Preface

Pharmacy remains a very exciting profession; in fact, more opportunities are available for pharmacists, pharmacy students, and educators than ever before. The roles of pharmacists in interprofessional health care teams continue to evolve, as does their recognition by payers and policy makers. Pharmacists continue to transform the delivery of their services to accentuate the critical nature of public health and proactive health care. But with new opportunities also come challenges, including the challenge of how to manage the personal and professional resources necessary to succeed in today's ever-changing environment.

Educators must not only keep up with changes in pharmacy practice, but also anticipate and prepare our students for opportunities and contingencies that will arise throughout their professional careers. In our efforts to best prepare students, pharmacy management educators have increasingly had to gather teaching materials from a variety of textbooks, journals, and other educational resources. This is due to the fact that many resources only focus on a specific management function (marketing, personnel, accounting, and finance) or a specific practice setting (independent pharmacies, hospital pharmacies). We believed that there would be value in a comprehensive pharmacy management textbook that covered many content areas and gathered a variety of resources into one text. We also aimed to develop a text that uses “evidence-based management”; that is, material derived from the best and most contemporary primary literature, but that which at the same time focuses on the application of knowledge into skills that pharmacists will use everyday.

In planning for a fourth edition of this text, we sought input from faculty who teach pharmacy management, as well as from pharmacy students and pharmacists who apply management principles in their daily practice. We listened carefully to users also while scanning the latest advances in teaching strategies to produce the fourth edition. Of course, we also considered the many changes in pharmacy practice, management, and health systems reform that have occurred during the past few years.

• Every chapter has been updated to reflect the fluid nature of its respective management topic.

• New trends in the management literature are reflected in each of the chapters, including management trends within and beyond pharmacy.

• Some chapters have been revised substantially and with new authors to provide users of the text with the most relevant information. Examples include the following:

  • The establishment and management of medication therapy management services.

  • Training employees to provide customer service and engender loyalty among patrons.

  • New technology to assist with managing inventory, and for value-added services.

  • Financial position analyses most commonly undertaken by pharmacists in several key settings.

  • Impact of state and federal legislation, including Affordable Care Act, accountable care organizations, contextualizing pharmacy within medicine's transformation into medical home models of care.

  • Exploring the roles of pharmacists in the provision of population-based public health services.

  • Focusing on intrapreneurship, in addition to entrepreneurship, to help readers connect with all the possibilities of innovation within their own organization, not just opportunities that exist outside of that context.

Management education encompasses a broad constellation of knowledge, skills, abilities, and attitudes required to become an effective leader. It is difficult for instructors to possess the breadth of experience across all aspects of pharmacy management to intuitively design structured lesson plans to effectively educate their students. With that in mind the editors of the fourth edition have developed tools to assist instructors with teaching the concepts covered in this book. Instructors who adopt the textbook will have full access to these resources which include: (1) PowerPoint™ slides that cover the core content of each chapter; (2) lesson plans built on the Understanding by Design model developed by Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins. These plans guide the course leader through the three stages of lesson design: (1) focusing on the big ideas within the content; (2) crafting fair, valid and reliable assessments of the desired results; and (3) creating an effective and engaging learning unit.

This textbook is organized to reflect all of the major management functions performed by pharmacists in any practice setting. The book is divided into sections representing each function, and is further divided into chapters that detail the various components of each function.

Our experience as educators has taught us that students are the most effective learners when they are “ready” to learn. Many students selected pharmacy as a major in part from the desire to help people, but also due to their fascination and intrigue with how such small amounts of various medicinal substances have such profound effects on the body. Many of these students also believe that they only need to learn about management after they graduate, and then only if they take on a managerial or administrative position at their pharmacy. The first section of this book makes the case that management skills are important for all people and pharmacists, regardless of their position or practice setting. In an environment of increasingly scarce resources and higher accountability, we also help the reader to understand and create the value proposition for themselves, their services, and their organization. After establishing the need for management in both our personal and professional lives, the next four sections describe the management functions and resources that are common to all pharmacy practice settings (operations, people, money, traditional pharmacy goods, and services). Chapters within each section focus on important aspects of each function or resource.

As pharmacy practice moves from a product orientation to a patient orientation, there are unique challenges that arise in managing the value-added services that pharmacists are developing to meet patient needs in medication therapy management. A section of this book is dedicated to the planning, implementation, and reimbursement of these new patient care services offered by pharmacists.

Several chapters are dedicated to describing the risks inherent in pharmacy practice, and the impact that laws, regulations, and medication errors have on pharmacy management. The final section describes how management functions are applied in specific pharmacy practice settings and settings in unique health systems.

Each chapter is divided into several sections to facilitate the reader's understanding and application of the material. Chapters begin with a list of learning objectives that outline the major topics to be addressed. A brief scenario is used to describe how a pharmacy student or pharmacist may need or apply the information described this chapter in their daily lives or practice. Questions at the start of each chapter provide direction and assist the reader in understanding what they can expect to learn.

The text of each chapter provides comprehensive coverage of the content and theory underlying the major concepts. References to the management and pharmacy literature are commonly used to provide readers with links to additional background information. Explanations and applications are also used to help readers better understand the need to master and apply each concept. Questions at the end of each chapter encourage readers to think about what they have just learned and apply these concepts in new ways.

If you are a pharmacy student, we hope that using this book will help you gain an appreciation for the roles of management in pharmacy practice, regardless of your future position or practice setting. This book will also provide you with a variety of management theories and tools that you can apply in your daily life.

We realize that many pharmacists have not had much management coursework in their formal education or professional training. We hope that this book serves as a valuable guide to pharmacists who may require some assistance in dealing with matters they did not anticipate when embarking on their careers. For those pharmacists with formal management education and experience, we hope that this book serves as a valuable reference or as a source of new ideas that can be applied in daily practice.

For educators, this book has been designed as a comprehensive pharmacy management textbook. As a whole, it is meant to be used in survey courses that cover many areas of pharmacy management. The section format also allows the book to be used in courses that focus on specific pharmacy management functions or topics. The sections and content of each chapter are meant not only to provide valuable information that is easy for students to understand, but also to stimulate further discussion and motivate students to learn more on their own.

While developing this edition we had the opportunity to bring on a new editor, while at the same time recognizing the contributions of one of the founding editors of this text. Leticia Moczygemba joined our team as a new editor. Dr. Moczygemba is an Associate Professor and Director of the Center of Pharmacy Practice Transformation at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Pharmacy. Her teaching and research places her at the forefront of the innovations in practice, while recognizing the essential role that management skills play in advancing pharmacy practice. Her contributions are certain to benefit this text for many years to come. Shane Desselle, one of the founding editors of this text, asked to step back from his editorial roles and into a new role as Editor Emeritus, mentoring and advising the editorial team. Dr. Desselle's contributions were essential in bringing this text to fruition. His contributions to pharmacy management and the broader field of social and administrative pharmacy continue through his research and his leadership of Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy. We wish Shane well in his endeavors and thank him for his leadership and contributions to this text and our field.

The creators of each chapter have put a great deal of time and effort into getting their final outputs ready for consumers, but it rarely can be considered a “finished product.” Textbooks are “works in progress” that can always be improved. The best way to improve these products is to seek input from their users. As you use this book, we would like to learn what you like about it, what could be improved, and what topics or features you would like to see included in the future. Please feel free to share your thoughts at any time by contacting us through pharmacy@mcgraw-hill.com. We plan to improve this book over future editions by listening to your feedback and continuing to reflect changes in the management sciences and pharmacy practice.

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