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AMCP Podcast Series — Fundamentals of Managed Care Pharmacy Training Program
Show Notes
Host Fred Goldstein invites Ruby Singh, Senior Vice President of Education and Instruction, and Brittany Henry, Director of Education Programs, with AMCP, to discuss the brand-new 3rd edition of the AMCP Fundamentals of Managed Care Pharmacy Training Program scheduled for release July 2023.
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Transcript
[Speakers: Fred Goldstein, Ruby Singh, and Brittany Henry]
Fred Goldstein 00:01
Hello, and welcome to the AMCP Podcast Series — Listen Up! as we take a deep dive into the challenges, trends and opportunities in managed care pharmacy, follow the show's social hashtag #AMCPListenUp, and to learn more about AMCP visit amcp.org. I'm your host, Fred Goldstein. On today's show, my guests are Ruby Singh, Senior Vice President of Education and Publications at AMCP. And Brittany Henry, Director of Education Programs at AMCP. Welcome Ruby and Brittany.
Ruby Singh 00:34
Hi, Fred, thank you so much for having us today.
Brittany Henry 00:36
Hi, Fred, nice to talk to you.
Fred Goldstein 00:39
Fantastic. We're gonna discuss a topic that's near and dear to my heart education, managed care fundamentals and managed care. So perhaps Ruby, you could start give us a little bit about background on the fundamentals program?
Ruby Singh 00:51
Sure, Fred, thank you, you're asking about one of my favorite projects and programs at AMCP. This is a popular training program that we launched in 2014, as a live program at Nexus, actually in 2014. And we launched it as an online training program based off of the feedback from that live event in 2016. On AMCPLearn, which is our online learning platform. And since the launch of that program, we've had about 1800 learners take the program, the program itself is really a multi module program really meant to be introductory basic concepts in managed care pharmacy practice. So we're really proud of the program and obviously feel that people have gotten a lot out of it, given that we have almost 1800 learners who have taken it since we started it, we're really looking forward to the new version that will be coming out and hopefully getting more learners to take it and really introducing them to the basics of managed care pharmacy.
Fred Goldstein 01:53
As you mentioned, you also have a lot of different programs up there for people to learn about as pharmacy professionals.
Ruby Singh 01:59
Thank you, Fred. Yes. AMCP Learn is an online learning platform. And we have over 90 educational programs that are available. And certainly some of them are based off of our live national meetings. And we typically look at the evaluations and attendance on site and pull those through online. And they're usually accredited and available for our members for free. And then we also recently completed a summit on prescription digital therapeutics. And that's the newest program that has gone up in the last few weeks. And so that'll be available actually starting today. And so we're working on really just making sure that there's timely things available to our members, and that they're can do it 24/7 online.
Fred Goldstein 02:41
That's really excellent to have all that available for your members. And let's talk a little bit more about this Fundamentals of Managed Care Pharmacy. Understand it's now edition three. So Brittany, what's new in this edition?
Brittany Henry 02:53
Yeah, I knew you were going to ask that. And there's so much I was trying to think of everything as Ruby was talking. And there's a lot of things. So let's see if I can build up the momentum here. So first, we have a new look and new branding, as well as a new voice of Fundamentals. And if you've been listening to these podcasts with Fred, you may recognize the voice because it is Fred. So we've been able to work with him with this project and program. So it's been nice to add that little touch to it. So thank you for that, Fred. We've also been able to include more interactivity. So instead of just a pre and post test at the beginning and the end of each module, we also have questions interspersed throughout. Being in education, Ruby, and I work a lot with adult learners. And we've learned that adult learners have an attention span of only eight to 10 minutes. So this interactivity spaced throughout is really going to help our learners stay focused, and then be able to pull out some of those key concepts. In the past, Ruby said that we had only 12 modules. But for this edition, we decided to add a new module on Health Economics and Outcomes Research HEOR. So now the program will consist of 13 modules, offering around 10 hours of CE credit. And lastly, I think this is the one of the most exciting parts, besides adding a new module is that speaking of credit, not only are we at accrediting this for pharmacists, but we're also accrediting it for pharmacy technicians. We've heard a lot from our managed care pharmacy technicians, and we're excited to be able to offer this resource for them to have credit as well.
