreneurship, drug information, pharmaceutical or biotech, big data, or management—just to name a few areas. I would also argue in many cases that the nonclinical pharmacist is more likely to be a leader within an organization.

For the purposes of this article, I wanted to take a look at 2 nonclinical pharmacists to explore how they each found the path less traveled, and more importantly, what advice they had for the rest of us in pharmacy, particularly for those of us that have interests beyond clinical pharmacy.

The Clinical to Administrative Career Path

Our first pharmacist is Amy Hyduk, PharmD, MBA, a network pharmacy director at Lutheran Health Network. Although she originally worked in direct patient care, she now oversees network standardization, integration, and growth of hospital pharmacy services between 8 hospitals in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and the surrounding area. At the main hospital, Lutheran Hospital, she also serves as the pharmacy director overseeing full operations of the pharmacy department and services.

“I had always had an interest in pediatrics and planned on focusing in that area,” Dr. Hyduk said. “Upon graduation, I took a job as a clinical pharmacist at Lutheran Hospital, where I focused on the development of some pediatric pharmacy services, including a new pediatric ketogenic diet clinic for children with seizure disorders that were not well-controlled with medication therapy.”

Dr. Hyduk always had a passion for clinical pharmacy. However, over time, she grew interested in leadership roles.

“After I had been at Lutheran Hospital for almost a year, an opportunity developed with a new MBA program that allowed for the specialization in targeted areas such as health care administration,” she explained. “During that program, I was then promoted to a network clinical manager position. Between the job responsibilities of my new position and the experiences from the MBA program and a yearlong leadership program that I had completed within my health system, my interest in a pharmacy administrative level position grew significantly. I learned that my strengths and passion were stronger in developing and organizing programs and policies, reviewing processes, and identifying areas for process improvement and analysis of quality and clinical data.”

Several Paths Lead to Health Care Entrepreneurship

Our second nonclinical pharmacist is Shaun Young, PharmD, MBA, CEO of Ardina. Dr. Young also worked in a variety of pharmacy and health care settings, including but not limited to: community practice pharmacy, pharmaceutical industry in sales, an outpatient pharmacy supervisor, a director of health care innovation for a large retailer, and vice president of a consumer health division of one of the largest pharmacy wholesalers in the country, all prior to his current role of CEO and founder of Ardina. 

“I’ve touched pretty much every part of the pharmacy value chain, but right out of pharmacy school I was debating whether or not to go to medical school,” Dr. Young said. “I got into medical school and a week before med school orientation, I decided against it, and headed to a retail pharmacy chain instead. I was a graveyard pharmacist, then became a pharmacy manager. My career ADD [attention deficit disorder] kicked in, so then I took a job in pharmaceutical sales with Eli Lilly and worked in a variety of other pharmacy areas, before business school.”

Once he graduated from business school, Dr. Young led health care innovation at a large retailer. There, he was able to help make health care more affordable and accessible for patients.  

“After that, Cardinal Health recruited me, and as of a year ago, I started my own business called Ardina to help make health care benefits more affordable and accessible, particularly to the millennial generation and small businesses,” Dr. Young said.

When asked about the nonclinical career pathway, both of these pharmacists stated that it is important to keep an open mind.

“I had my 10-year plan all mapped out, but fortunately I took advantage of several opportunities that presented themselves to me and followed what felt right for that point in time,” Dr. Hyduk said. “It led to a total change in my career goals and plans, but I wouldn’t change it or the experiences I’ve had along the way.”

“Don’t let what you see in pharmacy be the limits for your career,” Dr. Young said. “If you have an interest in administration, don’t limit yourself by only what you see. Be open. Consider non-pharmacy jobs. Be curious.”

I asked Dr. Young if he had a career plan during or right after pharmacy school, to which he replied with a Mike Tyson quote: “I had a plan until I got punched in the face.”

“My plan at first was medical school, which I deviated from,” he explained. “Then I went to retail pharmacy, and my plan was to be a district manager, but again [there was] another deviation. When I went into pharmaceutical sales, my plan was to move into the medical science liaison role—again, another deviation. Every career divergence happened because of someone I met.”

Dr. Hyduk also mentioned networking as pivotal to her career.

“If you have an interest in a nonclinical position, particularly because they seem to be currently fewer and less advertised than the clinical positions, find other pharmacists in those positions that you can begin building a professional relationship with,” she said. “Identify opportunities to shadow, intern, or do a rotation in the nonclinical area of interest. Join professional organizations where you can network with others with similar career interests. While it’s important to meet and network with pharmacists in your area of focus, don’t limit your networking to just those individuals in that particular area.”

Dr. Hyduk said she was able to experience some great opportunities because of networking with individuals both inside and even outside the pharmacy world.

“You never know where networking opportunities with clinical pharmacists, with other health care professionals and also with non-health care professionals can lead,” she said.

While there is no doubt that pharmacy will always touch the lives of individual patients, the good news is that both now and well into the future, the role of non-direct-patient-care pharmacists can also make huge, even dramatic impacts on health care and pharmacy.

Whatever path you choose, know that there’s usually many paths that can lead you to a fantastic, one-of-a-kind career built just for you. 

Erin L. Albert is a pharmacist, entrepreneur, author, lawyer, associate professor at Butler University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, and health outcomes pharmacist with Myers and Stauffer LC. To learn more about her nontraditional career path, check out her website at erinalbert.com. 

Nonclinical pharmacists can still have a meaningful impact on patient care.