Annual Meeting on the Horizon

With the summer heat comes the hottest educational and networking event of the year—the AACP Annual Meeting, July 15–19. Topics important to pharmacy and pharmacy education will be explored over the course of four days, including a critical look at the current healthcare environment and anticipated changes, and the emphasis on patient care and counseling. Three valuable pre-conference workshops, more than 50 special sessions and nearly 500 educational posters await attendees at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center.

Opening General Session

Building Bridges in a Dynamic, Ever-Changing Healthcare Environment

Kevin E. Lofton is the chief executive officer of Englewood, Colorado-based Catholic Health Initiatives. He joined CHI in 1998 and has served as CEO since 2003. Mr. Lofton is widely recognized at the national level as an experienced healthcare executive whose background includes top positions in public, university, community and faith-based hospitals, including serving as the chief executive officer of the UAB and Howard University Hospitals.

Mr. Lofton will kick-off the Annual Meeting with a dynamic discussion of his health-systems leadership experience, reflecting on the amount and direction of change as the U.S. strives to embrace value and performance as key tenets of patient-centered healthcare delivery, and the inclusion of pharmacists and pharmacy as we move from volume to value.

Science Plenary

Science=Solutions: The Opioid Crisis in the USA

Join Dr. Wilson M. Compton, deputy director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) of the National Institutes of Health, as he describes how the misuse of and addiction to opioids is a serious national problem that affects public health, as well as social and economic welfare. At NIDA, Dr. Compton provides scientific leadership in the development, implementation and management of NIDA’s research portfolio and works with the director to support and conduct research to improve the prevention and treatment of drug abuse and addiction.

At the Science Plenary he’ll address the opioid crisis in the United States, the rising incidence of neonatal abstinence syndrome (due to opioid use during pregnancy), and the increased spread of infectious diseases, including HIV and hepatitis C. Primary approaches to addressing the crisis include prevention, addressing the underlying addiction issues, and treating overdoses directly by increasing access to naloxone. Longer-term research includes the development of pain medications with reduced abuse/addiction potential. In addition, the ways that pharmacists can play central roles in changing prescribing practices, increasing access to naloxone, and improving access to methadone and buprenorphine with pharmacy dispensing will be reviewed.

Tuesday General Session

Reconciliation

Regina Holliday is a Maryland-based patient advocate and artist known for painting a series of murals depicting the need for clarity and transparency in medical records. This advocacy mission was inspired by her husband Frederick Allen Holliday II and his struggle to receive appropriate care. Afflicted with kidney cancer, Fred suffered poor care coordination, a lack of access to data and a series of medical errors and, as a result, lost his battle. These institutional flaws spurred Holliday to try to improve care for her husband, as well as for all patients who are abused in this way. As a result, Fred’s death inspired Holliday to use painting as a catalyst for change.

With her passion for advocating for patients to receive timely access to their healthcare data, her artwork became part of the national healthcare debate. Backed by her own patient and caregiving experiences, Regina Holliday travels the globe heralding her message of patient empowerment and inclusion in healthcare decision-making, offering guidance on crowd funding in healthcare. She fearlessly stands before officials and practitioners demanding a thoughtful dialogue on the role patients play in their own healthcare.