KeePosted - ICHP

Volume 37 Issue 06 

July 2011 ichpnet.org 

Official Newsjournal of the Illinois Council of Health-System Pharmacists 

KeePosted 

Are All Pharmacy 

Technician Training 

Programs The Same? 

Summer Nights 

at the Ballpark 

GAS from Springfield: 

“It ain’t over 

till it’s over!” 

July 2011 | KeePosted | www.ichpnet.org 1

KeePosted 

Official Newsjournal of the 

Illinois Council of Health-System Pharmacists 

Editor 

Jacob Gettig 

Assistant Editor 

Julie Karpinski 

MANAGING Editor 

Scott Meyers 

Assistant MANAGING Editor 

Trish Wegner 

DESIGN Editor 

Stephanie Lammi 


4055 North Perryville Road 

Loves Park, IL 61111-8653 

Phone: (815) 227-9292 

Fax: (815) 227-9294 

www.ichpnet.org 

ICHP Staff 

Executive vice president 

Scott Meyers 

vice president - professional services 

Trish Wegner 

director of operations 

Maggie Allen 

information specialist 

Heidi Sunday 

customer service and 

pharmacy tech topics TM specialist 

Jo Ann Haley 

accountant 

Jan Mark 

communications manager 


legislative consultant 

Jim Owen 

ICHP Mission Statement 

Advancing Excellence in the Practice of Pharmacy 

ICHP Vision Statement 

ICHP dedicates itself to achieving a vision of pharmacy practice where: 

• Pharmacists are universally recognized as health care 

professionals and essential providers of health care services. 

• Patients are aware of the training, skills, and abilities of 

a pharmacist and the fundamental role that pharmacists 

play in optimizing medication therapy. 

• Formally educated, appropriately trained, and PTCB 

certified pharmacy technicians manage the medication 

distribution process with appropriate pharmacist 

oversight. 

• Pharmacists improve patient care and medication safety 

through the development of effective public policies by 

interacting and collaborating with patients, other health 

care professionals and their respective professional 

societies, government agencies, employers and other 

concerned parties. 

• Evidence-based practices are used to achieve safe and 

effective medication therapies. 

• There are an adequate number of qualified pharmacy 

leaders within the pharmacy profession. 

• Pharmacists take primary responsibility for educating 

pharmacy technicians, pharmacy students, pharmacist 

peers, other health professionals, and patients about 

appropriate medication use. 

KeePosted Vision 

As an integral publication of the Illinois Council of Health- 

System Pharmacists, the KeePosted newsjournal will reflect its 

mission and goals. In conjunction with those goals, KeePosted 

will provide timely information that meets the changing 

professional and personal needs of Illinois pharmacists and 

technicians, and maintain high publication standards. 

Columns 

Features 

KeePosted is an official publication of, and is copyrighted by, the Illinois Council of Health-System Pharmacists (ICHP). 

KeePosted is published 10 times a year. ICHP members received KeePosted as a member benefit. All articles published 

herein represent the opinions of the authors and do not reflect the policy of the ICHP or the authors’ institutions unless 

specified. Advertising inquiries can be directed to ICHP office at the address listed above. Image disclaimer: Images on 

pages 1, 4, 7, 8, 9, 12, and 17 are the property of © 2011 Thinkstock, a division of Getty Images. 

Copyright © 2011, Illinois Council of Health-System Pharmacists. All rights reserved. 

Volume 37, Issue 06 

Contents 

4 President’s Message 

What if your Income was based on your Outcome? 

5 Directly Speaking 

I Beg to Differ! 

7 New Practitioners Network 

NPN Cubs Game - Perfect Blend of Business and Pleasure 

8 Educational Affairs 

Letters of Recommendation 

12 ICHPeople 

12 Pharmacy Action Fund 

Not just another stress toy! 

17 GAS from Springfield 

It ain’t over till it’s over! 

20 Professional Affairs 

Medication Safety Pearl: Tools to Prospectively Identify 

Medication Safety Initiatives 

24 Board of Pharmacy News 

25 College Connection - SIUE 

An Alternative Rotation Delivers An Alternative Experience 

27 College Connection - MWU 

Meeting the New Faces of the MWU-ICHP E-Board 

28 College Connection - UIC 

UIC-ICHP Chapter Year in Review 

29 College Connection - CSU 

Advantages of Completing the IPPE in a Rural Hospital Setting 

7 Summer Nights at the Ballpark 

9 Educational Affairs 

Are All Pharmacy Technician Training Programs the Same? 

14 PTCB 

PTCB C.R.E.S.T Summit focused on continued innovation 

in pharmacy 

22 Illinois Poison Center (IPC) 

Antidote Preparedness - Is Your Pharmacy Ready? 

Employment/Volunteer Opportunities 

16 Select Pharmacy Staffing

2011 Calendar Upcoming Events 

Regularly Scheduled Conference Calls 

• New Practitioners Network – 5:30 pm 

2nd Monday of each month 

• Government Affairs – 5:00 pm 

3rd Monday of each month 

• Organizational Affairs – 1:00 pm 

1st Tuesday of each month 

• Executive Committee – 7:00 pm 

2nd Tuesday of each month 

• Marketing Affairs – 8:00 am 

3rd Tuesday of each month 

• Educational Affairs Committee – 11:00 am 

3rd Tuesday of each month 

• Professional Affairs – 12:00 noon 

3rd Thursday of each month 

• Technology Committee – 8:00 am 

2nd Friday of each month 

Regularly Scheduled Network Meetings 

• Chicago Area Pharmacy Directors Network Dinner Meeting 

3rd Thursday of odd months at 5:30 pm 

• Clinical Practice and Research Network Dinner Meeting 

*on break for summer* 

July 13 

• WCSHP Family Night at 

the Peoria Chief ’s Ball 

Park 

Peoria, IL 

July 30 

• IPhA CPE Program - 

Delivering Medication 

Therapy Management Services 

in the Community 

Springfield, IL 

July 31 

• IPhA CPE Program - 

Pharmacy- Based Immunization 

Delivery 


• 

August 22 

• Deadline to submit items 

to Auction with a Twist 

August 29 

• NISHP Family Fun Night 

at the Park 

Geneva, IL 

August 29 - September 12 

• Online ticket sales for 

Auction with a Twist 

September 7 

• New Practitioners Network’s 

Night at the Ballpark 

Chicago, IL 

• 

September 15-17 

• ICHP 2011 Annual Meeting 

Oakbrook Terrace, IL 

September 17 

• Auction with a Twist 

Oakbrook Terrace, IL 

March 7, 2012 

• Pharmacy Legislative Day 


March 23-24, 2012 

• ICHP Spring Meeting 

Bloomington, IL 

Welcome 

New Members! 

New Member 

Recruiter 

New Member 

Recruiter 

Sara Guth 

Amanda Hofstetter 

Michael Webster 

Richard Mioni 

Taylor Post 

Fatima Ali 

Sejal Parikh 

Amber Stanton 

Jamie Brockhouse 

Susan Cornell 

Jim Schniepp 

Rebekka Hunter 

Petranka Naydenova 

Evelina Iskra 

Julia Schimmelpfennig 

Se Choi 

Monika Gil 

Ginger Ertel 

Jennifer Phillips 

Ann Jankiewicz 

Darlene Wiegand 

Shah Jehan Moinuddin 

Jana Parsons 

Traci McHugh 

David Willman 

Patrick Schmees 

Pamela Singer 

Anita Markellos 

Raymond Black 

Deepa Thakar 

Andrius Cepenas 

Casey Dugan 

Emily Bryar 

George Gavrilos 

Stan Kent 

Ammie Hodges 

Jennifer Rogers 

Dwaine Keller 

Erick Borkowski 

Noelle Chapman 


3 July 2011 | KeePosted | www.ichpnet.org

President’s Message 

What if your Income was 

based on your Outcome? 

by Carrie Sincak, President 

I just returned from an energizing 

ASHP Summer meeting in Denver, 

Colorado. The keynote speaker, 

Jay Kaplan, MD, FACEP, presented 

strategies to inspire transformational 

change as it relates to the Pharmacy 

Practice Model Initiative. 

The pharmacy practice model initiative, 

better known as PPMI, involves 

hospital and health-systems that will 

involve: 1) pharmacists providing 

direct patient care, 2) expanding the 

role of a qualified technician workforce 

and the use of technology, 3) 

ensuring that pharmacy departments 

are responsible for the provision of 

safe, effective, and efficient medication 

use policy, and 4) working to 

assure pharmacists are accountable 

for patient outcomes. 

Based on the PPMI, one of the questions 

Dr. Kaplan posed to the audience 

was, “What if you were paid based on 

your performance? Essentially, what if 

your income equaled your outcome?” 

As the profession of pharmacy continues 

to evolve, the career of providing 

excellent service and patient care 

will also extend into quality clinical 

services. If that is the case, are we 

ready for that change? Ways in which 

to achieve value based performance is 

to create memorable experiences for 

patients. This may be difficult in our 

hectic workday, but without challenge, 

there is no change. 

Dr. Kaplan provided some steps to 

help guide the process. First, ask yourself, 

“What do you want to be known 

for?” Let that be your aim or vision. 

Once decided, you will also need to 

determine your biggest obstacle and 

take necessary steps to overcome it 

in order to progress. Second, define 

your standards and ensure that they 

are specific, observable and measurable. 

He used a great line concerning 

standards and accepting anything less 

from your organization, “If you permit 

it, you promote it.” Third, staff 

needs to be engaged in the process. 

Ways to engage your staff should be 

to focus on the positive while still 

identifying areas for process improvement. 

By focusing on the positive, it 

is hopeful that you are coaching new 

behaviors. Fourth, focus on the 4 F’s: 

find, focus, fix and then follow-up. 

Whether it is your specific aim or 

objective, an issue or a problem, the 

4 f’s should be implemented. Also, 

follow-up is stressed to ensure that 

strategies or solutions that you have 

developed are effective. Fifth, create 

a team. Transformation cannot be 

done in a silo. A dedicated, enthusiastic 

team will help support and 

encourage change. Sixth, memorable 

experiences should not be made just 

for patients but also for colleagues 

with whom you work. What can you 

do to make it a great day for your colleagues? 

Can you remember the last 

time you left work and said, “Wow, 

it’s been a great day!” versus “Wow, I 

am so glad this day is over!” I immediately 

thought that was much easier 

said than done. Dr. Kaplan posed my 

same thought but followed up by asking 

us to think about bowling. You 

shoot for something, meaning the 

bowling pins, correct? If you didn’t 

hit the pocket the first time, do you go 

and throw your second ball the same 

way or do you change your approach? 

Ways in which to achieve value based 

performance is to create memorable experiences 

for patients. This may be difficult in our hectic 

workday, but without challenge, there is no change. 

Immediate feedback is given on the 

first ball thrown and with that is a 

scorecard. Basically, if we don’t like 

the way our day has gone or the 

feedback that we have been given, 

shouldn’t we attempt to make it different? 

Good point. 

All of these points are valid and will 

take much effort, so he recommends 

starting with one or two strategies 

and proceeding from there. Trying to 

implement a number of ideas at one 

time is overwhelming and may be discouraging 

if unsuccessful. However, 

with continued growth in our profession, 

we can advance from a career 

focused on product to one of service 

that is valued and expected. If we are 

always in our comfort zone, we are 

not where we need to be. ■ 


Directly Speaking 

I Beg to Differ! 

by Scott A. Meyers, Executive Vice President, RPh, MS, FASHP 

I’ve read the Spring Meeting 

evaluation comments, and I 

have to say that I beg to differ 

and hope that those few who 

had some issue with this year’s 

exhibit program will read this. 

Then I hope they put future 

Spring and Annual Meeting 

exhibit programs to good use! 

At the ICHP/MSHP Spring Meeting 

this year, we (the ICHP staff and meeting 

planning committee) concluded 

that in order to produce the revenue 

we needed, make the exhibit program 

worthwhile for the exhibiting companies 

and provide an affordable meeting 

for our members, we had to make 

some scheduling changes that several 

of you apparently didn’t like. That’s a 

shame but keep reading, I know there 

is something to be learned here! 