Fred Goldstein 04:34
So given this accreditation, who is this really designed for Ruby, who should be taking this course what sectors of the pharmacy business should be looking at this
Ruby Singh 04:43
Sure so as I sort of mentioned, it's the basics, it's really to talk about the flow of prescriptions and money in health care, what is a formulary? How was that developed? What was a drug monograph? And you know, a lot of the basic concepts that really are foundational in terms of managed care practice, and so I kind of say anyone can take it. It's kind of interesting here at AMCP. All of our staff take it as an onboarding to employment at AMCP, which I think is fascinating. And obviously, not everyone has a pharmacy background. So I think it just really helps them understand the terminology and sort of what our members do. But we also recognize that student pharmacists get a lot of value out of this because a lot of managed care concepts are not always germane in the pharmacy curriculum. So we have seen schools of pharmacy use this as a part of their elective, their managed care, pharmacy electives. And also a lot of the student chapters request the program. But we also find that pharmacists who are mid-career love the program, they are interested in maybe changing to a managed care career. And so having some of these basic concepts or making sure they understand what managed care pharmacy is, is really helpful to them. And then of course, we see that this is a training program. So we find that managed care residency programs are using it for their residents, we're finding that corporate organizations like pharma are using it to train their teams that are working with managed care organizations. So it's across the board been really a varied audience, to be honest. And I think as Brittany mentioned, we also recognize that there's a lot of pharmacy technicians working in managed care pharmacy. And so I think having that expanded accreditation is really going to be valuable to them as well. So I think we have a really good opportunity to train.
Brittany Henry 06:33
And Ruby, I was gonna add, about staff having to take it because I love that everyone gets to do it. I know Ruby and I are both pharmacists, by training. But it's always fun to have our fellow colleagues be able to take it to who may not have that pharmacy background. So just that knowing that our colleagues are able to take that and those with not as much pharmacy knowledge are able to gain something from it just shows how valuable it is.
Fred Goldstein 06:59
Yeah, and I would add, coming from a hospital background, and then also running a health plan for years. And sitting on the committee that did this work. It's really fascinating how broad this is, and how much of that spectrum it really covers to provide a really solid knowledge base about managed care pharmacy, and how it works. And what are the inner pieces to think about? When will this new module be available? Brittany?
Brittany Henry 07:26
Friday, I like how you're, you laughed a little bit. Notice it's been a big project a big undertaking. So we are actually working on tying up the final pieces now. And we'll be launching the third edition come mid July, of course, we'll be making sure everyone knows because they certainly don't want anyone to miss this. Even if you've taken fundamentals in the past. You know, it is a little different. It has more to offer more there. Just remember it is an available online on our learning platform AMCPLearn and is our online self paced learning activity.
Fred Goldstein 08:03
So Brittany, what's the cost of the program?
Brittany Henry 08:06
That's a good question. Of course, you'll need to know that. So we have a professional version offering continuing education credit for pharmacists, and pharmacy technicians. And that is available for $399 for AMCP members, and $499 for non members, then we have a student version as well, which has no credit associated with it. Same programming just so you don't get that credit. And it is $199 for AMCP members and $249 for non members. We've also especially over the years, I anticipate it to grow, we have bundled prices. So if there's an organization or school or whatever company is interested in doing a bulk purchase, we can certainly work with you on financing and pricing that as well. If you have any questions about that, you can email us at AMCPLearn@AMCP.org.
Fred Goldstein 08:58
So you mentioned also Ruby, this new one with digital therapeutics. That's obviously a really hot topic. You said that's available now for individuals. Are there other areas you're looking at in the future as you expand this service out?
Ruby Singh 09:13
Yeah, I think one of the areas that we're really hoping to dive into in the course of the next year, year and a half is really looking at what are the key areas of managed care pharmacy that our members and you know, our vested stakeholders really need. And so training is definitely an area that we hope to expand in the coming year and offering both online and live training. I think it's really important. And there are a few things that we are looking at right now. But I would tell you that I think we're going to be doing a little bit more in terms of member input and surveys and things like that to make sure we're really meeting their needs.
Fred Goldstein 09:49
Excellent. And you mentioned Britney, this is available at AMCPLearn and that's up at the amcp.org website to find that.
Brittany Henry 09:56
Yep. AMCPLearn.org.
Fred Goldstein 09:59
Got it. Well, thank you both for joining us in discussing the new program.
Ruby Singh 10:04
Well, thank you, Fred.
Brittany Henry 10:05
Yeh, Thank you.
Fred Goldstein 10:07
And thank you for joining us today. If you liked this show, you can find all our episodes at amcp.org/podcast on our show page at HealthcareNOWradio.com, or on your favorite listening platform by searching Healthcare NOW Radio. You can follow our show's social hashtag at #AMCPListenUp. And don't forget to share, like and follow AMCPorg on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. I'm Fred Goldstein for AMCP. Until next time.
About the Hosts
Fred Goldstein is the founder and president of Accountable Health, LLC, a healthcare consulting firm focused on population health, health system redesign, new technologies and analytics. He has over 30 years of experience in population health, disease management, HMO, and hospital operations. Fred is an Instructor at the John D. Bower School of Population Health at the University of Mississippi Medical Center and the editorial Board of the journal Population Health Management.
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