Higher Education CoP May 2021: Project Management and Pharmacy Accreditation

ABSTRACT

When an organization decides to pursue obtaining an accreditation status, the task of reviewing, organizing, and fulfilling the accreditation requirements often defaults to the organization’s quality assurance and/or compliance group. However, sometimes the type of accreditation is so specialized that an individual close to the nuances associated with the accreditation requirements is needed to prepare the organization and assure all accreditation requirements are fulfilled prior to the final evaluation audit. In 2016, Duke University Hospital decided to pursue URAC (Utilization Review Accreditation Commission) accreditation. During his seven years at Duke, Dr. Herring has ushered the Duke Specialty Pharmacy and participating clinicians and staff through the URAC Program and re-Accreditation process obtaining the coveted URAC status. The accomplishment was two years in the making, and required numerous project management abilities ranging from utilizing critical strategic planning to evoking effective people skills.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

This presentation focuses on three key areas from the URAC accreditation preparation process: 1) recognizing the need for and conducting gap analyses, 2) identifying and operationalizing effective work streams, and 3) project education to facilitate team buy-in.

ABOUT the SPEAKER

Dr. Mark Herring is the Manager of Specialty Pharmacy Accreditation and the Patient Assistance Program at Duke University Hospital. He is also a Certified Specialty Pharmacist (CSP). Dr. Herring created and manages the Specialty Pharmacy Patient Assistance Program, as well as oversees Duke’s pharmacy accreditation program. He also directly manages 32 pharmacy staff. As chair of the Duke Specialty Pharmacy Quality Committee, he focuses on metric analysis and Quality Improvement Projects in financial, operational, and clinical aspects of specialty pharmaceutical care. To maintain Duke’s URAC (Utilization Review Accreditation Commission) accreditation status, Dr. Herring manages 26 work streams involving approximately 120 different individuals from 19 internal and external departments/organizations. Prior to joining Duke, Dr. Herring was a pharmacist and manager at CVS Pharmacy for 14 combined years. He possesses a BA in Chemistry and his PharmD degree from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.

This is a joint event between NCPMI Higher Education Community of Practice (HECoP), and the Duke Project Management CoP. The event is free and open to anyone interested in project management.

Notes:

1. This event is a Zoom-Only event
2. After registering and upon approval by the host, you will receive a confirmation email with instructions for joining the session. Please join the session shortly before 12:00 pm.