For those who didn’t attend the meeting 

and for those who did and didn’t 

approve of our new meeting format, 

here’s what we did. The meeting runs 

all day Friday and most of the day 

Saturday and offers up to 10 hours of 

continuing pharmacy education, two 

lunches, two continental breakfasts, an 

exhibit program and a poster session. 

The cost for participation in the exhibit 

program is $1000 for a single booth 

and $1500 for a double booth. These 

are the same prices we have charged in 

the past at the ICHP Annual Meeting 

for two two-hour exhibit sessions. At 

the ICHP Annual Meeting, there has 

been one two-hour exhibit session on 

Thursday afternoon and one two-hour 

session on Friday at lunch during the 

three day (Thurs-Sat) event. We know 

pharmaceutical industry representatives 

don’t like working on Saturdays 

just like most of you, so that’s why 

there has been no exhibit on Saturday. 

If we keep the reps happy, it’s easier to 

keep the companies coming back. We 

also know that in order to make this 

exhibit program worth their company’s 

investment, which is not just 

the cost for the space, we couldn’t cut 

the hours too much from the Annual 

Meeting’s four hour total. 

So we scheduled the exhibit program 

during our morning and afternoon 

break times for 90 minutes each! 

These breaks usually run 30 minutes 

for refreshments and restroom use, 

so the additional hour each for time 

in the exhibit hall seemed fair. Yes, 

that’s a lot of time in one day, but this 

year with this format we attracted 44 

pharmacy related exhibitors and four 

colleges of pharmacy for a total of 49 

booth spaces filled. (The Colleges of 

Pharmacy don’t pay the full prices 

but pay enough to cover the costs for 

their space.) That’s nearly 30% more 

exhibitors than two years ago at the 

previous ICHP/ MSHP Spring Meeting! 

That’s a lot of revenue! And the 

exhibitors were very pleased with the 

format! 

So here’s the first important little secret 

I would like to share with those 

who felt the exhibits were wasted time: 

Those booth fees from happy exhibitors 

keep your registration fees as low 

as they are! That’s right, I said it. The 

pharmaceutical industry, wholesalers, 

technology companies and the rest are 

still carrying the load for pharmacists, 

pharmacy technicians and pharmacy 

students who attend these great live 

continuing education programs! And 

I for one am very grateful for their 

participation! 

And here’s the second little secret I 

need to share: You could actually learn 

something if you would earnestly engage 

in reasonable conversations with 

these vendors. Vendors spend big 

bucks (but not near what they spend 

at ASHP or APhA meetings) to be 

there and talk to each and every one 

of us! They want to talk with you and 

tell you all about the new medications, 

the new indications, the new technologies, 

the new products and the new 

services they offer. Sure they are there 

to increase their market share in a very 

competitive market place, but they 

also want to make sure that if you already 

use their products, you use them 

safely and appropriately. 

It’s been a long time since I worked 

in the trenches, and for only having 

worked a couple of years in those 

trenches I don’t know if any of these 

companies would consider me a true 

decision maker. However, year after 

year I went to ICHP and ASHP meetings 

and spoke with the exhibitors 

about their products and services, and 

there wasn’t a single time that I didn’t 

come back to my pharmacy department 

without a new idea or product 

that we didn’t eventually at least evaluate 

because of an interaction in the 

exhibit hall. I don’t consider myself 

that persuasive a salesman or force to 

be reckoned with but rather just someone 

who brought back a new idea that 

someone else found useful. 

Yes, the free pens, notepads, calculators, 

stress toys, flashlights and whatever 

else you used to grab in the ex- 


HealthSystemCE.org offers free high quality, 

easily accessible, ACPE accredited independent 

home study programs to members of ICHP. 

Current CE Programs 

Clinical Practice 

• Current Treatment of Crohn’s Disease 

with an Emphasis on the Biological 

Agents 

• Treatment of Pancreatic Exocrine 

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• Understanding the Treatment Options 

in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder 

Patient Safety and Joint Commission Topics 

• Preventing Medication Errors in the 

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• Manufacturer Premix Products: A Best 

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of Intravenous Therapy 

Pharmacy Practice 

• New Drugs 2007-2008 

How to Access HealthSystemCE.org 

1. Visit www.HealthSystemCE.org using your 

favorite browser. 

2. Locate “Member Login” tab on the top 

menu of home page. 

3. Enter your email address and temporary 

password. You may change the password 

after you are logged in. 

Be sure to notify ICHP if 

your e-mail changes so that 

you can continue to receive 

timely information. 

hibit halls of yesterday are gone, but 

there’s still a lot of great information, 

ideas, products and services to learn 

about. A discerning pharmacist 

will be able to separate the product 

from the presentation! A discerning 

pharmacist will take what they 

see in the exhibit hall and prioritize 

their future journal readings to 

determine just how much real buzz 

there is with that new product…just 

how much that new product can improve 

patient outcomes or just how 

much that new technology will cut 

costs down the road. A discerning 

pharmacist or technician uses every 

opportunity to explore new products 

and services to see what may be in 

their future before their administrator, 

director, manager or supervisor 

tells them it is. If you think about it 

in terms of continuing professional 

development (CPD), you can move 

your practice ahead just as often 

in the exhibit hall as you can looking 

up a drug info question, digging 

through charts or phoning a friend. 

CPD comes in many forms and from 

many sources. If spending time in 

the exhibit hall seems like a waste of 

your time, make it a CPD adventure! 

These two 90 minute breaks during 

the Spring Meeting are a waste of 

time if you don’t engage in the opportunities 

that are offered in the exhibit 

hall. However, you’re the one 

that has wasted the opportunity and 

the time, not ICHP and the meeting 

planning committee. 

ICHP can create statewide meetings 

that don’t have an exhibit program, 

but if we do, you better be ready to 

pony up a registration fee that could 

be twice the price! Maybe we should 

try it once and see how many participants 

take issue then. Perhaps some 

will complain that they actually miss 

the exhibit program. I sure would 

have back in the day. I’m guessing 

that the complaints about price 

would be limited because those who 

felt the price was too high would just 

not attend. But I also believe the 

number in attendance would drop 

because the principle complaint 

would become registration fees that 

are too high! 

Not every aspect of a pharmacy 

meeting has to offer continuing education 

credit or a meal. There are 

a variety of ways in which you can 

learn about new therapies, technologies 

or efficiencies. Value comes to 

those who are truly interested in discovering 

it, making it or stumbling 

onto it wherever it exists! It’s time to 

reconsider your position on exhibits, 

learn wherever you can and utilize 

every opportunity available! ■ 

IPHP HELPLINE 

There is hope! — Call Illinois Professionals Health Program (IPHP) Helpline to receive support from your peers 24/7. 

If you know someone who needs assistance, encourage them to call. 

1-800-215-HELP (4357) | www.advocatehealth.com/IPHP 


Feature 

NPN Cubs Game - Perfect 

Blend of Business and Pleasure 

by Erika Hellenbart, PharmD, BCPS 

Take me out to the ball game, take me out to 

the crowd…of new practitioners! 

Summer 

Nights at the 

Ballpark 

July 13 

WCSHP Family 

Night at the 

Peoria Chief ’s 

Ball Park 

Peoria, IL 

August 29 

NISHP Family 

Fun Night at the 

Park 

Geneva, IL 

September 7 

New Practitioners 

Network’s Night 

at the Ballpark 

Chicago, IL 

Visit www.ichpnet.org or call ICHP at 

(815) 227-9292 for ticket information! 

Do you wish you could meet other pharmacists in the 

area but are unsure how? For those recent graduates 

looking for ways to mix and mingle with other pharmacists 

in similar shoes, you’re invited to spend an evening with your peers at 

historic Wrigley Field for the annual ICHP’s New Practitioners Network (NPN) 

Cubs Game outing! 

If you’re like me, you’ve recently graduated pharmacy school, completed residency 

training, and are starting to establish yourself in your respective pharmacist 

role. One way to ensure a smooth transition into the profession is to meet 

other pharmacists that are in, or recently in, the same position. Maybe you’re 

new to the area and are interested in meeting new people. Maybe you’ve been 

working for a few years and are interested in what great things pharmacists 

are doing at other institutions. Maybe you want to get to know the people you 

already work with better. Whatever the reason, the NPN Cubs Game is a great 

way to meet other local pharmacists and socialize with coworkers, all while participating 

in America’s favorite pastime, Chicago-style. 

I moved to Chicago two years ago for residency and went to the Cubs game last 

year. I found it to be a great way to relax with some of my former residency 

preceptors and coworkers. I met the new residents of the program and was able 

to share my experiences with them and offer insight on how to make the most of 

his or her residency training. I also networked with other new practitioners in 

the area. By the end of the night I had a BCPS study group and met other great 

pharmacists, some of whom were the colleagues that encouraged me to become 

more involved in ICHP. 

One of the most consistent phrases I heard throughout pharmacy school was 

that “pharmacy is a small world.” Since graduating, I have realized how true that 

statement is and just how much smaller it can be through networking opportunities 

like this one. So why not join your NPN colleagues for a night of fun and 

pharmacy amidst the ivy of the Wrigley outfield on Wednesday, September 7th 

at 7:05pm as the Chicago Cubs take on the Cincinnati Reds. Tickets will be available 

on ichpnet.org for $23 under the New Practitioners Network Baseball Game 

link. You can also join the ICHP Facebook page to find information about the 

game, a link to ticket purchasing, and other great things ICHP is doing. You’ll 

need your ICHP account to purchase a ticket and tickets will be mailed prior to 

the game. I hope to join all of you in the Cubs victory cheer! “Hey Chicago 

what do you say? The Cubs (and NPN) are going to win today!” ■ 


Educational Affairs 

Letters of Recommendation 

by Michael A. Fotis, Director of Educational Affairs 

It will soon be that time of year 

when many of you will be asked 

to prepare letters of recommendation 

for PGY1 Residency candidates. 

I would like to offer a Residency 

Director (RPD) perspective. Although 

I only write a handful, don’t forget, 

as a RPD, I read about 300-500 letters 

every year. Some advice to think 

about... 

Keep your letter to one or two paragraphs. 

A poorly written letter of recommendation 

does not improve with 

length. Tell us what you do, and how 

you know the student in two or three 

sentences. Give us an estimate of the 

student’s ability. Make your level of 

support very clear: “I highly recommend, 

recommend, recommend with 

reservation, do not recommend Joe 

Student for your residency. I place 

Joe Student in the top 95%, 90%, 75% 

etc. of all the students assigned to me 

from this class. I am very confident, 

confident, or hopeful that this candidate 

will be a successful resident.” It is 

probably better to decline rather than 

write a negative recommendation, or 

even a recommendation with reservations. 

Rewriting the students C.V. is not 

really helpful and is a waste of your 

and my time. If you really want to help 

the student and you know the program 

director, add another sentence or two 

explaining why you think the student 

would fit in at Northwestern, or at 

RUSH, UIC, Chicago, etc. If you are 

unfamiliar with a residency program, 

have the student tell you why they are 

interested in that program, and to list 

the strengths of a particular program. 

Try to describe why you think your 

student is a good candidate for my 

residency program. If the strengths of 

all the identified potential residency 

programs resemble a scatter diagram 

consider having a serious discussion 

with your student. A lack of direction 

in a candidate will be exposed during 

their interview and will likely reduce 

their chances to match. 

At a minimum of courtesy- PLEASE 

don’t send a ‘generic letter,’ especially 

to someone you know. By this, I mean 

a form letter that is used for all of the 

students for whom you are writing letters. 

When a letter is written to ‘Sir’ 

or ‘Madam,’ but you know the RPD, 

it looks especially generic. In such 

letters, it is difficult to ascertain if you 

are really recommending a student or 

not. Therefore, a generic letter will 

likely be interpreted as a statement of 

non-support. It does not help anyone 

to “abstain from voting” (i.e. not providing 

a clear, specific recommendation) 

on a letter of recommendation. 

