Virginia Society of Health-System Pharmacists

DHP has recently been made aware of a scam that is being attempted on some DHP licensees.  You may wish to notify your members of the  below information. Please contact me if you have any questions, thank you. 

SCAM ALERT

 

The Department of Health Professions (DHP) has been made aware that some licensees have received fraudulent communications from individuals claiming to be from one of our licensing boards, such as the Board of Pharmacy, or another agency, such as the DEA. The communications, often by phone, may threaten arrest or license suspension, demand personal information, or require the payment of fines. 

Please note:

·       Phone calls may “spoof” DHP or a Board and appear to be from our number;

·       If you need to verify the identity of a DHP investigator or inspector, call (804) 367-4691 or email enfcomplaints@dhp.virginia.gov;

·       DHP will never demand that you provide personally identifying information, such as social security number, date of birth, bank or credit card account numbers over the phone;

·       These types of licensing scams are a problem nationwide.

 

If you believe you are the recipient of a fraudulent communication claiming to be from DHP:

 

·       Notify DHP at 804-367-4691, or email enfcomplaints@dhp.virginia.gov;

·       Report the communication to local law enforcement or the Virginia State Police;

·       The Federal Trade Commission also accepts reports about “Imposter Scams” through the FTC Complaint Assistant, or at 1-877-382-4357; these reports are used to aid ongoing investigations.

 

The Drug Enforcement Administration also has warned of imposters posing as DEA agents. Information and reporting of these scams can be found at this DEA website.  

-- 

David E. Brown, DC

Director

Virginia Department of Health Professions

Dear VSHP Members, 

After careful consideration, the leadership of VSHP has made the difficult but necessary decision to transition our Fall Seminar to a completely virtual experience.   This will help us ensure the safety of our membership, the general public, and our patients.  Though this will no doubt be different, VSHP is fully committed to providing you as members with an exciting and unique virtual experience in November.   

Our VSHP leadership has engaged with other organizations to research and explore the best options to host an outstanding virtual experience and also to reach more people than before. You may have already seen emails requesting proposals for education sessions and poster presentations. In the coming weeks, look out for more updates regarding the Fall Seminar including more ways to become involved and registration information. 

Please reach out to me with any questions or concerns that you may have.  We are looking forward to seeing you virtually in November 2020. 

Matthew Jenkins

VSHP President

While the book club was originally envisioned as a way to help mentors and mentees connect, the Mentorship Committee recognized an opportunity to provide all VSHP members with a way to connect with each other, especially as COVID-19 safety measures have required social distancing.

The book club entails a casual 1-hour online call, where members (including students and residents) will be able to get to know each other and discuss the selected book.

VSHP Book Club will be held at 19:00 on the 2nd Wednesday of every 3rd month (January, April, July, October).

The first meeting will take place October 14, 2020 at 19:00. As selected by popular vote, we will be discussing Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande.

Hope to see you there!

RSVP:  https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwof-yvqDIsGNQ4ZjZ7d5NxNN4e3sAKyrsN

The VSHP Mentorship Committee would like to gauge membership interest in this year's Mentorship Program, which is open to all VSHP members. Description of the program can be found at Mentorship.

Mentors, please follow the link below and complete the form by September 14th 2020:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdla1QNCcbxmzubQ78HAuzcqLtSEd4hepY1h-nbbwxVdMH2eg/viewform?usp=sf_link

 

Thank you

Hemisha Patel, PharmD Candidate, 2021

Mentorship Program Student Vice Co-Chair

patelh26@vcu.edu

 

Clara Ni, PharmD, BCIDP

Mentorship Program Co-Chair

cni@valleyhealthlink.com

 

Lauren Pamulapati, PharmD, BCACP

Mentorship Program Co-Chair

lgpamulapati@vcu.edu

Governor Northam appoints two to the Board of Pharmacy

• Dr. Sarah Melton of Bristol, Professor of Pharmacy Practice, Gatton College of Pharmacy
• R. Dale St. Clair, Jr. of Goochland, Vice President, East Region Remedi SeniorCare

VSHP CALL FOR COMMITTEE VOLUNTEERS FOR 2020-2021

The mission of the Virginia Society of Health-System Pharmacists is to inspire innovative pharmacy practice by promoting education, advocacy and collaboration to help people achieve optimal health outcomes. We work towards fulfilling our mission every year through education of our members via region meetings, statewide meetings, newsletters, and our website; fostering professional standards; educating the public about the role of health system pharmacists; monitoring legislative issues that affect pharmacy; and by promoting health system pharmacy as a career path for future pharmacists. The majority of our Society's work is done by member volunteers working through our committees. You can play a vital role by serving on one of our committees.

