Steven M Burghart, DPh, MBA, BCPP
CPNP President
“Life loves to be taken by the lapel and told: I’m with you kid. Let’s go.” Maya Angelou
In February, we turned the page on the Mental Health Clinician (MHC). The MHC Editorial Board has taken their duties by the lapel and run with it. The result of their hard work is a relaunch of the journal on a web platform hosted and supported by Allen Press. This is a huge step for CPNP as we continue to build our product into what is now fully peer reviewed and eventually, an indexed professional journal. As described in the launch email, the new format now allows for PDF access to all archived and new articles, a new dedicated web site, a new and enhanced manuscript tracking process, and hyperlinked references. The MHC remains open access. You will need to set up a log in to access the full content on the new website, but the set up process is quick and easy.
I would like to congratulate the MHC editorial board for their hard work on the journal. This was an ambitious project that consumed much of their time and energy these past 18 months. The current members of the MHC editorial board are:
Joshua Caballero, PharmD, BCPP, Senior Editor
Amy Werremeyer, PharmD, BCPP, Senior Editor
Joshana K. Goga, PharmD, BCPP
Robin N. Hieber, PharmD, BCPP
Tiffany-Jade Kreys, PharmD, BCPP
Stephanie V. Phan, PharmD, BCPP
Clinton A. Ross, PharmD, BCPP
Amy M. VandenBerg, PharmD, BCPP
Rachel McMurray, Managing Editor
Gregory H. Payne, MBA, Coordinating Editor
I would also like to extend my congratulations to all previous members of the editorial board, whose hard work created the foundation for the current success of the MHC. A list of those members is available here.
The theme for the most recent issue of the revamped MHC is, “Examining the Impact of the Psychiatric Pharmacist” with articles focused on outcomes. The journal contains four articles presenting the results from original research while another two articles feature innovative practices.
Highlighted in this issue of the MHC is the release of an important position paper from CPNP demonstrating the value of psychiatric pharmacists as members of healthcare teams. This position paper supports the need for increased patient access to comprehensive medication management delivered by psychiatric pharmacists participating as members of the healthcare team. Entitled Improving Medication‐Related Outcomes for Patients with Psychiatric and Neurological Disorders: Value of Psychiatric Pharmacists as Part of the Healthcare Team, this paper reviews the need for psychiatric pharmacists, the unique training and experience of psychiatric pharmacists, outcomes from studies specifically examining interventions for patients with psychiatric and neurological disorders, and comprehensive medication management.
On behalf of the CPNP Board, I would like to extend my deep appreciation to the authors of the opinion paper. Not only did they expend a great deal of time and effort in researching and producing this document, they also showed incredible patience in applying the many edits that came from individuals, board members and editors. We now have an opinion paper that we can be proud of, but also one that will be extremely useful in demonstrating the benefits of psychiatric pharmacists to stakeholders. The authors of the position paper are:
Lisa W. Goldstone, MS, PharmD, BCPS, BCPP; Bethany A. DiPaula, PharmD, BCPP; Joshua Caballero, PharmD, BCPP; Susie H. Park, PharmD, BCPP; Cristofer Price, PharmD, BCPP and Magdalena Zasadzki Slater, PharmD, BCPS, BCPP.
Also, a reminder that we have an outstanding annual meeting planned for April 19-22 at the Marriott Tampa Waterside Hotel in Tampa, Florida. Program Chair Jacquelyn Canning and her Program Committee have assembled an outstanding schedule that includes a pre-meeting workshop on motivational interviewing and keynote addresses on recovery in SPMI populations and Mental Health in the ACA. In addition, the schedule for industry supported symposia and product theaters are now set and include three product theaters offered by Otsuka, Sunovion, and TEVA and an ACPE approved symposium offered by Sunovion.
Please keep in mind, the CPNP hotel block expires on April 3rd. There are also a limited number of rooms at a government rate for those who need it. Additional information on annual meeting lodging is available on the lodging page.
I look forward to seeing many of you in Tampa!