Again, make sure your level of support 

is crystal clear. 

Proofread for mixed messages in your 

letter: “You would be fortunate to get 

this person to work in your program.” 

“I can’t think of all the good things to 

say about this candidate.” Are these 

favorable or unfavorable statements? 

Many authors spend a lot of time 

describing their rotation and informing 

us how demanding they are as a 

preceptor. The best way to help your 

student “score” an interview is to help 

the candidate screening Committee 

determine if your student is a good 

fit for our program. If the letter is all 

about you, does that mean you do not 

recommend the candidate? 

Once your letters are sent out don’t 

forget to send a note to inform the 

candidate. 

We all have plenty to do. I am 

impressed that so many pharmacists 

are willing to take the extra time to 

serve as an excellent preceptor, and 

that your students think enough of 

you to ask you for these dreaded letters 

of recommendation. Thank You 

for what you do for the future of our 

profession! ■ 


Educational Affairs 

Are All Pharmacy Technician Training 

Programs The Same? 

by Christina Cieslicki 1 , CPhT; Michael Fotis 2 , B.S. Pharm; Kristi Stice 1 , PharmD 

1- Kishwaukee Community Hospital; 2- Northwestern Memorial Hospital 

We would like to thank Jennifer Tomczak, PharmD, and Karen Kim, PharmD from Midwestern University for developing the data 

collection form, conducting the survey and analyzing the results. Jennifer and Karen were also co-authors of a poster presented at the 

2010 ASHP Mid-Year Clinical Meeting in Anaheim. 

Background 

The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists 

(ASHP) and the Illinois Council of Health-System Pharmacists 

(ICHP) set the standards for pharmacy practice 

in many ways. With the Pharmacy Practice Model Initiative 

(PPMI) Summit now complete and publication of the 

documents surrounding the summit out in circulation, 

a question that is being asked by many new and established 

pharmacists and technicians is ‘What are the pharmacy 

practice expectations of me now and how will they 

change in the coming future?’ As time has progressed, so 

have the standards of practice for both pharmacists and 

technicians. Pharmacists are now working closer with 

physicians and taking on more of a clinical role in patient 

care. This practice shift impacts the roles and expectations 

of pharmacy technicians as well. They will undoubtedly 

have an increased level of responsibilities requiring a 

strong knowledge base of pharmacy practices before entering 

this type of profession. 

Even prior to the PPMI summit, technician education 

was a focus in Illinois. In January 2010, the state mandated 

that all pharmacy technicians registered on or after 

January 1, 2008 must pass the Pharmacy Technician 

Certification Board (PTCB) examination or another 

board-approved pharmacy technician examination. This 

must be completed within two years of registration as a 

technician. As a result, colleges and healthcare facilities 

throughout Illinois are incorporating technician certification 

courses into their curriculum, but not all programs 

are created equally. 

ASHP has attempted to create a standard by offering accreditation 

for pharmacy technician training programs. 

They have set specific guidelines and requirements in order 

to complete the accreditation process. Their website, 

www.ashp.org, provides this information. 

Methods 

The goal of our research was to identify the colleges and 

professional facilities in which Illinois pharmacy technician 

certification courses were offered and to determine 

if the program met defined accreditation standards. An 

online search was completed using the terms: ‘pharmacy 

technician programs in Illinois’, ‘community college listing 

for Illinois’, ‘pharmacy colleges in Illinois’, and ‘pharmacy 

trade schools in Illinois’. The ASHP website was 

utilized to obtain a listing of ASHP-accredited programs. 


Additional websites were searched that contained information 

about nationwide pharmacy technician programs, 

technician certification, and Illinois community colleges. 

These included: www.ptcb.org, www.condensedcurriculum.com, 

www.kushanllc.com, www.acpe-accredit.org, 

and www.iccb.org. Individual college websites from the 

list were searched and the college/facility name, location, 

website, and phone number were recorded. If unobtainable, 

the college was contacted by phone or e-mail for the 

information. 

research phase of this study. Of these programs, only 

eight of the twenty-eight programs had earned accreditation 

from ASHP. 

Instructors 

A majority of the programs required instructors to be 

either pharmacists or qualified pharmacy technicians, 

which complies with ASHP standards. Our results concluded 

that only 4% of the programs did not have any requirements 

as listed in ASHP for their instructors. 

A survey was created using the ASHP Accreditation Standard 

for Pharmacy Technician Training Programs. Our 

survey consisted of 14 questions regarding the structure 

and content of the training program, which aimed to compare 

the standards of non-ASHP accredited programs to 

the ASHP standards. The programs that were not currently 

ASHP-accredited were contacted to respond to the 

survey. Data was collected from August 23, 2010 – November 

1, 2010. 

The ASHP accreditation standards document for technician 

training states “all experiential training must be 

coordinated by a pharmacist, or designee, with sufficient 

knowledge and skills in education to be able to establish 

the basis for a sound educational experience. Further, 

this individual must have demonstrated contribution 

and commitment to pharmacy practice and patient care.” 

Data was collected to conclude whether these programs 

met this standard, accredited or not. 

Other information collected pertinent to our study was 

whether or not the program was hospital/healthcare affiliated, 

if it offered hands-on learning, if classroom time 

was spent screening medication orders or common errors, 

and the program duration. 

Results 

Twenty-eight programs in Illinois were included in the 

Training Components 

Most programs offered hands-on learning, review of 

common medication errors, and screening of medication 

orders consistent with ASHP standards. Laboratory 

training such as compounding, unit dosing, and sterile 

product preparation was also offered in most cases. Some 

programs did not include training on computer applications, 

which are routinely used in nearly every pharmacy 

setting. 

Of the programs surveyed, 80% were not affiliated in any 

way with hospitals/health-system facilities and therefore 

do not offer hospital experiential training. ASHP 

currently requires that the program includes 600 hours 

of training (contact) time over a minimum of 15 weeks. 

Training Components 

10 July 2011 | KeePosted | www.ichpnet.org 

Are All Pharmacy Technician Training Programs The Same?

Only four programs met this requirement. A considerable 

number of non-accredited programs are shorter in 

duration than ASHP-accredited programs. When asked 

whether the program plans for future ASHP accreditation, 

64% replied “no”, 20% replied “yes” and 16% did not 

respond. 

Discussion 

The research derived from this study reveals that technician 

programs in Illinois still have a bit of growing and 

evolving to do in order to meet the standards set by ASHP. 

As mentioned previously, 64% of the programs offered in 

Illinois do not plan on becoming ASHP accredited. This 

statistic is astounding when considering the changing 

technician roles and responsibilities that will require a 

stronger educational foundation for tomorrow’s technicians. 

Individuals interested in becoming a pharmacy technician 

should be aware of the standards when looking into 

educational programs. That being said, employers should 

also be familiar with the ASHP accreditation standards 

and aware of the programs that technicians are completing 

prior to seeking employment at their institutions. If 

key educational standards are met, employers can have 

more confidence that a technician will be more prepared 

and educated to manage the tasks required to do their job 

accurately and efficiently. Training will be easier and less 

time consuming as most of the focus will be on getting to 

know the routine(s) of the organization rather than teaching 

the basics of pharmacy practice. 

A few limitations to this study were recognized. Survey 

responses were subjective and several program directors 

were unfamiliar with their own programs. Two researchers 

conducted the survey, so it is possible that some variance 

existed in survey delivery. Survey participation was 

voluntary, which limited data collection. 

Conclusion 

This study demonstrated few Illinois technician programs 

are ASHP-accredited. The non-accredited certification 

programs need to improve in several training aspects before 

accreditation standards can be met. ■ 

To access the printable poster, visit: 

http://www.ichpnet.org/resources/pdfs/Illinois_Tech_Training_Poster.pdf 


Are All Pharmacy Technician Training Programs The Same?

Elaine Lily Rubin 

Proud Parents, Rochelle and Mark Rubin 

Born June 18, 2011 at 4:17 pm 

7 lbs 4 oz and 19.5 inches long 

Rochelle is the New Practitioners Network Chairman 

ICHPeople 

Bundles of Joy 

Noah Matthew Stice 

Proud Parents, Kristi and Eric Stice 

Born June 20, 2011 at 5:09 pm 

6 lbs 2.9 oz and 19 inches long 

Kristi is the New Practitioners Network Chairman-Elect 

Scores of ICHP members attended the 

ASHP Summer Meeting the week of 

June 11 - 15 in Denver. 

Roosevelt University will open its new 

College of Pharmacy facility in Schaumburg 

and welcome its first class of 

highly diverse students on Tuesday, 

July 5. 

Stan S. Kent was installed as president 

of the American Society of Health- 

System Pharmacists (ASHP) during 

the 63rd session of the Society’s 

House of Delegates in Denver. Stan 

received the ICHP Pharmacist of The 

Year Award in 2008. Pictured below: 

Former ASHP President and ICHP 

member, Kevin Colgan congratulating 

Stan on his Presidency. 

The inaugural group of 68 students 

will have orientation at the new facility 

on July 5-6, and classes will begin 

on Thursday, July 7 as the unique 

three-year, year-round Doctor of 

Pharmacy (PharmD) program that 

has been several years in the making 

officially opens its doors. 

To read the full press release, visit: 

www.roosevelt.edu/News_and_ 

Events/News_Articles/20110107- 

PharmacyOpens.aspx ■ 


Pharmacy Action Fund 

Not just another stress toy! 

by Scott A. Meyers, Treasurer 

I usually use this column to 

solicit support for the ICHP 

Pharmacy Action Fund for 

which I am the Treasurer, but 

this month, I am going to suggest 

that health-system pharmacists 

support a different 

political action committee at 

least once a year. 

On Monday June 13th, I attended the 

ASHP PAC luncheon at the Summer 

Meeting in Denver, Colorado. Each 

year the ASHP PAC holds a fundraising 

event at the Summer and Midyear 

Clinical Meetings, and I participate if 

I can. 

This summer’s event called for at least 

$100 contributions from pharmacists 

and smaller contributions from 

students and technicians. Lunch or 

breakfast is usually provided, and 

sometimes there’s an evening reception, 

but whatever food and beverage 

the participant receives at the event is 

worth nowhere near the $100 contribution. 

However, as with all political 

fundraisers, that’s not the point. 

At this summer’s luncheon, each participant 

found a stress toy in the shape 

of the US Capitol dome. At first, I 

thought, “I don’t really need another 

one of these things; they should have 

saved their money!” But as I sat 

and listened to the presentation from 

ASHP Government Affairs Legislative 

Director Joe Hill report on what has 

been done this year in Washington, I 

slowly began to change my mind. Joe 

described how ASHP and other pharmacy 

leaders have been working with 

Senators and Congressmen on both 

sides of the aisle to craft legislation 

to slow the number of drug shortages 

experienced on a daily basis. The US 

Senate Bill 296 sponsored by Sens. Amy 

Klobuchar (D- MN), Robert Casey 

(D-PA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), 

Charles Schumer (D- NY), John 

Tester (D-MT), Christopher Coons 

(D-DE), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), 

and Benjamin Cardin (D-MD) aims to 

minimize the harm from drug shortages. 

A House version that is anticipated 

to have bipartisan sponsorship 

is anticipated for introduction shortly. 

Anticipation is high for passage of one 

of these measures because of the need 

by both parties for a legislative win in a 

very partisan political climate. 

This soft foam Capitol dome I had in 

my hand suddenly represented hope 

that pharmacy’s voice would be heard 

for a change. And ASHP was the 

pharmacy organization leading the 

way on this fight! As a matter of 

fact, ASHP and the University of Utah 

Drug Information Center have been 

leading the way on this issue for many 

years! In addition, the language in the 

bill remarkably mirrors language one 

can find in ASHP’s position statement 

on drug shortages. Imagine that. 

This hope, created by the small squeeze 

toy and Joe Hill’s encouraging words 

reminded me that this is why I give to 

the ASHP PAC twice a year – and why 

each Illinois health-system pharmacist 

should, too! ASHP’s PAC works 

for each of you at the federal level. 

