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NEW ORLEANS — DeAnn Mullins, co-owner of Mullins Pharmacy in Lynn Haven, Fla., has been named president of the National Community Pharmacists Association.
DeAnn Mullins, NCPA’s new president
Mullins made her debut Wednesday as the association’s new president at the NCPA 2016 Annual Convention in New Orleans. At the event, NCPA also installed other new officers, including a new fifth vice president, Michael Kim.
Kim is the owner of several independent pharmacies in the District of Columbia and Maryland, including Grubbs Care Pharmacy on Capitol Hill. He also is vice president of the Washington D.C. Pharmacy Association and chairman of the Care Pharmacies board of directors.
“As pharmacists, we are deeply connected to our patients. Those deep connections and relationships and the satisfaction from knowing deep in our souls that we are doing good work that keeps us fighting this crazy fight and it’s a key to our continued success,” Mullins said in her inaugural speech during a House of Delegates session held in conjunction with the convention. “Being a pharmacist is about taking care of people and relationships. It’s a core desire to help people be well. And we do that day in and day out. It’s our superpower in a value-based system of care.”
Mullins takes the NCPA president’s reins from Brad Arthur, co-owner of Black Rock Pharmacy and Brighton-Eggert Pharmacy in Buffalo, N.Y.
She is a certified diabetes educator and, besides Mullins Pharmacy, also owns WeCare Wellness and the WeCare Diabetes Education Program.
“My primary goal this next year is to work on connections and relationships with everyone who shares similar values and beliefs and who believes in the higher purpose of fixing our broken health care system,” Mullins added. “I believe in a world where prescribers, pharmacists, nurses and payers quit competing and start collaborating to design a value-based system of care that benefits everyone — including clinicians. Caring for our caregivers is just good medicine.
Along with Mullins, NCPA’s board of directors includes president-elect David Smith of Indiana, Pa.; chairman Bill Osborn of Miami, Okla.; Brian Caswell of Baxter Springs, Kan.; Michele Belcher of Grants Pass, Ore.; Hugh Chancy of Hahira, Ga.; Jeff Carson of San Antonio, Texas; and Lea Wolsoncroft of Birmingham, Ala.
NCPA’s current slate of officers, besides Kim as fifth vice president, includes Jeff Harrell of Ilwaco, Wash., as first vice president; Kristen Riddle of Conway, Ark., as second vice president; Christian Tadrus of Columbia, Mo., as third vice president; and Justin Wilson of Midwest City, Okla., as fourth vice president.
Also at the delegates session, NCPA adopted two resolutions, focusing on direct and indirect remuneration fees (DIR fees) and value-based and alternative payment schemes.
The first resolution notes that DIR fees threaten many independent pharmacies and may be levied in an uneven manner, making it difficult to determine what their effective reimbursement rate. “NCPA opposes any retroactive reduction in payment directly or indirectly on clean claims submitted by pharmacies,” the resolution states.
Addressing value-based purchasing arrangements and alternative payment model, the second resolution commits NCPA to “encourage the development and operation of regional enhanced services networks of community pharmacies with defined core service sets and additional optional services to facilitate the integration of community pharmacy with other health care providers to prosper in the changing health care environment by improving the health and wellness of their patients and lowering the total cost of care.”
It concludes by stating that “NCPA support its members interested in participating in enhanced services networks with programs, tools and resource for them to adapt their business and practice for the best opportunity for success.”
“We need stronger aggregation within our pharmacy community, and we need to unite with other clinicians and like-minded health care providers, organizations and patient groups,” Mullins said in her speech. “Aggregation of independents and a larger aggregation with the entire health care community has been a board priority for several years. We must aggregate, not just to fight the PBMs, but to be an integral part of health care in the future.”
