In addition to electing two new Board members to the Board of Directors, concurrently increasing the Board size from five to six persons, the Board directed the activities and programs of the Community Pharmacy Foundation aggressively in 2007.
For the year, a total of 35 Grant Applications were received bringing to a grand total of 361 Grant Applications submitted since the Community Pharmacy Foundation became operational in 2002.
To date the Board has funded 70 Grant Proposals totaling almost $3 million.
In addition to Grant Applications received from interested persons and organizations from around the country … most notably colleges of pharmacy … the Foundation in 2004 initiated a FOCUS agenda whereby it solicited selected grants that were of greater funding allocation than the average grant and are targeted to become a “signature” project assisting the profession in a strategic fashion expand its medication therapy management (MTM) goals.
The first such grant awarded as a “signature” project as part of the Foundation’s FOCUS agenda was a Pharmaceutical Case Management (PCM) proposal whereby the Iowa Pharmacy Association partnered with the Farm Bureau of Iowa to provide PCM services to targeted patients/members of Farm Bureau that were insured through the Blue Cross Blue Shield health plan in Iowa, operating as Wellmark. The results of this special initiative by the Community Pharmacy Foundation will be available early in 2008.
As part of its continuing FOCUS agenda the Board is expected to be soon announcing the award of additional FOCUS grants whereby pharmacists of two more states will be partnering with major health plans to implement MTM services in an innovative approach.
The Board trusts that these special endeavors will greatly assist the profession in the ever increasing challenge to expand the involvement of community pharmacists in direct patient care associated with improved medication use.
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