ASHP’s PAC does what the ICHP 

Pharmacy Fund can’t do at that level. 

Don’t get me wrong. I want every 

health-system pharmacist to contribute 

at least annually to the ICHP 

Pharmacy Action Fund, but let’s face 

it, if you have a job as a pharmacist in 

Illinois, you can afford to give $100 to 

both! Two hundred dollars a year is 

less than half of one percent of your 

annual salary! 

As the 2012 elections get into full 

swing this summer (sad but true), now 

is a great time to send a check to the 

ASHP PAC. Mail it to ASHP PAC, 

7272 Wisconsin Avenue, Bethesda, 

MD 20814. Maybe the ASHP PAC 

will send you a foam dome to sit on 

your bookshelf or desk. And maybe 

it will remind you to write that next 

check to the ICHP Pharmacy Action 

Fund this fall! 

P.S. You can save your ICHP 

Pharmacy Action Fund contribution 

to later this summer or early 

September for Auction with a Twist! 

The prizes are going to be exceptional! 

■ 


PTCB 

PTCB C.R.E.S.T. Summit focuses on continued 

innovation in pharmacy 

by PTCB 

Consensus is clear; time for change is now. 

On February 17–18, 2011, the Pharmacy Technician Certification 

Board (PTCB) hosted the C.R.E.S.T. Summit in 

Palm Beach, FL. PTCB is the national leader in pharmacy 

technician certification, with over 400,000 pharmacy 

technicians nationwide having earned the PTCB Certified 

Pharmacy Technician (CPhT) credential since 1995. 

The invitational summit served as a forum for attendees 

to address current issues and to provide critical feedback 

to PTCB and the profession about future directions and 

resource development. Pharmacy thought leaders, including 

pharmacists, Certified Pharmacy Technicians (CPhTs), 

educators, major employers, state boards of pharmacy, as 

well as state and national pharmacy associations, focused 

on the evolving responsibilities of pharmacy technicians. 

Figure 1 and include: 

• 32% of respondents work in a community – chain environment 

• 11% of respondents work in a community – independent 

environment 

• 30% of respondents work in a health-system environment 

• Other areas represented include: home health care, 

long-term care, mail service facility, managed health 

care, educational/vocational training, and the military 

Pharmacy technicians have been certified and play an integral 

role in supporting pharmacy practitioners in virtually 

all practice settings. Pharmacists and the public require assurance 

that pharmacy technicians are qualified to handle 

the responsibilities delegated to them. 

“With pharmacists becoming the health care professionals 

responsible for providing patient care that ensures optimal 

medication therapy outcomes, the roles that pharmacy 

technicians play in making this vision a reality are essential,” 

explained keynote speaker Miriam Mobley Smith, 

PharmD, Dean of the Chicago State University College of 

Pharmacy and Past President of the PTCB Certification 

Council. “Education, training, and certification for pharmacy 

technicians have become cornerstones in initiatives 

focused on increased patient safety.” 

Profession-wide Survey 

Prior to the summit, PTCB conducted an online survey 

addressing summit topics. Summit participants and more 

than 12,000 pharmacists and pharmacy technicians working 

in a variety of pharmacy settings responded to the survey. 

Survey respondent demographics are represented in 

Key survey findings include: 

• 83% of respondents agree that pharmacy technicians 

are involved in the implementation of the Joint Commission 

of Pharmacy Practitioners (JCPP) Future Vision 

of Pharmacy Practice, which states, “Pharmacists 

will be the health care professionals responsible for 

providing patient care that ensures optimal medication 

therapy outcomes.” 

• 81% of respondents agree that pharmacy technicians 

in their primary work environment accomplish tasks 

to free up additional time for pharmacists to dedicate 

to patient care and safety initiatives. 

• 84% of respondents agree that PTCB should work with 

state and national pharmacy associations and interest- 


ed employers to create regulatory or statutory requirements 

for the establishment of an advanced CPhT designation. 

The survey also illustrated the innovative roles that exist 

for pharmacy technicians within specific practice settings. 

The tables below depict the current roles pharmacy technicians 

have in community (Table 1) and health system 

(Table 2) pharmacy settings, in addition to the roles that 

are envisioned to increase with the implementation of the 

JCPP Vision. 

PTCB 2011 C.R.E.S.T Summit Highlights 

During presentations, an open forum, and structured 

roundtable discussions, summit participants were given 

the opportunity to react to survey results and discuss key 

issues related to pharmacy technicians. Summit participants 

provided significant feedback on the areas of consumer 

awareness and state policy, education and testing 

requirements, and stakeholder resource diversification. 

Consumer awareness and state policy 

Survey results identified pharmacists and pharmacy technicians’ 

perceptions of how roles for pharmacy technicians 

may expand with the implementation of JCPP 2015 Future 

Vision. Survey results indicate a strong need for stakeholders 

within the pharmacy profession to work together to 

improve regulatory and statutory requirements pertaining 

to pharmacy technicians. Participants agreed that patient 

safety should be the cornerstone of advocacy efforts to create 

a single standard encompassing the education, training, 

certification, and regulatory oversight of pharmacy technicians. 

Education and testing requirements 

PTCB now requires a high school diploma or its equivalent; 

no felony, drug, or pharmacy related convictions; and 

no denial, suspension, revocation, or restriction of registration 

or licensure by any state board of pharmacy in order to 

be eligible to take the Pharmacy Technician Certification 

Exam (PTCE). PTCB also requires 20 hours of continuing 

pharmacy education (CPE) every 2 years for recertification, 

with specific parameters currently in place including 

1 hour of law CPE. 

Participants and survey findings alike support modifications 

to the current PTCB certification and recertification 

requirements. Specific recommendations were made and 

are under PTCB’s consideration. 

Stakeholder resource diversification 

The need for the profession to bridge the gap between 

public perception and the reality of pharmacy technician 

regulatory oversight earned strong support from summit 

participants. Participants recognized the need to provide 

increased support for pharmacy technician career development. 

This support is expected to enhance pharmacy technicians’ 

commitment within the profession, while improving 

job satisfaction and employment retention rates. 

Next steps 

“Pharmacy technicians play an integral role in supporting 


PTCB C.R.E.S.T. Summit focuses on continued innovation in pharmacy

pharmacy practitioners in virtually all practice settings,” 

said Melissa Murer Corrigan, RPh, Executive Director and 

CEO of PTCB. “Feedback from the summit, survey, and 

social media show that significant steps are being taken 

to support innovation in the roles and responsibilities of 

pharmacy technicians through education, training, and 

PTCB certification.” 

PTCB issued a press release in March 2011 and will publish 

official summit proceedings this year. The PTCB Board of 

Governors, Certification Council, and fellow thought leaders 

in the profession will use these proceedings to develop 

future pharmacy technician resources and guidelines. ■ 

PTCB develops, maintains, promotes, and administers a nationally 

accredited certification and recertification program 

for pharmacy technicians to enable the most effective support 

of pharmacists to advance patient safety. PTCB was established 

in January 1995 and is governed by five organizations: 

the American Pharmacists Association; the American 

Society of Health-System Pharmacists; the Illinois Council 

of Health-System Pharmacists; the Michigan Pharmacists 

Association; and the National Association of Boards of 

Pharmacy. 

Contact us for more information: 

Phone: (866) 520-0660 

Fax: (857) 520-1663 


PTCB C.R.E.S.T. Summit focuses on continued innovation in pharmacy

GAS From Springfield 

“It ain’t over till it ’s over!” 

– Yogi Berra, New York Yankee Hall of Fame Catcher 

by Jim Owen and Scott Meyers 

SB2046 – Amends the Medical 

Assistance Article of Illinois Public 

Aid Code – Kirk Dillard. Provides 

that the Department of Healthcare 

and Family Services may by rule provide 

for reimbursement of the dispensing 

of a 90-day supply of a generic 

or brand name (rather than generic), 

non-narcotic maintenance medication 

in circumstances where it is cost effective. 

Passed both chambers – awaits 

Governor’s signature. 

SB2255 – Amends the Nurse Practice 

Act – William Haine. Provides that a 

collaborating physician or podiatrist 

may, but is not required to, delegate 

prescriptive authority to an advanced 

practice nurse as part of a written collaborative 

agreement for oral, topical 

and transdermal Schedule II’s instead 

of just oral dosage forms. Effective 

immediately. Passed both chambers 

– awaits Governor’s signature. 

Well it’s finally over for a little 

while. Maybe! Then again, 

maybe it ain’t! There’s a variety 

of Yogi-isms that could apply to 

this year’s legislative session in 

Illinois. 

“When you come to a fork in the 

road, take it!”…if only the General 

Assembly had when it came to significant 

worker’s compensation reform. 

“Nobody did nothin’ to nobody!”… 

as it was much of nothing happened 

again this year to reach substantial 

budget reduction. “You can observe a 

lot by watching”…like the Republicans 

watching the Democrats steamroll 

a new legislative district map without 

a single Republican vote! We 

could go on, but you get the picture. 

When Yogi Berra starts making sense 

when you are talking about the Illinois 

General Assembly, it’s time to just 

walk away. As long as the General 

Assembly is adjourned, that’s probably 

good advice. Walk away and don’t 

dwell on it. 

Here’s a summary of the bills that 

made it through the legislative process 

and await the Governor’s signature, 

veto or amendatory veto, whichever 

he deems appropriate. A last day of 

session major amendment to SB1802 

may cause some significant grief for 

specialty pharmacies in Illinois, and 

HB2917 is a major overhaul of the 

Controlled Substance Act. You may 

want to look at both very closely online 

for more details! 

SB1802 – Amends the Department 

of Human Services Act. – Heather 

Steans – The Department shall seek 

any necessary waiver from the federal 

government in order to establish 

a program limiting the pharmacies 

eligible to dispense specialty drugs and 

shall issue a Request for Proposals in 

order to maximize savings on these 

drugs. The Department shall by rule 

establish the drugs required to be 

dispensed in this program. Effective 



HB0286 – Creates the Administration 

of Psychotropic Medications to 

Children Act – Mary Flowers. 

Requires the Department of Children 

and Family Services to promulgate 

final rules, on or before October 1, 

2011, amending its current rules establishing 

and maintaining standards and 

procedures to govern the administration 

of psychotropic medications. Sets 

forth the substance of the amended 

rules. Requires the Department to 

establish and maintain rules designed 

to ensure compliance with the rules 

promulgated pursuant to the Act. 

Requires the Department to submit an 

annual report to the General Assembly 

concerning the administration of psychotropic 

medication to persons for 

whom it is legally responsible. Effective 



HB1338 – Creates the Immunization 

Data Registry Act – Robyn Gabel. 

Provides that the Department of 

Public Health may develop and maintain 

an immunization data registry 

to collect, store, analyze, release, and 

report immunization data. Sets forth 

purposes for which the registry may be 


used. Sets forth provisions concerning 

the provision of immunization data 

to the registry, confidentiality, and 

the release of information. Establishes 

immunity for certain entities from 

civil and criminal liability for certain 

actions. Provides that a person who 

knowingly, intentionally, or recklessly 

discloses confidential information 

contained in the immunization data 

registry in violation of the Act commits 

a Class A misdemeanor. Makes 

other changes. Effective on July 1, 

2011. Passed both chambers – awaits 


HB1877 – Amends the Illinois 

Controlled Substance Act – Jason 

Brickman. Provides that the 

exemption from registration with 

the Department of Financial and 

Professional Regulation for a veterinary 

clinic or hospital operated by a Statesupported 

or publicly funded university 

or college shall not operate to bar 

the University of Illinois from requesting, 

nor the Department of Financial 

and Professional Regulation from issuing, 

a registration to the University of 

Illinois Veterinary Teaching Hospital 

under the Act. Provides that neither 

a request for such registration nor the 

issuance of such registration to the 

University of Illinois shall operate to 

otherwise waive or modify the exemption. 

Effective immediately. Passed 

both chambers – awaits Governor’s 

signature. 

