Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Elevating Pharmacy as a Strategic Driver in Health Systems with Paul Green, PharmD

Transcript

Elevating Pharmacy as a Strategic Driver in Health Systems with Paul Green, PharmD · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

• 0:00
  Hello everyone, and welcome to the Becker's Pharmacy
• 0:02
  Leadership Podcast. I'm Ella Jeffries, pharmacy reporter with
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  Becker's Healthcare.
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  Today, I'm joined by Paul Green, director of
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  pharmacy services at Westchester Medical Center.
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  In this episode, we'll be discussing the key
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  trend shaping pharmacy today, how leaders are navigating
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  change across clinical care, technology, and supply chain,
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  and what it takes to build and lead
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  a strong pharmacy program in a complex health
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  system.
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  Doctor Green, thank you so much for joining
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  me today. To start us off, can you
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  please introduce yourself and share a bit more
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  about your role and the scope of your
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  pharmacy operations?
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  Sure. Like you said, I'm Paul Green, and
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  I'm the director of pharmacy services at Westchester
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  Medical Center.
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  That's located in Valhalla, New York, and it's
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  the academic flagship of WMC Health Network.
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  My role really sits across clinical, operational, and
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  administrative pharmacy services.
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  So I spend a lot of time thinking
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  about not just how pharmacy runs day to
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  day, but how we continue to grow and
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  evolve as a strategic part of the health
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  system.
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  At Westchester, pharmacy supports a pretty broad range
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  of services,
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  acute care, critical care, oncology,
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  infusion,
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  ambulatory areas, all of it.
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  So a lot of my work is about
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  making sure we have strong operations,
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  are supporting our teams, and are creating better
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  alignment between what pharmacy is doing and what
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  the health system is trying to achieve more
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  broadly in quality, safety,
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  access, and financial stewardship.
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  What I really like about this work is
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  that pharmacy sits in a unique place.
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  We're deeply clinical, but we're also operational and
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  financial.
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  When it's working well, pharmacy can have a
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  real impact across the organization.
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  Definitely. I couldn't agree more. Thank you so
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  much for that overview.
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  And, you know, as you mentioned, there's a
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  lot happening across the pharmacy landscape right now.
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  What key trends or developments are you watching
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  most closely, whether that be, you know, in
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  clinical practice, technology, or the supply chain?
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  Yeah. There's a few things I'm actually watching
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  currently.
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  One is the continued shift in how pharmacy
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  is viewed inside health systems.
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  I think the most forward thinking organizations are
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  moving away from seeing pharmacy mainly as a
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  cost center and are starting to recognize it
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  as a real driver of clinical value, operational
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  performance, and financial impact.
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  I'm also paying a lot of attention to
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  the expansion of pharmacists into more direct patient
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  care roles, especially in ambulatory care, specialty,
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  transitions of care, and areas where pharmacists can
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  help manage complex patients more longitudinally.
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  There's a lot of opportunity there, but it
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  has to be built thoughtfully and tied to
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  outcomes.
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  And then, of course, technology and data. One
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  of the biggest opportunities for pharmacy right now
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  is getting better at connecting clinical, operational, and
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  financial data so we can make stronger decisions
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  and better demonstrate our value.
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  And finally, supply chain still matters every single
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  day.
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  Drug shortages are still a major issue, and
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  I think they forced pharmacy leaders to become
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  even more operationally
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  disciplined and creative than they already were.
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  Definitely. Do you have any examples you could
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  share of,
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  whether it be that technology
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  aspect you mentioned, some things you guys are
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  piloting or using, or with that supply chain
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  issue, things way what are some ways that
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  you guys have gotten to be creative?
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  Yeah. We're really on the cusp of moving
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  into
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  some exciting things technology wise as we
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  transition
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  our electronic medical record system. And in doing
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  that, we're gonna be able to
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  have some bidirectional in interconnectivity
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  between a lot of our systems, whether that's
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  our automated dispensing cabinets
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  and our infusion pumps, all being able to
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  talk directly to the patient's medical record. And
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  that's really gonna allow pharmacy to have a
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  more comprehensive
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  scope and view as to what's going on
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  within the patient's care, what the nurses are
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  doing, what the providers are doing, and help
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  us to be a more active member of
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  the team.
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  Great example. I love to hear that. Thank
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  you for sharing.
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  Now looking at your, you know, own organization,
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  I know you touched on this a little
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  bit, but what initiatives or areas are you
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  most focused on right now taking with those
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  key trends in mind?
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  Right now, we're really focused on pharmacy transformation
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  at the enterprise level.
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  A lot of that's about governance, standardization,
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  and making sure pharmacy has the right voice
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  and system level decisions.
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  I'm very interested in helping move pharmacy from
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  being reactive
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  to more
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  proactive and more embedded in the broader organizational
