Majid R. Tanas, PharmD, MHA, MS, FASHP ([email protected]) is the vice president of pharmacy and chief pharmacy officer at Legacy Health, an eight-facility, 1,200-bed community health system ranging from a Level 1 trauma center to Critical Access Medical Center, including pediatric and psychiatric specialty services. Tanas earned a BS in biochemistry from Whitworth University, an MS in biotechnology from Washington State University, and a Doctorate in pharmacy from Washington State University. He earned a Master of Health Administration as a part of his two-year pharmacy administration residency at the University of Washington.
Tanas has been an active member of ASHP over the past 20 years, beginning as a student in 2003. Since graduating from pharmacy school, he has served in the following appointments:
- New Practitioners Forum Advisory Groups
- Communications and Public Affairs (2007)
- Leadership and Career Development (2008)
- New Practitioners Forum Executive Committee (2009)
- Pharmacy Practice Advisory Group – Executive Liaison
- Science and Research Advisory Group – Executive Liaison
- Council of Pharmacy Practice (2010, 2011, 2012)
- House of Delegate: Alternate (2014), Member (elected in 2015)
- Board of Canvassers (2019-2022)
- Section Advisory Group on Multi-Hospital Pharmacy Executives: Member (2021), Vice-Chair (2022), Chair (2022-2023), Chair (2022-2024)
He serves as a faculty member for the ASHP Practical Training in Compounding Sterile Preparations Certificate (2022-2023), presented at numerous ASHP conferences, represented ASHP at DUPHAT, an international conference as a delegate, and was recognized as a Fellow of ASHP in June 2022.
Meet Majid R. Tanas
The challenge ahead of pharmacy is evolving from an auditor of prescriptions to an initiator of care. Our charge is to elevate clinical care at the bedside/clinic/counter, improve an organization’s financial viability, and the safety of medications.
With nearly three million nurses and one million physicians, the 300,000 pharmacists that make up our profession may be few in comparison, but our voice and impact in healthcare are far-reaching. Health systems must rapidly adapt from established business practices due to diminishing reimbursement. The members of ASHP stand at the crossroads to advance health-system pharmacy and healthcare. We must forge ahead to find new ways to meet our community’s needs.
Health systems are essential for our communities and must enhance the care model, expanding the continuum of services across phases of care – a unique niche that health systems occupy. Breaking down the silos between inpatient clinical care, ambulatory care, and outpatient pharmacy requires working together to move care to patients in new and creative ways. We must create integrated networks that meet patient care at every level to meet the sacred responsibility of returning ailing patients to their loved ones.
Let’s not wait for an operational plan to be handed to our profession. Instead, we must preemptively identify how health-system pharmacy provides stability in uncertain times, how we can provide readily accessible services to our patients, and how pharmacy can create a safe and healing environment.
We will go farther and are better…together.