HB2056 – Amends the Illinois Finance 

Code – JoAnn Osmond – Amends 

the State Finance Act to create the 

Household Pharmaceutical Disposal 

Fund as a special fund in the State 

treasury. Amends the Environmental 

Protection Act. Excludes from the definition 

of “pollution control facility” 

the portion of a site or facility used to 

incinerate only pharmaceuticals from 

residential sources that are in the possession 

or control of a law enforcement 

agency. Authorizes a law enforcement 

agency to collect pharmaceuticals 

from residential sources and to incinerate 

the collected pharmaceuticals in 

a manner that is consistent with rules 

adopted by the Agency. Authorizes the 

Department of State Police to use moneys 

in the Household Pharmaceutical 

Disposal Fund to make grants to local 

law enforcement agencies for the 

purpose of facilitating the collection 

and incineration of pharmaceuticals 

from residential sources. Defines “law 

enforcement agency”. Amends the 

Unified Code of Corrections. Requires 

a $20 assessment to be levied against 

persons who commit specified drug 

offenses. Requires the proceeds of 

those assessments to be collected by 

the Circuit Clerk and remitted to the 

State Treasurer for deposit into the 

Household Pharmaceutical Disposal 

Fund. Passed both chambers – awaits 


HB2193 – Amends the Criminal 

Code of 1961 – Susana Mendoza. 

Provides that it is a Class 4 felony for 

any person knowingly to have in his or 

her possession or to carry about any 

of the substances which are regulated 

by Title 16 CFR Section 1500.129 of 

the Federal Caustic Poison Act and are 

required to contain the words “causes 

severe burns” as the affirmative statement 

of principal hazard on its label. 

Establishes exemptions. Provides that 

a person seeking to purchase a substance 

which is regulated by Title 16 

CFR Section 1500.129 of the Federal 

Caustic Poison Act and is required 

to contain the words “causes severe 

burns” as the affirmative statement 

of principal hazard on its label, must 

prior to taking possession: (1) provide 

a valid driver’s license or other government-issued 

identification showing 

the person’s name, date of birth, and 

photograph; and (2) sign a log documenting 

the name and address of the 

person, date and time of the transaction, 

and the brand, product name 

and net weight of the item. Provides 

that a violation is a business offense 

for which a fine not exceeding $1,500 

may be imposed. Provides that these 

requirements do not apply to batteries. 

Preempts home rule. Passed 

both chambers – awaits Governor’s 

signature. 

HB2917 – Amends the Controlled 

Substance Act – Barbara Flynn 

Currie. Changes defined terms. Makes 

numerous changes relating to the 

scheduling, prescribing, and dispensing 

of controlled substances. Changes 

the list of anabolic steroids. Adds 

various substances to the Schedules. 

Permits an authorized prescriber 

to issue electronic prescriptions for 

Schedule II through V controlled substances 

if done in accordance with federal 

rules. Makes changes relating to 

the Prescription Monitoring Program; 

combines the Schedule II and Schedule 

III though V monitoring programs 

into a single program. Defines and prohibits 

medication shopping and pharmacy 

shopping. Makes other substantive 

and technical changes. Effective 

January 1, 2012. House Amendment 

1: Changes references from “civil fine” 

to “fine”. Eliminates reference to the 

Prescription Monitoring Program 

in association with its Advisory 

Committee and the Department of 

Financial and Professional Regulation 

in relation to possible erroneous association 

of prescriptions to any licensed 

prescriber or end user. Provides that 

nothing in the Act shall be construed 

to limit the authority of a hospital 

pursuant to the Nurse Practice Act to 

grant hospital clinical privileges to an 

individual advanced practice nurse to 

select, order or administer medications, 

including controlled substances 

to provide services within a hospital. 

Nothing in this Act shall be construed 

to limit the authority of an ambulatory 

surgical treatment center pursu- 

18 July 2011 | KeePosted | www.ichpnet.org It ain’t over till it ’s over!

ant to the Nurse Practice Act to grant 

ambulatory surgical treatment center 

clinical privileges to an individual 

advanced practice nurse to select, order 

or administer medications, including 

controlled substances to provide services 

within an ambulatory surgical 

treatment center. House Amendment 

2: Creates the position of Chief of 

Investigators of the Department of 

Financial and Professional Regulation 

and provide that person with the powers 

possessed by policemen in municipalities 

and by sheriffs, except that he 

or she may exercise those powers anywhere 

in the State. Passed both chambers 


HB3090 – Amends the Pharmacy 

Practice Act – Louis Arroyo – House 

Amendment 2 was adopted: Replaces 

everything after the enacting clause. 

Amends the Illinois Food, Drug and 

Cosmetic Act. Provides that notwithstanding 

any provision of law, any city, 

village, or municipality may authorize 

the use of its city hall or police department 

to display a container suitable for 

use as a receptacle for used, expired, or 

unwanted pharmaceuticals. Provides 

that the used, expired, or unwanted 

pharmaceuticals may include prescription 

drugs. Provides that the receptacle 

shall only permit the deposit of items, 

and the contents shall be locked and 

secured. Provides that the container 

shall be accessible to the public and 

shall have posted clearly legible signage 

indicating that expired or unwanted 

prescription drugs may be disposed of 

in the receptacle. Passed both chambers 

– awaits Governor’s signature. ■ 

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It ain’t over till it ’s over!

Professional Affairs 

Medication Safety Pearl : Tools to Prospectively 

Identify Medication Safety Initiatives 

by Sandra M Salverson, PharmD, BCPS 

Introduction 

A strategic plan for medication safety 

is crucial to the safety of patients 

and the success of a medical center. 

ASHP has challenged all of us to 

increase the extent to which pharmacy 

departments in health systems 

have a significant role in improving 

the safety of medication use in the 

2015 Initiative. The desire is to have 

90% of health systems supporting an 

organizational program, with appropriate 

pharmacy involvement, that 

achieves significant annual, documented 

improvement in the safety 

of all steps in medication use. 1 

The Division of Professional Affairs 

is committed to assist the ICHP 

membership in achieving this goal 

through sharing significant practices 

that can help improve medication 

use at their institutions. The topic 

of safe and appropriate medication 

use has the potential to affect 

us all personally, whether we are 

healthcare professionals, patients 

or the family members of patients. 

We encourage all practitioners and 

institutions around the state to submit 

their safety or quality initiatives 

as a medication safety pearl to 

the Division. Topics could include, 

but are not limited to: high alert 

medications, IV room/sterile preparation 

safety, meaningful metrics, 

computerized physician order entry 

(CPOE), bedside bar-coding, smart 

pumps, automated dispensing cabinets, 

checklists, human factors, or 

changes in dispensing or pharmacist 

monitoring practices due to an 

adverse event. Our hope is to identify 

specific, practical practices that 

are addressing important safety and 

medication use issues at the frontline 

of care across the state and 

present these to the ICHP members 

through KeePosted articles and presentations 

at the Annual and Spring 

meetings. 

Tools to Prospectively Identify 

Medication Safety Initiatives 

A key piece of safety culture is 

understanding human and system 

failure. The science of measuring 

patient safety is immature and 

institutions need to find a balance 

between measures that are scientifically 

sound, affordable, usable and 

easily applied. 2 Leaders in patient 

safety suggest grouping measures 

in three primary buckets: harm, 

interventions to reduce harm and 

organizational learning. While 

harm and interventions to reduce 

harm are institution specific measures, 

organizational learning is not 

limited to learning from within. 

Organizations can learn retrospectively 

from their own significant 

experiences (actual errors or near 

misses) and prospectively from near 

misses, critical “close calls”, and 

adverse events occurring outside of 

an organization. The goal in growing 

safety culture is to move perceptions 

away from “it can’t happen 

here” to “how can we prevent this 

from happening here”. The purpose 

of this pearl is to share external 

resources to aid in prospective 

organizational learning as a part of 

improving medication safety culture. 

Institute of Safe Medication 

Practices (ISMP) Quarterly 

Action Agenda 3 

The ISMP publishes a quarterly 

action agenda in its newsletter 

that summarizes adverse events 

or critical near misses resulting 

from medication errors. It is an 

excellent source to identify potential 

organization risk and provides 

recommendations on how institutions 

can prevent this from happening 

in their own organization. 

ISMP recommendations focus on 

both system-design and human factors. 

The agendas summarize ten 

to fifteen problems each quarter. 

The quarterly action agenda is in a 

ready to use format that facilitates 

documentation and communication 

within an institution/system. 

The tool may be downloaded free 

from their web site (http://www. 

ismp.org/Newsletters/acutecare/ 

actionagendas.asp). The quarterly 

action agenda can easily stimulate 

a variety of performance improvement 

projects. For those institutions 

in the early stages of developing 

their medication safety culture, 

consider picking one problem each 

quarter and performing a proactive 

assessment within your institution. 


Institutions with a more established 

medication safety culture may consider 

evaluating the entire action 

agenda, tracking their organization’s 

response to each problem (comply, 

gap, not applicable), and communicating 

these initiatives within their 

medication safety dashboard. 

Food and Drug Administration’s 

MedWatch Alerts 4 

As a part of their on-going surveillance 

program, the FDA publishes 

MedWatch Alerts in response to 

signals seen within either Phase IV 

drug trials or the MedWatch reporting 

system. Alerts are released based 

on signal detection rather than a 

pre-established frequency. FDA 

alerts are more likely to summarize 

adverse events that are unexpected, 

resulting in significant short-term 

or long-term harm, and are often 

not preventable. FDA MedWatch 

alerts are useful in developing quality/safety 

agendas for Pharmacy and 

Therapeutics Committee discussions. 

They can be used to stimulate 

risk versus benefit discussions for 

formulary management and direction 

of therapeutic management 

within an organization or community. 

They can be accessed on the 

web, and individuals may also subscribe 

to email notifications as new 

alerts are published. 

Public News Sources 

Both local and national news sources 

publish significant adverse events that 

have often resulted in lawsuits. Exact 

details of the failures associated with 

the event are not always available. 

However, institutions can examine 

their own medication use process for 

the medication involved to identify 

potential risk points within their 

organization that could result in a 

similar outcome. 

Learning from others is one way an 

organization can move from a minimally 

mature safety culture to a developing 

or robust one. 5 It does not rely 

on the reporting within your own 

institution, just a leader who is willing 

to say, “This could happen to us, 

and this is how we could avoid this 

here”. ■ 

References 

1. American Society of Health- 

System Pharmacists. ASHP: 2015 

Initiative. www.ashp.org/2015 

(accessed 2011 June). 

2. Pronovost PJ, Holzmueller CG, 

Needham DM et al. How will we 

know patients are safer? An organization-wide 

approach to measuring 

and improving safety. Crit 

Care Med. 2006;34(7):1988-95. 

3. Institute of Safe Medication 

Practices. Quarterly Action 

Agenda. www.ismp.org/ 

Newsletters/acutecare/actionagendas.asp 

(accessed 2011 

June). 

4. U. S. Food and Drug 

Administration. MedWatch 

Safety Alerts for Human Medical 

Products. www.fda.gov/Safety/ 

MedWatch/SafetyInformation/ 

SafetyAlertsforHumanMedical- 

Products/default.htm (accessed 

2011 June). 

5. Chassin MR, Loeb JM. The ongoing 

quality improvement journey: 

next stop, high reliability. Health 

Affairs. 2011;30(4):559-568. 

If you have implemented a change in process to improve safety 

at your institution, please consider submitting it as a safety pearl. Send your submission to Jaime 

Borkowski, Director of Professional Affairs, at members@ichpnet.org 

Illinois Council of 

Health-System Pharmacists 

2 0 1 1 A N N U A L M E E T I N G 

registration 

is now 

open! 

