Becker's 11th Annual Meeting: 4 Questions with William Lee, Senior Director of Pharmacy System Innovations at Carilion Clinic

William Lee, DPh, MPA, FASCP, serves as Senior Director of Pharmacy System Innovations at Carilion Clinic.

On April 7th, Dr. Lee will serve on the pharmacy leadership forum "The Role of New Technology in Pharmacy + Its Impact on the Future" at Becker's Hospital Review 11th Annual Meeting. As part of an ongoing series, Becker's is talking to healthcare leaders who plan to speak at the conference, which will take place on April 6-9, 2020 in Chicago.

To learn more about the conference and Dr. Lee's session, click here.

Question: What, from your perspective, is the biggest challenge about the future of work for hospitals, and what can they do about it? (i.e. automation, desire for more flexibility, clinician shortages, etc.)

William Lee: Being a pharmacist and having to deal with the ongoing constant shortage of drugs has become the norm and I don't see it going away anytime soon for various reasons. By taking advantage of new technologies and automation, we are beginning to attack and finding new approaches to deal with it going forward. It was not long ago that we didn't have the "cloud" and only had barcoding. Now we have RFID, Pharmacogenomics, and Artificial intelligence. The hospital pharmacists of the future must embrace the new and still changing model of care that must include transitional care and become part of the care team as a whole. Perhaps the biggest challenge is the need to implement a pharmacy model that can successfully integrate the work of the community pharmacists with the medical home as well as the hospital pharmacist. The idea of managing patients who have chronic diseases post-discharge from a hospital is even more important now as we see new models of reimbursement being rolled out by CMS as well as third-party payers. Pharmacists are becoming more involved with population health strategies to prevent unnecessary admissions and readmissions... We have a huge shortage of qualified technicians that is so critical to advancing pharmacy care and patient safety in the hospitals.

Q: What’s one lesson you learned early in your career that has helped you lead in healthcare?

WL: I think developing a reliable network of colleagues that one can share and bounce ideas off is so critical in order to continue to create and innovate. Without that, there is stagnation and no true growth not only for the individual but also for the system. The idea of cultivating curiosity and courage to look beyond the four walls of where we work and to bring those ideas back to an organization is so critical for the prevention of stagnation within an organization.

Q: Where do you go for inspiration and fresh ideas?

WL: I think the most important part of getting new ideas and inspiration is by being involved with your peers outside of your organization. It's critical to stay involved with new practitioners and allow them to be part of those discussions that are often necessary to improve efficiencies within the organization. Developing a meaningful relationship with your reporting leader helps to actualize any initiatives and to implement them.

Q: What do you see as the most exciting opportunity in healthcare right now?

WL: I think the most exciting opportunity is the ability for the patient to potentially provide more frequent feedback to the caregiver with new technologies that are now available. Such items like wireless or cellular blood glucose meters, PulseOx, etc. are giving the pharmacist the opportunity to be engaged with the patient more often.

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