John Crumly, DPh, MHA
2010-2011 President OPhA
It is truly an honor and a privilege to be the new OPhA
President. I expect to have a very busy and productive year as I am confident we will continue to have many opportunities to overcome challenges and find solutions.
In my very quick 25 years as a pharmacist, it has been an amazing ride that could not have happened without divine intervention and the support of a loving family.
Imagine growing up as a kid in Muskogee not knowing what you really wanted to do after high school and only a single family friend as your main connection to the profession of pharmacy. To attend and graduate (on time I might add) the University of Oklahoma College of Pharmacy is a proud accomplishment given the unscripted start. Working as a practicing pharmacist for the Hyde Drug Company laid a great foundation in dealing with people and solving problems, especially the Saturday outpatient “visitors” from Griffin memorial mental hospital. Given my moves through academia and state bureaucracy, some might say I have an attention span issue or trouble holding a job. For me, the opportunity to witness the impact of OBRA ’90 early on and to visit the State Capitol on many occasions to explain why drug price inflation was hitting 20% year over year was surreal. The last nine years at Pharmacy Providers of Oklahoma (PPOk) have been anything but boring, except maybe those HIPAA seminars. I am truly blessed to be afforded these many great experiences during my career as a pharmacist. I look forward to many more unique experiences as OPhA President.
I am sure many of you have watched Tom Brokaw, the television journalist and NBC nightly news anchor. You may not know he wrote a book called ‘’The Greatest Generation.” The book is a compilation of hundreds of letters and interviews of World War II veterans that had lived during the great depression.
The reason I mention this book is its correlation to the past leadership of OPhA and PPOk. To be clear, I am not suggesting our leaders the last couple of decades were all adults during the depression, well at least most of them. The subjects of Brokaw’s book were everyday people transformed by extraordinary circumstances. The book salutes those whose sacrifices changed the course of American history.
Over the last 25 years of constant change, we find ourselves in a highly competitive market, with considerable regulation and payors that set market prices while they compete with us as providers and use their position to manipulate the system to their advantage. Despite all of this, community pharmacy in Oklahoma is alive and kicking. We owe a debt of gratitude to the pharmacy leaders of the last 25 years. I would like to take this opportunity to personally acknowledge and thank the past presidents of the association, many of whom also have served on the PPOk board of directors. Your sacrifices and fine example of commitment and
leadership have definitely shaped our profession. You are Oklahoma Pharmacy’s greatest generation.
As the newly installed president, you may be curious about my leadership style, thoughts on management and where I might direct the association.
Around the office Lonny likes to kid me about my advanced degree and how I use all kinds of analytics to arrive at the same conclusion that he arrived at by the seat of his pants. I am sure he would tell you he came to the conclusion much quicker as well.
In reality the things I learned while getting a Masters in Health Administration had a definite impact on the way I think and how I approach problem solving. If you have ever read a book on management you have probably heard of Peter Drucker and many of his famous quotes. I would
like to share a few of his
quotes because I do believe in his messages and reflect on these principles in every day decision making as I go about the business of PPOk and now the Association.
•Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things.
•Rank does not confer privilege or give power. It imposes responsibility.
•Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes... but no plans.
•Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window.
•The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn't said.
•Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results, not attributes
And the last and maybe most important for our association:
•The entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity.
The profession of pharmacy has been repeatedly challenged with many obstacles. Thanks to strong leadership and commitment, we have met those challenges and created opportunity. Oklahoma pharmacists can be proud of the accomplishments at PPOk and the Association.
When prescription telecommunication systems became the order of the day, RxLinc was born and provided this critical business connectivity Faster, Better and Cheaper.
When PBM’s became more than claim processors, PPOk created a PBM to promote transparency and educate the client about the right way to manage prescription benefits.
OPhA has deployed the latest web technologies for quick, efficient and economical communication on key legislative and regulatory activity in the state.
PPOk’s latest efforts have resulted in the development of sophisticated data management capabilities that allow us to gather critical market intelligence to insure we can negotiate for competitive reimbursement and then perform contract compliance and monitor key metrics like Generic Effective Rates to make sure our business counterparts are meeting their commitments.
About a year ago, I was speaking with a colleague and he commented on how neat it was for me to be involved at a high level and to have the opportunity to make a difference in this ever changing world of pharmacy. While honored and proud that I get the opportunity to participate in these things, to me the key contributors are those of you who work with patients every day and take time to make a difference in someone’s life.
Recently, my wife, daughter and I were touring the Imagine Paul Mitchell School of Cosmetology where my daughter will attend. As we were talking, the young hostess commented that she loved her profession because they were one of the few professionals that still touched someone and listened to their stories and made them feel good about themselves.
I reflected on this for a while and realized to a large extent she was right. In today’s healthcare world, physicians see patients on average for less than seven minutes during an office visit. In many pharmacies today, pharmacists and staff race to fill 300-400 prescriptions a day. The days of laying on hands and having a face to face relationship with the patient are becoming the exception rather than the rule in corporate America.
The good news is patients haven’t given up on us and still value their local pharmacist for help and honest answers. A recent Novartis Report on trends in the industry showed a downward trend in Mail Order prescriptions year over year and that the penetration rate, even with copay incentives, had only grown to 9% of total prescriptions. At the same time Mail at Retail prescriptions have been as high as 38% without incentives. A true testament that patients like having access to their pharmacist.
In closing, I would like to ask each one of you to reach out to your patients, let them know you care and that you are there to answer questions and help solve drug related problems. In doing this you will be the real difference makers.
Thank you for your continued support of OPhA and PPOk.