Thursday, September 15 - Saturday, September 17 

Drury Lane Theatre and Conference Center| Oakbrook Terrace, IL 


Medication Safety Pearl

Illinois Poison Center (IPC) 

Antidote Preparedness – Is Your Pharmacy Ready? 

by Nichole Cool, PharmD 1, , Kelly Mattes, PharmD Candidate 2 , Tony Burda, RPh, DABAT 3 , Michael Wahl, MD, FACEP 3 

1 - Midwestern University-Chicago College of Pharmacy and Northwestern Memorial Hospital; 2 - University of Illinois College 

of Pharmacy; 3 - Illinois Poison Control Center 

Introduction 

The Illinois Poison Control Center (IPC) is occasionally 

contacted by clinical pharmacists asking specific antidote 

stocking questions such as: 

• What antidotes should we stock? 

• How much of each antidote should be available? 

• If there is more than one option available, which product 

is better? 

• If the hospital does not stock the antidote, how can we 

get it quickly in an emergency situation? 

In an effort to address these questions, the staff of IPC 

has developed an antidote stocking chart specifically for 

hospitals with emergency departments, which is posted on 

www.illinoispoisoncenter.org. The list describes 34 antidotes, 

13 adjunctive agents, and 3 agents for radiological 

exposure along with suggested minimum inventory and 

rational/indications for stocking each item. After studying 

the antidote chart, please contact the IPC at 1-800-222- 

1222 if there are further questions. 

Background 

Antidotes are critical for patients with 

poisoning or overdose and can be 

lifesaving when available and administered 

within a timely manner. 

In 2009, the United States Poison 

Centers reported using 70,477 antidotes 

per the national poison data system. 

1 Studies have shown that small 

and/or rural hospitals are less likely to 

stock sufficient quantities of antidotes 

due to the following reasons: 

• Limited hospital resources 

• Infrequent use of specific antidotes 

• Lack of staff education or awareness 

• Concern for high cost of inventory/exceeding 

hospital drug budget 

• Lack of efficient stocking guidelines 


Currently, no regulatory committees mandate the 

stocking of antidotes or specific quantities of these 

agents. 

Antidote Stocking Guidelines: Recommendations 

by the Emergency Medicine Expert Consensus 

Guidelines published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine 

in September 2009, give recommendations on specific 

antidotes to be stocked and the amount of each antidote 

that should be available. 2 The consensus panel considered 

a total of 24 antidotes for hospital stocking. Out of the 

24 antidotes reviewed, they recommended that 12 of the 

antidotes be immediately available, 9 of the antidotes be 

available within 1 hour, and the other 3 could be stocked 

but were not necessarily needed emergently. The group 

also made recommendations on the amount of antidote 

to be stocked based on an average patient weight of 100 

kg and the average amount of antidote for the duration of 

treatment (8 hrs or 24 hrs). 2 

Review Questions – Antidote Stocking 

1. What is the suggested stock quantity of pyridoxine HCl by the IPC? 

a) 100 mg 

b) 1gm 

c) 5gm 

d) 10gm 

e) 20gm 

2. What is the suggested stock quantity of glucagon by the IPC? 

a) 1-2mg 

b) 5-10mg 

c) 10-20mg 

d) 25-50mg 

e) 50-90mg 

3. True or False? The IPC recommends stocking 1-2 vials (1.5gm vials) 

of fomepizole (Antizole®). One 1.5gm vial provides an initial dose of 

15mg/kg/12hrs to an adult weighing up to 100 kg. Hospitals with critical 

care and hemodialysis capabilities should consider stocking 1 kit of 

4 vials or more. 

continued on next page

The consensus group suggested that hospitals 

complete a customized application of the guideline 

in order to analyze the institution’s specific 

need for the antidote and the amount needed for 

the size of the hospital. 2 Hospitals are required to 

complete this Hazard Vulnerability Assessment 

in order to be an accredited institution by The 

Joint Commission. 

Conclusion 

Many poisonings and overdoses are managed 

with conservative measures such as observation, 

GI decontamination and supportive care. 

Specific antidotes, however, may be necessary 

in some circumstances and immediate availability 

of these products is vital for a positive 

patient outcome. The IPC antidote stocking 

list is an effort to assist health system pharmacists 

in making these important inventory decisions. 

Additionally, the IPC is available 24/7, 

365 days a year at 1-800-222-1222 for assistance 

in managing any toxicologic emergency. ■ 

References 

1. Bronstein AC, Spyker DA, Cantilena LR 

et al. 2009 Annual Report of the American 

Association of Poison Control Centers’ 

National Poison Data System (NPDS). Clin 

Toxicol. 2010;48:979-1178. 

2. Dart RC, Borron SW, Caravati EM et al. 

Expert Consensus Guidelines for Stocking 

of Antidotes in Hospitals That Provide 

Emergency Care. Ann Emerg Med. 

2009;54(3):386-394. 

Review Questions – Antidote Stocking 

4. What is the suggested stock quantity of Antivenin, Crotalidae 

Polyvalent Immune Fab-Ovine (CroFab®)? 

a) 1-2 vials 

b) 4-6 vials 

c) 6-12 vials 

d) 12-18 vials 

e) 18-24 vials 

5. What is the suggested stock quantity of hydroxycobalamin 

(Cyanokit®)? (Note: Each kit contains 2 x 2.5gm vials.) 

a) 1-2 kits 

b) 2-4 kits 

c) 4-6 kits 

d) 6-8 kits 

e) 8-10 kits 

Answers 

1. d) 10gm. This quantity (100 vials of 100mg/ml) provides two 

5gm doses of pyridoxine for a severely poisoned isoniazid 

patient. 

2. e) 50-90mg. This quantity (50-90 1mg vials) provides a 

10mg loading dose followed by 4-8hrs of 10mg/hr maintenance 

dose for a severe beta blocker overdose. 

3. True. 

4. d) 12-18 vials. Average dose in pre-marketing trials was 12 

vials, but more may be needed. 12 vials will cover 8 hours of 

treatment. 18 vials will cover 24 hours of treatment. 

5. b) 2-4 kits. Seriously poisoned cyanide patients may require 

5 to 10gms (1-2 kits). Stock 2 kits in the ED. Consider stocking 

2 kits in the pharmacy. 

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Antidote Preparedness – Is Your Pharmacy Ready?

Board of Pharmacy News 

by Scott A. Meyers, Executive Vice President, RPh, MS, FASHP 

The May Illinois Board of Pharmacy 

Meeting was held on Tuesday, 

May 10th in the James R. 

Thompson Center in Chicago. 

The following are the highlights 

of that meeting. 

New Faces in the Division of 

Professional Regulation – Jay Stewart 

was introduced to the Board of 

Pharmacy and guests at the opening 

of the meeting. Mr. Stewart was confirmed 

by the Illinois Senate in early 

May as the replacement of Director 

Dan Bluthardt, who left in the fall of 

2010. Acting Director Don Seasock 

is now the Chief Administrative Law 

Judge for the Department. Nancy 

Hall was also introduced as a new 

pharmacy investigator for the central 

region of Illinois. She will work out 

of the Springfield office and will assist 

Investigator Maureen Antwaar with 

investigations south of I-80. It was also 

announced at this meeting that longtime 

investigator Rob Skrocki will be 

retiring as of May 20, 2011. The Board 

voted unanimously to send a letter of 

appreciation to Mr. Skrocki for his 

years of dedicated service. 

NABP MPJE Item Writing Workshop 

– Board member Ned Milenkovich participated 

in an item-writing workshop 

in April at NABP headquarters and 

generated 25 new items for the Illinois 

portion of the multi-state pharmacy 

jurisprudence exam. These items will 

begin appearing on the MPJE shortly 

for validity testing before they can be 

used in the scored portion of the exam. 

NABP Annual Meeting – The NABP 

2011 Annual Meeting will be held on 

May 21-24th in San Antonio, TX. The 

Board Members planning to attend 

are Board Chair, Phil Burgess; Board 

Vice Chair, Sudhir Manek; Miriam 

Mobley-Smith, Ron Weinert; and Ned 

Milenkovich. The Board Chair normally 

serves as the Illinois delegate to 

the NABP House of Delegates. Each 

Board Member pays for his or her own 

way to this event. 

Medication Safety Presentation – Mary 

Baker, pharmacist at Hospira presented 

to the Board on the USP Chapter 797 

requirements at the request of Board 

Member Miriam Mobley-Smith. Ms. 

Baker served as a member of the USP 

committee that updated the Chapter 

released in 2008 and provided a very 

comprehensive review of Chapter 797. 

She urged the Board to support the 

requirement of it as the sterile product 

preparation regulations for Illinois. 

Twenty-two states have implemented 

the Chapter as their own regulations for 

this important area of pharmacy practice. 

Illinois’ current regulations are not 

as comprehensive as USP Chapter 797, 

but because the USP is not a government 

agency of the federal government 

or Illinois, the Board cannot enforce on 

these standards unless they are specified 

in the Pharmacy Practice Act. 

MatchRx.Com – The Board discussed 

this Michigan-based company that 

works to pair up pharmacies that have 

overstock they wish to sell with prospective 

buyers. There is a problem 

with the process in Illinois because 

the pharmacy selling the product 

must have a valid wholesale distributor 

license in order to sell product to 

another pharmacy. While the concept 

may be intriguing for pharmacies that 

have over-purchased products, there 

are serious concerns with issues that 

include pedigree, storage, handling and 

counterfeit medications. MatchRx.com 

has not broken any laws, but pharmacies 

that use the service may be involved 

in illegal activities if appropriate licenses 

and ethical practices are not in place. 

Legislative Update – Mike Patton, 

IPhA Executive Director presented an 

update to the Board members. A complete 

update of pharmacy related legislation 

still active in the Illinois General 

Assembly may be found in the “GAS 

from Springfield” column in this issue. 

Prosecutions – Scott Golden, pharmacy 

prosecutor for the Department 

reported that there are approximately 

106 cases in some stage of prosecution 

with the Department. Here is breakdown 

of categories of cases currently 

being prosecuted with most frequent 

categories listed first: 

15 Pharmacy Technician Cases 

• diversion related 

• application issues 

• miscellaneous 

53 Pharmacist Cases 

• dispensing error-related 

• unprofessional practice 

• sister state prosecutions 

• diversion 

38 Entity-related (pharmacies, distributors) 

cases 

• Failure to exercise good faith 

dispensing 

• Expired controlled substance 

license 

• Improper pharmacy closing 

• Unsanitary conditions 

Next Meeting – The next meeting of 

the Illinois Board of Pharmacy will take 

place on Tuesday, July 12th at 9:30AM 

at the James R. Thompson Center in 

downtown Chicago. The meeting is 

open to the public and interested pharmacists, 

pharmacy technicians and 

pharmacy students should consider 

attending. ■ 


College Connection - SIUE 

An Alternative Rotation Delivers 

An Alternative Experience 

by Brice Foose, P3, SSHP President 

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Pharmacy 

I recently completed a three week 

alternative IPPE rotation at Illinois 

CancerCare in Peoria, Illinois. 

As a childhood cancer survivor, this 

rotation meant a lot to me. Through 

my past childhood experience, I 

found motivation to learn each and 

every day at the site. 

Illinois CancerCare is a private practice 

owned by twelve physicians that 

specialize in hematology and oncology. 

Five other doctors include a nonpartner 

oncologist, one hospitalist, 

and three gynecological oncologists 

to make a total of seventeen physicians 

within Illinois CancerCare. 

There are eleven nurse practitioners 

and two pharmacists that also practice 

at the site. My preceptor, Dr. 

Michele Rice, Pharm.D., BCOP, is 

the clinical pharmacist at the Illinois 

CancerCare. The unique pharmacy 

setting includes a retail pharmacy 

very close to the IV prep area. 

The majority of my time was spent 

in the IV prep area where I checked 

doses and the patient’s lab values 

to ensure proper medication safety. 

Once the doses and labs were 

checked, I printed the labels and 

delivered them to the technicians 

in the clean room for sterile product 

preparation. Once the dose was 

prepared, I was responsible for the 

proper delivery to the administration 

area, either via tube system or manual 

delivery depending on the drug. 

Illinois CancerCare has fifteen offsite 

locations dispersed throughout 

central Illinois. I was able to visit 

an off-site clinic in Ottawa, Illinois. 