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  strategy.
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  I'm also excited about areas where pharmacy can
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  expand its impact, whether that's ambulatory growth, specialty
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  strategy, oversight of ICOS therapies, or creating stronger
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  links between frontline pharmacy work and the larger
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  health system goals.
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  And, honestly, a big area of focus for
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  me is workforce sustainability.
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  We can have the best ideas in the
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  world, but if the model isn't sustainable for
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  the people doing the work, it's not gonna
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  hold.
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  So I'm spending a lot of time thinking
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  about staffing models, role clarity, leadership development,
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  and how we can build systems that are
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  better for both the patients and the teams.
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  Definitely. Those are some great initiatives. Love to
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  hear them. What would you say are some
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  of the biggest barriers standing in your way
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  right now of, you know, following through with
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  some of these initiatives,
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  whether, you know, it be expanding the role
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  of pharmacy or with those workforce initiatives?
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  You know, I think like a lot of
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  systems,
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  there's so much opportunity for pharmacy that sometimes
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  it's difficult to
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  pick out, you know, where should we start
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  first, what should we really focus on, and
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  what's gonna have the biggest impact to
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  our health care system and the patients that
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  we serve.
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  I know one thing I heard in a
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  talk recently was that we can do anything,
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  but we can't do everything.
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  And I think that's really where we're at
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  as
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  a network right now trying to decide where
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  are those key areas and where do we
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  focus.
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  And, you know, as we
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  identify those items, I think we have nothing
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  but opportunity.
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  Definitely. Thank you for sharing.
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  Now looking back over the past six to
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  eighteen months, what accomplishments are you most proud
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  of within your pharmacy program?
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  What I'm probably most proud of is the
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  progress we've made in better connecting pharmacies' day
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  to day work to the bigger priorities of
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  our organization.
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  Over the last year or so, we've had
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  a lot of important conversations and made real
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  progress around structure, accountability,
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  service design, and where pharmacy can have the
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  greatest impact.
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  Some of that's operational and some of it
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  strategic, but I think it all really matters.
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  I'm also really proud of our team.
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  It's been a demanding environment here like it
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  has been for a lot of health systems,
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  and people have continued to show up, keep
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  things moving, and stay committed to the work.
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  That really matters a lot to me.
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  More than anything,
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  I'm proud that we're not just trying to
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  maintain.
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  We're trying to build something stronger and more
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  intentional for the future.
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  Definitely. That's great. And you mentioned, you know,
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  your team that team aspect
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  and how important it is. How do you
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  build a strong culture of, you know, teamwork
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  and, you know, pride in the organization to
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  want to keep showing up every day even
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  when it does get hard?
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  Well, that's something that we continue to work
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  on every single day at every level of
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  this organization, and it's really a focus from
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  our CEO down, and it's really inspiring.
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  I think the biggest thing that we're trying
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  to do is ensure that there's clear communication
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  that we,
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  let people know what are the expectations
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  for their role, how does that fit into
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  the bigger picture of what we're trying to
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  do overall,
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  and really work to hold each other accountable
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  to meeting everybody's expectations.
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  Definitely.
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  For pharmacists who are earlier in their careers
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  and aspiring to step into leadership roles, what
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  advice would you offer? You know, what skills
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  or experiences do you think matter most right
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  now?
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  I There's a few things.
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  First,
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  learn to think beyond pharmacy without losing your
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  grounding in pharmacy.
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  The leaders who grow into broader roles are
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  usually the ones who can connect pharmacy to
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  operations,
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  finance, quality,
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  strategy, and the overall goals of the organization.
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  Second, work on building credibility early.
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  Be someone who follows through, solves problems,
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  communicates
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  clearly, and works well with people.
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  A lot of leadership opportunities come from trust.
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  And I I'd also say don't wait for
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  a title to start acting like a leader.
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  A lot of leadership is really about how
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  you show up, how you support other people,
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  and how you handle difficult situations.
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  If you build that muscle early, bigger opportunities
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  usually follow.
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  Definitely. That's a great piece of advice. Thank
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  you.
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  Well, Doctor. Green, this has been such a
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  great conversation. Thank you so much for joining
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  me and for sharing your perspectives and insights
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  with us. That's all for today's episode of
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  the Becker's Pharmacy Leadership Podcast. A big thank
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  you again to Doctor. Green for joining us.
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  Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next
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  time.