Each hospital has different needs and purposes, though, and a recently-acquired hospital is not yet on the health system’s EHR platform.
In late June, Keck Medicine of USC promoted him from chief pharmacy officer of two hospitals — Keck Hospital of USC and USC Norris Cancer Hospital, both in Los Angeles — to chief pharmacy officer of the system, which includes four hospitals and more than 100 clinics.
A few days after his promotion, Keck Medicine finalized its acquisition of Methodist Hospital of Southern California, which is now named USC Arcadia Hospital.
“There is a huge learning curve for me just to understand the operations there and how things work,” Dr. Azizian told Becker’s.
His reach goal is a 90-10 ratio of standardization and variation in pharmacy practices across Keck Medicine.
“One thing, for example, that I think we’ll standardize is around proactive diversion monitoring and controlled substance and opioid storage,” he said, adding that sterile compounding will be reconfigured to USP’s new standards, which become effective Nov. 1.
Dr. Azizian said pharmacy leaders easily become stuck in their work by not switching up their pharmacotherapy monitoring and clinical intervention tools: “The more innovative pharmacy leadership teams I’ve seen have morphed their clinical pharmacy services to what the organization is shifting to,” such as focusing on a patient’s health outside a hospital’s walls.
Becker’s 3rd Annual Fall Chief Pharmacy Officer Summit is the top tier event that the people leading the future of pharmacy convene. This 3-day event is built specifically for Chief Pharmacy Officers and senior pharmacy leaders. The sessions examine the workforce, financial and clinical priorities shaping pharmacy today. Becker’s is where candid discussions flourish and new ideas thrive. Becker's 3rd Annual Fall Chief Pharmacy Officer Summit