Ottawa is one of the busiest offsite 

clinics of the fifteen. The day 

I happened to work in the Ottawa 

clinic was no exception. The nurses 

brought the orders to the pharmacy 

area and I proceeded to check them. 

After checking the orders, I spikeed 

the bags and delivered them to the 

technician in the clean room for sterile 

product preparation. After the 

IVs were made I delivered them to 

the nurses for administration to the 

patients. The treatment room was 

located about fifteen feet away from 

the pharmacy area. This allowed 

for easy communication between 

the pharmacy staff and the nurses. 

Throughout the day the nurses and 

the pharmacy staff communicated 

back and forth to ensure exceptional 

patient care. 

As a second year pharmacy student at 

SIUE School of Pharmacy, I had not 

been through the oncology/hematology 

therapeutics course, which initially 

put me at a disadvantage for 

this rotation. However, to compensate 

for this disadvantage, I jumped at 

opportunities that came up in which 

I had previously obtained a wealth 

of knowledge through my education. 

One particular situation that 

was presented to me had to do with 

a patient that had undergone a Rouxen-Y 

procedure. The physician wanted 

to know if the oral medication, 

temozolomide (Temodar), would still 

be effective in treating the patient’s 

glioblastoma. I remembered back 

to a recent biopharmaceutics class 

in which we had talked extensively 

about the Roux-en-Y procedure and 

how it can affect the bioavailabiltiy of 

a drug. After reading a case report, 

as well as analyzing the structure and 

pharmacokinetic profile of temozolmide, 

I was confident in making a 

recommendation to the retail pharmacist 

who passed the information 

on to the physician. Typically in class 

we would talk about blood pressure 

or cholesterol medications used with 

the Roux-en-Y procedure. Making a 

recommendation involving a medication 

used to treat a brain tumor gave 

me a great sense of accomplishment. 

Towards the end of my three weeks, 

I was fortunate enough to spend an 

unforgettable day with a nurse practitioner. 

I was able to sit in on several 

follow up visits. One particular 

patient had breast cancer that had 


metastasized to the brain and did not have a favorable 

outcome. Given the diagnosis, the goal for the patient 

was comfort rather than curing the cancer. Family members 

of the patient had made it very clear in the exam 

room that they wanted to keep fighting the cancer and 

did not want to even consider hospice. This conflict was 

handled very professionally by the nurse practitioner. 

The nurse practitioner had two bone marrow biopsies 

scheduled for the afternoon. After my past experience of 

nearly passing out during a blood glucose lab in school, 

I realized that witnessing a bone marrow biopsy was not 

going to be easy. The first patient was extremely laid back 

and nearly fell asleep during the procedure. Although I 

did have to sit down at one point during the first biopsy, I 

was able to watch the whole process. The second patient 

was very nervous and at one point, it was just the patient 

and me in the exam room before the procedure. Trying 

to comfort the patient before the procedure was a task I 

was not used to dealing with. Luckily, I was able to talk to 

the patient about the first procedure I had witnessed and 

how well the patient tolerated it. After talking about the 

first procedure, the patient seemed much more relieved 

and this gave me a great feeling as a health care professional. 

Illinois CancerCare offers a unique rotation that is a 

very educational and extremely interesting experience. I 

would recommend this rotation to any student on rotations, 

especially any student wanting to pursue a career 

in oncology pharmacy. Even if a student has no interest 

in oncology, this rotation offers a great refresher in the 

oncology topics that will be on the NAPLEX exam. I feel 

very privileged that I was able to complete a rotation at 

Illinois CancerCare and will forever remember some of 

my experiences I had there. ■ 

Pharmacists 

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excellence of professional performance 

across practice settings. They are among 

the best qualified to participate in 

operational functions of dispensing and 

inventory management. Our pharmacy 

simply couldn’t function without our 

team of PTCB CPhTs.” 

—Jeanie Barkett, RPh, Long Term Care 

Pharmacy Lead Pharmacist, Providence 

Specialty Pharmacy Services, Portland, OR 

Certification Excellence 

Since 1995, the Pharmacy Technician 

Certification Board (PTCB) has certified 

over 400,000 technicians nationwide 

and is the only pharmacy technician 

certification program endorsed by the 

American Pharmacist Association, 

the American Society of Health- 

System Pharmacists, and the National 

Association of Boards of Pharmacy. 

Do it for your pharmacy. 

Do it for your patients. 

Do it for you. 

Encourage your 

technicians to become 

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Candidates may apply to 

take the Pharmacy 

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Exam online at 

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CONNECT ONLINE: 


An Alternative Rotation Delivers An Alternative Experience

College Connection: MWU 

Meeting the New Faces of the MWU ICHP Executive Board 

by Executive Board 

Midwestern University Chicago College of Pharmacy 

Xin Yang – President 

I am the new student president of 

ICHP at MWU. I enjoyed all of the 

professional and networking opportunities 

that ICHP had to offer this 

past year, and I loved the camaraderie 

I shared with the e-board members. 

I look forward to working with the 

new e-board to share the same friendships. 

I am also very excited about the 

upcoming academic year because of 

the foundation we had laid for two 

new patient care projects. I am very 

eager to carry out our goals to see how 

these projects will impact both our 

members and the community. 

Gary Chow – Vice President 

I am now serving as the new Vice 

President of ICHP at Midwestern 

University. I am very thrilled to serve 

another year as an E-board member 

for ICHP. This year I hope to expand 

and provide new opportunities for the 

members of ICHP. I look forward to 

work with the new E-Board and build 

upon the success of ICHP in previous 

years. I hope that our services will help 

give students a better understanding of 

the various fields of pharmacy. 

Eduardo Magallanes - Secretary 

I will be the secretary for Midwestern 

University’s ICHP chapter. I am elated 

to continue the great work of past 

members and I look forward in continuing 

the excellence and growth of 

our chapter. I hope my contributions 

on the executive board will have a 

great impact on the positive future of 

our chapter. 

Ryan Lewan - Professional Chair 

In my role as the ICHP PS-1 class liaison 

during the last year, I was able to 

see that ICHP is an organization dedicated 

to educating future pharmacists 

about possible career paths. ICHP 

provides students with opportunities 

to directly experience these paths and 

network with established professionals. 

As the new professional chair, I 

am excited to continue this trend as 

well as to explore new opportunities to 

bring to students here at Midwestern. 

Nancy Lee - Treasurer 

I am extremely excited to be part of 

the new ICHP board at Midwestern 

University serving as the Treasurer. I 

hope to further expand ICHP on our 

campus and offer my skills in not only 

budgeting, but to all aspects of this 

organization. I am looking forward 

to this upcoming year and to all the 

opportunities that our new board will 

bring to ICHP. 

Ayumi Oda - Fundraising Chair 

I am very excited and honored to serve 

as the Fundraising Chair this upcoming 

school year! I have heard so many 

positive things about ICHP in the past 

and the impact that ICHP is capable of 

having on the career of pharmacy. I 

look forward to being able to serve as 

part of the executive board of such an 

inspiring and proactive organization. 

As the Fundraising Chair, I intend 

to carry on the various fundraisers 

that were held this past year as well 

as possibly incorporating some other 

new ideas. I look forward to welcoming 

incoming students while educating 

myself and others about potential 

careers in hospital pharmacy. 

Lori Anami - Social Chair 

Hi ICHP! My name is Lori Anami and 

I am the 2011-12 ICHP Social Chair. 

My goal for the upcoming year is to 

put together fun events where members 

can not only come to take a break 

from school, but also to get to know 

one another on a more personal level 

and build friendships within the organization. 

I’m excited to become more 

involved in ICHP and look forward 

to working with my fellow e-board in 

helping this organization grow in the 

next year! 

Minh Nguyen - Membership Chair 

Hello ICHPers! As the MWU ICHP 

membership chair, I plan to promote 

and push ICHP to the forefront and 

show the incoming students why being 

a part of this organization is so great. 

I am very excited for the upcoming 

school year and about the opportunities 

that ICHP provides for us students. 

Let’s all work together and make 

this year an awesome one! 

Adrienne Ordonez - Historian 

I am very excited and am looking forward 

to serving ICHP as the Historian. 

ICHP has such great events and 

opportunities, and I hope to document 

everything with photos! In addition, 

I plan on continuing to find and contribute 

many more awesome articles 

for the KeePosted. Lastly, I hope to 

help our chapter grow to make this 

year a great one for our current and 

future members! ■ 


College Connection - UIC 

UIC-ICHP Chapter Year in Review 

by Leia Roeges, P-3, ICHP-ASHP Student Chapter Immediate Past President 

University of Illinois-Chicago College of Pharmacy (UIC-COP) 

This has been a very successful year for the UIC-ICHP chapter. It has been my 

honor to serve on our UIC e-board, as well as contribute to the programming 

on the state level. 

I am proud of what the UIC-ICHP chapter accomplished this year. In our second year of 

recognized status for ASHP, UIC-ICHP was able to expand our professional development 

projects and health initiatives, Lung Health and Mental Wellness, to reach thousands of 

people. We participated in two Lung Walks, Hustle Up the Hancock, health fairs with the 

Chicago Bears, and health booths throughout Chicagoland. We are very excited to see our 

organization expand more into the community and provide more opportunities for students 

to showcase the wealth of knowledge that we receive here at UIC. 

We have also expanded opportunities for students within the college. This is our first year 

with our new sister campus, UIC Rockford, which has been a great participator and contributor 

to the chapter. 

This year, we expanded our professional development projects, including the new Residency 

101 lecture series. Part One introduced students to what residencies and fellowships are. 

Part Two educated students about Midyear and the Match, and hosted a panel of PGY1 

Residents and P4s who explained the residency interviewing process. During National 

Hospital and Health-System Pharmacists Week, students were able to find out more information 

about health-systems pharmacy. In addition to our Residency and P4 Roundtable, 

we expanded our Internship Fair to include over 20 participating interns to talk about their 

past experiences in Chicago and a panel which was broadcasted to Rockford. Furthermore, 

we continued our CV workshop with faculty to provide students tools to prepare for internship 

and residency interviewing. We continued to set up hospital visits for P1s to get some 

exposure to the world of hospital pharmacy, and individual visits were organized. 

Last year, Jennifer Thompson and Tommy Chiampas competed nationally at ASHP 

Midyear for the Clinical Skills Competition. We would like to continue their great representation 

of UIC and win it all next year! 

Lastly, I would like to thank the executive board, the members, and faculty that participated 

in our events. Student participation at meetings and events was phenomenal. It has been 

an honor serving the members of ICHP. As I and many of my peers move on to rotations, 

I am reminded of a quotation by Winston Churchill which sums up where we are in our 

academic and professional careers, “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of 

the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” We have laid a sturdy foundation in 

which others may build upon. The efforts and hard work of the UIC-ICHP e-board has yet 

raised the bar once more. I have no doubts that ICHP will continue to grow and expand 

offerings and programs amongst peers and throughout the community. ■ 

Thank you again 

to the 2010-2011 

U I C - I C H P 

Executive Board!! 

~Leia 

Vice President 

Shilpa Paul 

President-Elect 

Emily Lin 

Secretary 

Sharlynne Fernandez 

Treasurer 

Elzbieta Starzycka 

Fundraising Chairs 

Lilly Nguyen 

Amy Vikrey 

Chi Hye Kim 

ICHP Representative 

Anita Lammers 

Membership Chair 

Bhanupriya Sirandas 

Professional Practice 

Chair 

Elaine Guiao 

Rockford Chair 

Chris Radunz 

P-1 Liaison 

Marc McDowell 

Webmaster 

Susan Jin 


College Connection: CSU 

Advantages of Completing the IPPE in a Rural 

Hospital Setting 

by Alicia Ross, P3, SSHP Member 

Chicago State University College of Pharmacy (CSU-COP) 

During the middle of my first 

semester P2 year, my classmates 

began to chat eagerly about 

where they hoped to be placed 

for their Introductory Pharmacy 

Practice Experience (IPPE), 

which would start the next semester. 

