Anne Carrington Warren

Her Story

Anne “Andy” Warren grew up in rural South Boston, Virginia and received her undergraduate degree from Virginia Tech in Animal and Poultry Sciences. She finished her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of North Carolina Eshelman School of Pharmacy in 2015. She went on to complete an ASHP accredited PGY-1 residency with Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital in Virginia and completed her ASHP accredited PGY-2 residency in academia and ambulatory care at Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC). During her PGY-2, she had the opportunity to create her own practice sites with Mission Health and developed a passion for Team-Based Care and family medicine. Outside of work, Dr. Warren enjoys riding her horse, Triple Down, spending time with family/friends, travel, running/hiking, and anything Disney!

Dr. Warren currently practices within MAHEC, a large Family Medicine teaching clinic in Asheville, NC. She currently serves as a Clinical Pharmacist Practitioner where she splits her time between the inpatient Family Practice Service at Mission and in clinic at the MAHEC Family Health Center. Her areas of interest include transitions of care, collaborative interdisciplinary practice, diabetes management, and population health. Her involvement in academia includes responsibilities for teaching of medical and pharmacy learners as well as precepting pharmacy students and PGY1 pharmacy residents.

Describe the facility where you work (eg. Is it a teaching hospital? Health Center? 

MAHEC was established in 1974 to improve training and retention of healthcare professionals across Western North Carolina (WNC). Located in Asheville, MAHEC serves North Carolina’s 16 westernmost counties and graduates dozens of medical professionals through its residency programs. MAHEC provides family medicine, internal medicine, ob/gyn, psychiatric, and dental care for over 200,000 patients per year. In addition, sports medicine, behavioral health, pharmacotherapy, and nutrition services lend support to an advanced care team model where providers work together to support the whole person.

Recent Significant Projects

Dr. Warren is actively involved in managing diabetes-related quality measures for the organization. She oversees the Family Medicine Diabetes Management Clinic and student-driven population health initiatives each year providing diabetes management support to both providers and patients.  She is also working with a team to evaluate best practices for transitioning patients in the hospital to treatment for opioid use disorders.

This past year, Dr. Warren conducted a student research project to help address barriers to ensuring patients with heart failure are offered appropriate medication therapies. They identified ample opportunities for patient and provider education and are currently piloting a protocol for pharmacists to conduct phone outreach to ultimately get patients on guideline-directed medical therapy.

Initial Involvement in ASHP

Dr. Warren is a member of the Section of Ambulatory Care Practitioners advisory group on Compensation and Practice Sustainability.

Why did you become involved in ASHP? 

During my PGY-2, I was able to create a business plan to sustain pharmacy services at my clinical practice site. As part of that process, I recognized the financial and political barriers to getting pharmacists embedded in outpatient settings. I wanted to be more involved in ASHP to contribute to the change and recognition of pharmacists as providers and valuable members of the healthcare team.

Advice for Someone New to Specialty Area 

The opportunities in ambulatory care are endless! My advice would be to find what you are passionate about and let your network know your goals. Pharmacy is a small world and policies are changing which allow for pharmacists to practice at the top of their licenses. You never know when the right position will come along!

How would you explain the value of ASHP to a friend or colleague?

I think of it as a built-in network of pharmacists that I can lean on, learn from, and be inspired by! I also utilize the continuing education on demand as the primary way I get my continuing education hours. Most recently, I attended the National Preceptor Conference and am currently making my way through the ASHP Diabetes Management Certificate.

What is the value of ASHP for the profession?

There is power in numbers and having one unified voice. It feels good to be a part of a national organization that represents pharmacists to the outside world so beautifully!