On January 13, 2017, thought leaders from the Eshelman School of Pharmacy joined experts from across the UNC Chapel Hill campus to share research collaboration opportunities in the study of the Business of Healthcare. Jon Easter, Director of the Pharmacy School’s Center for Medication Optimization through Practice and Policy (CMOPP), Mary Roth McClurg, Associate Professor and Associate Director of Academic Innovation, and Troy Trygstad, Adjunct Associate Professor and Vice President, Pharmacy Services at Community Care of N.C., shared current research activities that support collaborative care and optimize the benefits of medication to improve health. UNC Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School organized the Convocation.
More than 200 faculty members, deans, and researchers from UNC schools of business, nursing, pharmacy, medicine, and global public health as well as the college of arts and sciences and health sciences-focused centers, including the Sheps Center and NC TraCS Institute joined the meeting. Easter kicked off the presentation by sharing four priorities that drive CMOPP’s work:
Trygstad described Community Care of North Carolina’s ongoing efforts to optimize medication use for N.C.’s Medicaid population. He highlighted the opportunities to improve health and reduce costs by working with community-based pharmacists on medication management for Medicaid recipients with complex health needs.
In her presentation, Roth McClurg focused on her research to identify best practices in pharmacist integration with primary care supported by a $2.5 million grant from the American College of Clinical Pharmacy. Roth McClurg followed her presentation by joining a panel discussion on opportunities for collaboration to study the Business of Healthcare at UNC. Along with Roth McClurg, the distinguished panel included Barbara Rimer, Dean of the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, Bill Roper, Dean of the UNC School of Medicine, Doug Shackelford, Dean of the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, and Nancy Allbritton, Professor and Chair of the UNC/NC State Department of Biomedical Engineering.