Varintorn Aramvareekul

Her Story

 Ms. Varintorn (Bank) Aramvareekul, BSPharm, RPh, MHSA, MBA, CPHIMS, CPHQ, CSSGB, PMP, SHIMSS, FACHE received her Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from the Chulalongkorn University, College of Pharmacy from Bangkok, Thailand in 2003. She earned her MBA from Strayer University and MS in health system administration from Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. She holds several certifications, including Certified Professional in Healthcare Information and Management Systems, Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality, Certified Six Sigma Green Belt, Project Management Professional, and a Board Certified in Healthcare Management. In addition, she has earned the Senior status of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society and a Fellow status of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Ms. Aramvareekul currently serves as the Administrator of Informatics, Medication Safety and Performance Improvement. She also serves as the Administrative Director of the PGY1 Pharmacy Residency Program. Additionally, she manages the Georgetown Rx Education Channel, where she serves as the program director to provide ACPE-accredited continuing education for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians.

Overview of Facility/Health System

MedStar Georgetown University Hospital is a not-for-profit, acute care, teaching and research hospital with 609 licensed beds, located in Northwest Washington, D.C. 

Significant Projects

 As a strong advocate for technology enhancement, Ms. Aramvareekul has championed the expansion and usage of automated dispensing cabinets for anesthesia providers in operating room suites. Specifically, her informatics team successfully launched 37 machines in three days and ensured safe medication use and patient safety. She also conducted a study to demonstrate the workflow efficiency, turnaround time, and return on investment of robotic delivery for an oncology pharmacy satellite to deliver chemotherapy medications to an infusion center. 

Initial Involvement in ASHP

Ms. Aramvareekul is a member of the Educational Steering Committee on the ASHP Section of Pharmacy Informatics and Technology. She has served as a content reviewer for poster abstracts and case management studies throughout the past 15 years along with serving as a CV reviewer for early careerists, and an AJHP reviewer for the past three years.

Why did you become involved in ASHP? 

Ms. Aramvareekul loves to volunteer and devote her leisure time to professional organizations. She loves to share and learn best practices with other leaders in the field. She wants to give back to society and the pharmacy profession. 

Advice for Someone New to Your Specialty Area

It is imperative to not only apply your pharmacy knowledge, but also to acquire experience and skills in project management. Interprofessional collaboration is required to envision and establish sustainable quality improvement initiatives. For example, a pharmacy informatics team must work collaboratively and seamlessly with subject matter experts in administration, human factors, operations, clinicians, nursing, and several other departments.

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

ASHP is a one-stop shop for health-system pharmacists, regardless of your specialties, administration, management, informatics, medication safety, clinical specialists, etc. ASHP provides countless, up-to-date resources to drive the future of health-system pharmacy and provides a community to ask questions and network with experts in their respective fields.

What is the value of ASHP for the profession? 

ASHP serves as a strong advocate for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. ASHP promotes the pharmacy profession through legislation and serves as a voice for pharmacists throughout healthcare systems. ASHP enhances the relationships of pharmacists with other healthcare professions by promoting patient-centered, interdisciplinary care.