March 2017
Section Members,
Can you believe it’s March? It seems like yesterday when I was writing the January message and wishing everyone a Happy New Year. Now I hope we are all looking forward to spring and the many activities commencing the next couple months before June when ASHP hosts its 2017 Informatics Institute in my home state of Minnesota.
I have a number of important updates to share with you this month, in addition to my commentary on our role as informaticists. Please note the deadlines for some of the activities below are coming up soon!
Let me first take the opportunity to recognize Allen Flynn, the 2016 ASHP Section of Pharmacy Informatics & Technology Distinguished Award winner. Allen received his award at the ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting. He is a research analyst in the Division of Learning and Knowledge Systems at the Department of Learning Health Sciences of the University of Michigan Medical School and you can read more about him in our member spotlight section on the ASHPS website. Do you know someone deserving of the Distinguished Service Award? Please nominate him/her through the ASHP website . The 2017 Nomination Form and materials must be received no later than April 1, 2017.
Have you heard about the changes to the SOPIT Section Advisory Groups? Are you interested in participating? Click on this link to read more about the 2017-2018 SAGs and submit your request for appointment to a SAG by April 1, 2017, 11:59 PM EDT. Even if you are already in a SAG, you need to resubmit.
Section Advisory Groups (SAGs) are a great way to get involved as an ASHP member and to both work on projects important to you and to network, listen, and learn from colleagues from around the country. There are 4 SAGs in the SOPIT section in addition to the Educational Steering Committee. For 2017-2018, the SAGs are as follows:
- SAG on Clinical Applications (new!)
- SAG on Clinical Decision Support and Analytics (new!)
- SAG on Operations and Automation (slight name change)
- SAG on Professional Development
We’d like to recognize and thank all who have been involved in our current SAGs on Ambulatory Care Informatics and Clinical Information Systems. The areas these SAGs have been focusing on will be incorporated within one of the other SAGs in 2017-2018.
Make your plans soon to attend the Informatics Institute at the ASHP 2017 Summer Meeting & Exhibition in Minneapolis, MN . We are planning a number of special events in honor of the 10th year anniversary of the Section of Pharmacy Informatics & Technology, and you won’t want to miss those events or our awesome lineup of speakers and educational sessions!
Do you have a Strategy for Success that you would like to share on our ASHP Connect Informatics Corner? Check out the information on this blog on how to submit your post! Submissions are due the 15th of each month.
In addition to these key four activities, the SOPIT Executive Committee members are involved in the ASHP Virtual House of Delegates being held the end of March. There are 5 policy recommendations being voted on this month. In April, I will be representing the Section and attending the Regional Delegate Conference to discuss the policy recommendations being considered for the June House of Delegates meeting. The Executive Committee is also working on a couple of educational activities to support the needs of the SOPIT members and making connections with Informatics Residency Program Directors.
This leads me to my last commentary in the series on the role of pharmacy informaticists, which is the role we have in Information and Knowledge Delivery as described in the ASHP Statement on the Pharmacist’s Role in Clinical Informatics. How much time and effort do you spend ensuring the relevant information is available to a user of the system at the point of time that they need it? Do you manage quick links to reference information related to drug information, best practices, or policies and procedures for your organization? Do you review the effectiveness of rules, alerts, or other knowledge that is delivered through your system and make adjustments as appropriate? Are you asked to come up with new ways to provide information to the users to solve a need? Do you maintain a catalog with metadata to reference the status of the information within your systems and routinely ensure it’s updated? Does the content in all of the systems in your organization align regarding the information shared on a particular condition or situation? These tasks are a sampling of the types of knowledge management work pharmacy informaticists do. Whether in the areas of knowledge discovery and creation, knowledge application and delivery, or knowledge asset management, the role you play is the backbone of ensuring the integrity of information for efficient and timely use by your end users.
“Knowledge is static; wisdom is active and moves knowledge, making it effective.” -Dr. Will Mayo, one of the founders of the Mayo Clinic
Sylvia Belford, Pharm.D., M.S., CPHIMS
Chair, Section of Pharmacy Informatics and Technology
[email protected]