Kendall Shoaf

Her Story

Dr. Shoaf earned her PharmD degree from Butler University. She then went on to complete a PGY-1 clinical pharmacy residency at North Memorial Health Hospital in Robbinsdale, Minnesota. She developed an interest in pharmacy informatics which led her to complete a PGY-2 pharmacy informatics residency at the University of Chicago Medicine.

Dr. Shoaf is currently employed at the University of Chicago Medicine as an Informatics Pharmacist. She supports the electronic health record and ancillary systems for both the outpatient and inpatient settings. She serves as a preceptor for a PGY-2 Informatics Automation and Human Factors Engineering rotation, as well as assists with precepting PGY-1 residents and pharmacy students.

Overview of Facility/Health System

University of Chicago Medicine is a not-for-profit academic medical health system based in the south-side Chicago neighborhood of Hyde Park. The medical center is licensed for 811 inpatient beds and the health system also includes dozens of outpatient clinics around the Chicago area. Consistently ranked by U.S. News and World Report, UCM provides innovative and cutting edge therapy to patients from all over the world. Pharmacists and pharmacy residents provide centralized and decentralized pharmaceutical care throughout UCM.

Significant Projects

Most recently Kendall is leading a project to upgrade DoseEdge Pharmacy Workflow Manager software across the hospital system. The upgrade project involves coordinating with pharmacy managers, internal IT, DoseEdge IT and pharmacy informatics to ensure the IV workflow management system integrates appropriately with Epic and supports the health system's IV workflow. Dr. Shoaf is certified in Epic Willow Ambulatory and is working on a project to streamline discharge medication ordering through preference list optimization for pediatric patients being discharged from the medical center.

Initial Involvement in ASHP

Kendall is currently a member of the Clinical Applications Section Advisory Group (SAG) within ASHP's Section of Pharmacy Informatics and Technology. Within her SAG she is currently helping to create a podcast titled "PGY2 Pharmacy Informatics Residency – Insights from Current Residents".

Why did you become involved in ASHP? 

I became involved in ASHP because I wanted to collaborate with and learn from other pharmacy informatics professionals across the country. I want to contribute to creating resources and educational materials for current and future pharmacy informatics professionals.

Advice for Someone New to Your Specialty Area

The advice I would offer to someone who is interested in pharmacy informatics is to be vocal about your interest. Seek out opportunities to get involved with pharmacy informatics projects within the hospital system. There are usually opportunities to get involved with pharmacy informatics projects whether you are a pharmacy student on rotation, a resident or a practicing pharmacist. I would also recommend reaching out to informatics pharmacists that are in a role you might be interested in to learn about the set up of the pharmacy informatics department at that institution and to learn more about their daily responsibilities. 

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

The Section of Informatics within ASHP provides a community for informatics pharmacists from across the country to gather and share knowledge and ideas. This community helps to advance the field of pharmacy informatics and as a result improves workflows and technology within the healthcare system which positively affects healthcare practitioners and patient care. 

What is the value of ASHP for the profession? 

ASHP provides value for both the pharmacy profession as a whole and specifically pharmacy informatics because it is a group that advocates for the advancement of the pharmacist’s role within the healthcare  field. ASHP provides continuing education materials and events that assist pharmacists with staying up to date on clinical topics as well as current events within the pharmacy profession.