What will you get out of it?  You will meet and get to know many of the current and future pharmacy leaders in Virginia.  You will have the professional satisfaction of helping shape and advance health system pharmacy in Virginia.  You will make new friends.  You will build your resume.

If you are interested in serving on a committee for VSHP, please fill out the form below.  Committee involvement typically takes less than 1 hour per month and is facilitated through conference calls.

The Committee Chair will contact you regarding upcoming meetings or other opportunities to participate.  

COMMITTEE FUNCTIONS AND CHARGES: 

COMMUNICATIONS: The Communications Committee is responsible for the direction, development, and quality control of all VSHP publications, including the VSHP web site. 

EDUCATIONAL AFFAIRS: The Educational Affairs Committee is responsible for planning, coordinating, and evaluating educational content of the 2 statewide VSHP meetings. 

GRANTS: The Grants Committee will review requests from individuals and groups in need of grant funding for specific programs or program elements which match the mission of VSHP.

LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS: The Legislative Affairs Committee is responsible for informing the VSHP membership and Board of Directors of important legislation and regulations and how they will impact pharmacy practice in organized health care settings in Virginia. 

MEMBERSHIP ENGAGEMENT:  The Membership Engagement Committee reviews and suggests ways for the membership of VSHP to become more engaged in VSHP.

ORGANIZATIONAL AFFAIRS: The Organizational Affairs Committee reviews and analyzes the VSHP organization and make recommendations to increase its effectiveness.   

PAC:  The Political Action Committee works to raise monies for the VSHP PAC and determines the best uses for the funds raised.

STUDENT and RESIDENTS COMMITTEE: The Student and Residents Committee provides input to VSHP on how to get students interested in health-system pharmacy practice and how to get them interested and involved in VSHP. 

Make a committment to get involved in VSHP.

To join a committee:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VSHP2020-committeesignup

Please respond by 8/21/2020

Interested in presenting a Poster at the 2020 VSHP Fall Virtual Seminar in November 2020 

• The deadline for all abstract submission is Friday, October 16, 2020.

• The ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting Student Poster Submission Rules and Format Guidelines offer formatting suggestions.

• IMPORTANT: The Primary Author must be the person submitting the abstract. Primary Authors can only submit ONE abstract, however, a primary author can be an additional author on other abstracts. Submitting an abstract on behalf of someone else is prohibited.

• Poster session will be presented virtually with more details to follow.

Questions and poster submissions should be emailed to contact@vshp.org

VSHP Call for Nominations for Annual Awards

Each year, VSHP recognizes pharmacy practitioners that have demonstrated outstanding service to the pharmacy profession within Virginia. 

VSHP Annual Awards include:

VSHP Technician of the Year

VSHP New Practitioner of the Year 

VSHP Pharmacist of the Year 

Clinical Pharmacy Practice Achievement Award 

R.D. Anderson Distinguished Leadership Award

 

To nominate: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VSHP-awards-2020

Additional details on award criteria and nomination process can be found at Annual Awards.  The deadline for award nomination is Friday, October 9, 2020.  Awards will be presented during the VSHP Virtual Fall Seminar, November 2020.  

2020 Fall Seminar Presentation Proposal Form

Submission for 2020 Virtual Fall Seminar

VSHP is accepting speaker proposals that will provide quality continuing education to our members. Please submit your completed proposal form to contact@vshp.org by Friday, August 7.

Presenters will need to schedule a time to record their session as well as be available during their session time for live Q&A.  Also presenters will need to be flexible as we work through a fully virtual meeting.

Additionally, the Education Committee is interested in specific request for proposals that are focused on pharmacy technicians.

Please review the proposed submission form for more information.

VSHP Members,

This year, $10,000 has been set aside by VSHP for its grants program. This program allows VSHP members to apply for a grant in order to fund a project which will improve health - system pharmacy services and patient care in Virginia.

Examples of previous VSHP grants include funding for a pharmacy technician enrichment series, patient education materials for refugee patients and for pill boxes to be used in the community.

There are several conditions for a successful grant application:

•   The application must be filed by a current member of VSHP via this link, by August 30, 2020

•   All grants will be reviewed by the VSHP Grants team

•   All grant funds must be used within 12 months of the grant's approval date

•   Any unused funds must be returned to VSHP

•   Updates to VSHP must be provided every 6 months and a followup report to VSHP must be written within one year of disbursement of funds, or when the project has been completed (whichever occurs first)

Please email Cat Floroff at cfloroff@gmail.com once you have completed the online application to confirm receipt or with questions as they arise!