Ellina Seckel

Ellina’s Story

Dr. Seckel is an active member of the Ambulatory Care Clinical Practice Advancement SAG, and recently facilitated the SAG’s networking session at the 2015 Midyear Meeting. She is also an active contributor in ASHP Connect. Clinical pharmacist advancement, especially in the ambulatory care setting, is her driver and motivation as a pharmacist. Getting involved in ASHP is how Dr. Seckel foresees herself contributing to the advancement of pharmacy practice nationally.

Facility

The William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital is a 129 bed teaching facility. The hospital provides tertiary, surgical, neurological, and psychiatric care, as well as a full range of outpatient services. Dr. Seckel practices in the Primary Care Clinic.

Significant Projects

Dr. Seckel’s current role combines ambulatory care leadership and direct patient care. Dr. Seckel has a scope of practice, which allows her to prescribe for and manage post-diagnosis chronic disease states. In addition to her clinical responsibilities, Dr. Seckel works to advance clinical pharmacy practice in primary care and drive growth of interdisciplinary team based models. Dr. Seckel’s most recent project involved use of clinical pharmacists to improve access to primary care. Access to care is a nationwide health care issue. The combination of lack of primary care providers and increasing numbers of patients causes a deficit in ability to accommodate all of these patients. Pharmacists are in a prime position to help primary care providers with access and can serve as a readily available and specialized resource to manage chronic disease states. At her institution, Dr. Seckel is led the charge in actively shifting chronic disease state management workload from primary care providers to clinical pharmacists.

Outcomes include saved time for primary care providers, opened appointment slots for primary care providers, and increased utilization of pharmacist clinics.

Advice for Someone New to Your Specialty Area

“Push through the barriers and know that you are making a difference. Also, always take credit for our contributions as pharmacists. We do so much for patient safety and optimal patient care, but we do not take the credit for it and show it off to facility leadership. We have to be visible, and we have to always remind leadership of what we are accomplishing.”

ASHP’s Value to Members

“ASHP is the national pharmacy organization that brings all of our efforts together towards meaningful change in the profession of pharmacy.”

“Without ASHP, we would not have a clear voice or a clear vision for pharmacy practice advancement. ASHP is the pharmacy profession’s driving force.”