Beyond CPNP

Raymond C. Love, PharmD, BCPP, FASHP
CPNP President-Elect

As CPNP has matured and grown as an organization, we have initiated more and more interactions with a wide variety of organizations with which we share interests. At the recent Annual Meeting in Tampa, CPNP leadership had formal meetings with representatives from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP), the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP), the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists (ASCP), and the Board of Pharmacy Specialties (BPS). 

Here are just a few highlights of the discussions we enjoyed with other professional organizations during CPNP 2015:

• AACP Represented by Ruth Nemire and Cynthia Boyle: AACP sought us out as a partner to help edit an International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) white paper on pharmacy and mental health. In turn, we discussed the psychiatric component of pharmacy school curricula with them. As a follow-up on our Value Paper, we are working to author and publish an article on psychiatric education in pharmacy in American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education. Ruth Nemire is participating in the task force dedicated to this effort.
• ASCP Represented by Nicki Brandt and Joan Baird: CMS initiatives regarding antipsychotic prescribing in long term care took center stage in our discussions as did draft USP Chapter 800 Hazardous Medications changes and their impact on pharmacies in psychiatric facilities. 
• ACCP Represented by Associate Director of Governmental Affairs, John McGlew: ACCP updated us on recent developments in our partnership directed toward obtaining payment for pharmacist services. The CPNP Board offered suggestions on outreach beyond our coalition. 
• BPS: Executive Director Bill Ellis updated the Board on recent BPS activities. We held a long discussion regarding CPNP’s proposal to continue service as the sole provider of BCPP recertification. 
• NAMI: Chuck Harman, National Director of Strategic Alliances and Development, was advised of the USP Chapter 800 Hazardous Drugs, in order to share with NAMI’s advocacy department. Changes in NAMI’s website, CPNP programming for the NAMI Annual Meeting, our activities in substance abuse and NAMI On-Campus were all highlighted as we explored new opportunities to work together.

Outreach isn’t contained to the CPNP Annual Meeting. CPNP regularly participates as members of the Pharmacy Stakeholders Group coordinated by the American Pharmacists Association (APhA). In the recent past, we’ve also met live with the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) and the American Association of Physician Assistants (AAPA) and have recently joined the Providers’ Clinical Support System For Opioid Therapies and Providers’ Clinical Support System For Medication Assisted Treatment (PCSS-O and PCSS-MAT). We met with AANP and AAPA to discuss federal legislation that could remove the “physician only” prescribing restriction on buprenorphine for opioid addiction treatment. Not only are we interested in expanding access to buprenorphine for patients, we are interested in providing psychiatric pharmacists an opportunity to prescribe buprenorphine for their patients with opioid use disorders.

Recently, we’ve engaged in conference call dialogues with the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) regarding CPNP’s Naloxone Guide to introduce ourselves and talk with them about the role of our members in substance abuse and behavioral health. We want to be at the table discussing the role of pharmacy in policy matters rather than simply reacting. Along this vein, our recent publication entitled Naloxone Access: A Practical Guideline for Pharmacists was distributed to nearly 1000 pharmacy and medical organizations and governmental entities.

Why so many meetings? Why so much outreach?

As CPNP has grown in stature, our voice and expertise matter. We have become recognized for our expertise. We are asserting ourselves in an effort to create opportunities for psychiatric pharmacists and to better serve our patients. CPNP seeks to help shape the policies that impact the future of psychiatric pharmacy and the care of the patients whom we serve. Partnerships are critical to our success. Increasingly, our voices as psychiatric pharmacists are being heard...Beyond CPNP.