There were a few big names that came 

up multiple times, but no one mentioned 

Riverside Medical Center. In 

fact, I had never heard of that institution 

until I was placed there for my 

IPPE rotation. All I knew was that it 

was in a rural area and was excited that 

parking would probably be free. 

I completed an undergraduate rotation 

at the county public health center, 

which was also in a rural area, and 

found it to be very rewarding. It turns 

out that I enjoyed the rural pharmacy 

experience just as I did the rural public 

health experience. 

Some of the advantages included 

friendly hospital staff, flexibility to 

choose what activities I was interested 

in, and preceptor availability. I 

have heard numerous stories from my 

classmates about preceptors that were 

too busy or just not around that much. 

At my site, my preceptor was available 

and willing to help me complete tasks 

and explain concepts when I needed 

clarification. If my preceptor did need 

to leave for a meeting or complete 

other tasks, there were plenty of other 

pharmacists that were available. It was 

nice to work with multiple pharmacists 

because I could learn about disease 

states and pharmacy administrative 

issues from different perspectives. 

One of my favorite activities was counseling 

patients about their medications. 

For instance, I performed warfarin 

teachings and talked to a patient 

about diabetes medications. It was the 

perfect time for me to talk about these 

topics because I had just learned about 

them in my therapeutics course. The 

purpose of having an experiential rotation 

is to apply what was learned in 

class to real patients, and that is exactly 

what I did during my experience. 

Before heading up to patients’ rooms, 

I would run through a practice session 

with one of the pharmacists to make 

sure I covered all of the important 

points. Once the pharmacist provided 

feedback, I was given the approval to 

talk directly to the patients. I would 

introduce myself, tell them the purpose 

of my visit, and ask them if it 

was okay for me to take a little of their 

time to go over the medications with 

them. I would start out asking the 

three prime questions: What did the 

doctor tell you the medication was 

for? How are you going to take the 

medication? What did the doctor tell 

you to expect? The answers provided 

by the family and patients determined 

how much more detail I would go 

into while explaining the medication. 

Herbal and drug interactions were discussed 

as well. 

Overall, I enjoyed the experience and 

encourage student pharmacists to 

try something different for a change. 

Small town institutions can provide 

valuable experiences with some additional 

opportunities that may not be 

available in the big name hospitals. 

Furthermore, establishing relationships 

with pharmacists who work in 

the rural setting may be valuable for 

students’ future careers. The demand 

for pharmacists is generally stronger in 

less populated areas. This is especially 

important now due to the stagnant 

economy and a currently saturated 

market in the Chicago metropolitan 

area. ■ 


General Assembly Guild 

Kevin Colgan 

Edward Donnelly 

Dave Hicks 

Frank Kokaisl 

James Owen Consulting Inc. 

Scott Meyers 

Michael Short 

Charles Turck 

Michael Weaver 

Patricia Wegner 

Thomas Westerkamp 

Springfield Society 

Scott Bergman 

Dan Ciarrachi 

Kenneth Foerster 

Linda Fred 

Ann Jankiewicz 

Jan Keresztes 

William McEvoy 

Anna Nowobilski-Vasilios 

Michael Rajski 

Carrie Sincak 

Avery Spunt 

Capitol Club 

Pete Antonopoulos 

Jered Bauer 

Robert Bogash 

Rauf Dalal 

Kathy Komperda 

Huzefa Master 

* 

ICHP PHARMACY ACTION FUND 

CONTRIBUTION LEVELS* 

Capitol Club 

Ramesh Patel 

Edward Rainville 

Christina Rivers 

Jennifer Rogers 

Michael Ruzevich 

Miriam Mobley Smith 

JoAnn Stubbings 

Beverly Tuck 

Paul Zega 

Lincoln League 

Margaret Allen 

Sheila Allen 

Peggy Bickham 

Jaime Borkowski 

Jill Burkiewicz 

Donna Clay 

Sandra Durley 

Elizabeth Engebretson 

Michael Fotis 

Jacob Gettig 

Kristen Goliak 

Todd Karpinski 

Despina Kotis 

Mary Lee 

Janette Mark 

Bhavini Patel 

Jon Pearion 


Fred Prillaman 

Edward Rickert 

Angela Riley 

Lincoln League 

Roy Roselund 

David Slatkin 

Heidi Sunday 

Cathy Weaver 

Barbara Yahn 

Grassroots Gang 

Michael Allen 

Orapin Chullasavock 

Scott Drabant 

Jennifer D’Souza 

Joann Haley 

Charlene Hope 

Travis Hunerdosse 

Peggy Janiszewski 

James Jansen 

Zahra Khudeira 


John LeGrand 

Nan Lundquist 

Holly McMaster 

Kenneth Miller 

Leia Roeges 

Kathryn Schultz 

Julie Stein-Gocken 

Darlene Wiegand 

Cindy Wuller 

Steven Zielinski 

Contributor 

Yinka Alaka 

Anchalee Ardharn 

Bob Barger 

The above contributions consist of donations from the past 12 months. Contribution Levels: General Assembly Guild $1000 & more; 

Springfield Society $500 - $999; Capitol Club $250 - $499; Lincoln League $100 - $249; Grassroots Gang $50 - $99; Contributor $1 - $49. 

Contributor 

Greg Biedron 

Don Brower 

Diana Brubaker 

Lari Cavallari 

Jo Driver 

Brooke Griffin 

Patricia Gutierrez 

Margaret Hanzel 

Joan Hardman 

Tim Hook 

Jeanette Jiang 

Mary Ann Jocom 

Sue Kim 

Kati Kwasiborski 

Benjamin Le 

Emily Lin 

Lisa Lubsch 

John McBride 

Kathleen Mikrut 

David Miller 

Karen Nordstrom 

Gary Peska 

Tamkeen Quraishi 

Peggy Reed 

Maribelle Regala 

John Skaggs 

Debbie Stake 

Lucas Stoller 

Vicki Velez 

Peter Vlasses 

Rose Waleska 

Marie Williams 

Karyn Zyvan 

ICHP PHARMACY ACTION FUND 

You may mail your contribution to: ICHP Pharmacy Action Fund, 4055 N. Perryville Road, Loves Park, IL 61111-8653 

or contribute online: www.ichpnet.org/public_policy/ichp_pharmacy_action_fund/donation_form/ 

I have enclosed the following contribution with an enclosed check to the ICHP Pharmacy Action Fund. 

___ $25 ___ $50 ___ $100 

___ $250 ___ $500 $______ please specify if other than above. Total amount enclosed: $___________ 

Name ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Address ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

City/State/Zip Code ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Telephone __________________________________________ E-mail __________________________________________________________ 

Contributions to the ICHP Pharmacy Action Fund are not considered charitable contributions by the IRS. 


MEMBERS LOVE ICHP BUCK$ & DISCOUNT$! 

Membership Renewal and Recruitment Options 

ICHP Members can earn ICHP Bucks and Valuable Dues Discounts 

Rebates are paid in ICHP Bucks and can be used for membership dues, meeting registrations, or other ICHP products and services. 

Dues Discounts When You Recruit New Members 

(Plus ICHP Bucks, too!) 

Number Recruited* 

Discount on Dues 

2..............................................15% 

3..............................................35% 

4..............................................55% 

5..............................................75% 

6.............................................100% 

*Must be same membership category or higher as recruiter. 

Membership Application 

Apple online at www.ichpnet.org 

_______________________________________________________________ 

Name and Credentials 

_______________________________________________________________ 

Job Title 

_______________________________________________________________ 

Date of Birth 

Male 

Female 

_______________________________________________________________ 

Home Address 

_______________________________________________________________ 

City 

_______________________________________________________________ 

State 

Zip 

_______________________________________________________________ 

Home Phone 

Home E-mail Address 

_______________________________________________________________ 

Business or School Name 

_______________________________________________________________ 

Business or School Address 

_______________________________________________________________ 

City 

_______________________________________________________________ 

State 

Zip 

_______________________________________________________________ 

Work Phone Fax Phone Work E-Mail Address 

ICHP Bucks When You Recruit New Members 

Student/Resident/Retired Technician....$1 ICHP buck rebate 

Technician/Retired/Recent Graduate 1..$2 ICHP buck rebate 

Recent Graduate 2.................................$3 ICHP buck rebate 

Pharmacist/Supporting..........................$5 ICHP buck rebate 

MEMBERSHIP CATEGORY 

Check the category for which you are applying: 

Pharmacist: $95 

Supporting: $95 

Joint: $95 + $50 

Recent Graduate 1 st Year: $32 

Recent Graduate 2 nd Year: $64 

Pharmacy Resident: $15 

ICHP Bucks for Multiple Year Renewals 

for Active & Associate Members 

2 year renewal.......$20 ICHP buck rebate 



LOCAL AFFILIATE MEMBERSHIP 

Membership in ICHP automatically entitles you to membership 

in your local affiliate. The ICHP has local affiliates 

throughout the state. To serve the needs of its membership 

and to foster communication, the local affiliates serve as 

regional conduits to the Council. Each affiliate has elected 

officers and offers continuing education programs convenient 

to the local membership. Select the society where you live or 

work from the map and indicate your choice below. 

Local Affiliates. Please choose one: 

Rock Valley Society (1) Sangamiss Society (5) 

Northern Illinois Society (2) Metro East Society (6) 

West Central Society (3) Southern Illinois (7) 

Sugar Creek Society (4) 

CPE MONITOR 

Student: $10 

Technician: $30 

Retired Pharmacist: $30 

Retired Technician: $15 

If you plan on obtaining continuing pharmacy education credit, we strongly 

encourage you to provide your NABP ID# and birthday. Beginning in 

2012, this information will be required by any participants seeking CPE 

credit. Visit www.ichpnet.org/cpemonitor for information about CPE 

Monitor and how to obtain your NABP ID. 

______________________________________________________________ 

NABP ID# 

Birthday (MM/DD) 

Preferred Mailing Address: Home Business 

Do you wish to be excluded from mailing lists advertised for sale? Yes No 

METHOD OF PAYMENT 

Payment must accompany application. Checks must be drawn on a U.S. Bank and made 

payable to ICHP. Credit card payment may be faxed to (815) 227-9294. 

My check for $_________________ is enclosed. 

Charge to my: VISA MasterCard American Express Discover 

____________________________________________________________________ 

Account # 

____________________________________________________________________ 

Expiration Date (month/year) 

CVV2 Security Code Number 

____________________________________________________________________ 

Cardholder Name 

Cardholder Signature 

________________________________________________________________ 

Billing Address for Credit Card 

KEEPOSTED 

ICHP has gone digital with the KeePosted newsjournal. Your membership includes free online 

access to all issues (10 per year). You may purchase a print subscription for $30 a year. 

YES, I want a print subscription of the KeePosted mailed to me. I understand that 

these issues will be printed by the ICHP office. 

Pharmacist, Recent Grad, & Resident Applicants 

______________________________________________________________ 

Graduation Date 

Degree 

______________________________________________________________ 

College of Pharmacy 

______________________________________________________________ 

Residency Program Site 

RETURN YOUR APPLICATION WITH PAYMENT TO: 


4055 N. Perryville Road 

Loves Park, IL 61111-8653 

Phone (815) 227-9292 Fax (815) 227-9294 www.ichpnet.org 

Payments to ICHP are not deductible as charitable contributions for Federal Income Tax purposes. 

However, they may be deductible under other provisions of the Internal Revenue code. 

A portion of ICHP dues is not deductible as an ordinary and necessary business expense to the 

extent that ICHP engages in certain lobbying activities. For U.S. tax returns, the nondeductible 

portion of ICHP dues for 2011 is 90 percent. ICHP Federal Tax ID# 36-2887899 

Image Media Release: By joining ICHP, you are giving ICHP permission to use photographs 

or video of yourself taken at events. ICHP intends to use such photographs and 

videos only in connection with official ICHP publications, media promotions, web sites, or 

social media sites including but not limited to Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, and that 

these images may be used without further notifying you.

KeePosted - ICHP

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