State Update- Washington State Pharmacy Association (WSPA)

(Submitted by Cris Duvall, WSPA Director of Continuing Professional Development and WSPA Clinical Colleen Terriff, WSU Faculty, Board of Director)

The next Washington State Pharmacy Association event will be New Drugs, Laws & Care Management January 24th at the University of Washington in Seattle. Log on to WSPA’s website for more news on upcoming events, Medicaid cuts, H1N1, plus Legislative and Regulatory Affairs. Go to www.wsparx.org.

Thurs. Nov 5 WSPA Board of Directors had an all-day meeting prior at Tulalip, WA, prior to the Fall Clinical Meeting.  Some discussion topics included:

  • legislative update ( including past activities and future initiatives)- Medicaid audits, MTM reimbursement, AWP reimbursement rates, Fraud Waste and Abuse training for CMS…(for updates and reviews of state and federal legislative initiatives and talking points when contacting or legislators, check out the Legislative/Regulatory section on the left-hand side of WSPA’s main page.)
  • membership growth (in categories increased, except residents declined)
  • UW and WSU student activities
  • CEO consulting policy development

Over the next two days a wonderful variety of CE presentations and academies’ (technicians, owners, long-term care and health-systems academies) discussions took place.  Attorney General Rob McKenna presented information about prescription drug abuse and monitoring and pharmacy robberies.  During Saturday evening’s banquet awards were presented to our colleagues for their years of professional service.  We congratulate the following award winners:

  • Bill Mueller Mentor- Thomas Rowe
  • Bowl of Hygeia- Gordon Tweit
  • David Almquist Award- Sue Merk
  • Distinguished Leadership Service- Larry Simonsmeier
  • Innovative Pharmacy Practice- Andy Stergachis
  • Outstanding Pharmacy Technician of the Year:  Bridgett Edgar
  • Pfizer Health System Pharmacist of the Year-  Gregory Matsuura
  • Pharmacist Mutual Distinguished Young Pharmacist of the Year- Joshua Neumiller
  • Pharmacist of the Year- C.A. Leon Alzola
  • Pharmacy Student of the Year- Tahnee Marginean
  • Rod Shafer Award- Stephen Setter

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