Talk to Your Pharmacist

In this episode, you’ll hear from Tim Ulbrich, who is helping to improve pharmacists’ financial literacy. Tim is a pharmacist passionate about identifying career paths that fit students’ goals and interests so they can have fulfilling careers and lives. Tim is also the creator of the pharmacy podcast, Your Financial Pharmacist, and author of the book, Seven Figure Pharmacist. He graduated from Ohio Northern University with his Doctor of Pharmacy and completed residency training in community/ambulatory care at Ohio State. After paying off more than $200,000 in non-mortgage debt, Tim is working to empower pharmacists and pharmacy students to take control of their financial future. Guest - Tim Ulbrich, Pharm.D. Website: www.yourfinancialpharmacist.com and www.yfpplanning.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yourfinancialpharmacist/ and https://www.facebook.com/groups/390846528023004/ LinkedIn (personal): https://www.linkedin.com/in/timulbrich/ Instagram: @yourfinancialpharmacist and @timothyulbrich Host -

In this episode, our guest is Antonio Ciaccia, President of 3 Axis Advisors and CEO of 46brooklyn Research. Born and raised in the world of pharmacy, Antonio Ciaccia has been crawling around pharmacies his entire life. After three years as a pharmacy technician and two years of pre-pharmacy curriculum, Antonio diverted course, graduating from The Ohio State University in 2007 with dual degrees in communications and political science before moving into the world of association management, eventually heading up government affairs for the Ohio Pharmacists Association, where his data analytics work helped lead state officials to audit and uncover $244 million in hidden prescription drug overcharges in the state Medicaid managed care program. After years of studying the pharmacy marketplace, Antonio became increasingly perplexed and concerned as he saw drug costs spiking while payouts to pharmacies were declining and more drugs were being excluded from plan coverage. Knowing something was being lost somewhere in

In this episode, our Our guest, Dr. Lisa Faast is an innovator, experienced business executive, and leader in the independent pharmacy industry. With over 20 years of experience as a pharmacy owner, consultant, compounder, and businesswoman, she is able to bring a unique perspective to the industry’s problems. Her passion is helping independent pharmacy owners thrive by focusing on diversifying and then growing revenue streams. She is currently CEO at DiversifyRx, a consulting and education company, a multi-store pharmacy owner, in addition to being a wife and mom of 4. Interview topics About DiversifyRx: Pharmacy owners have suffered enough from low profits, DIR fees, effective rate contracts, unfair audits, and much more. While it gets tougher as a pharmacy owner every year, there has never been more opportunity available than there is now. Every pharmacy owner should have a thriving, profitable pharmacy. DiversifyRx is on a mission to save every independent pharmacy. Our 6 Pillars of Pharmacy Profitabili

In this episode, our guest is Cory Jenks, who earned his doctor of pharmacy degree from the University of South Carolina in 2011. Since then, he has practiced as a retail pharmacist, outpatient clinical pharmacist, and inpatient clinical pharmacist. His current practice is as an ambulatory care clinical pharmacy specialist, where he applies his passion for lifestyle interventions in the management of chronic disease. In addition to his career as a pharmacist, Cory is also an accomplished improv comedian, having started on his comedy journey in 2013. Since then, Cory has coached, taught, and performed improv teaching other healthcare professionals how to apply the valuable skills of improv comedy to create a more adaptable, empathetic, and humanizing healthcare experience. Cory lives in Tucson, Arizona, with his wife, Cassie, their two children, and ten chickens. When he’s not caring for patients or making people laugh, Cory enjoys harvesting rainwater, playing racquetball, basketball, and golf, and explori

In this episode, our guest is Dr. Jamie Wilkey is a pharmacist who loves what she does and brings passion and happiness to the pharmacy profession. Jamie grew up in a small town in Wyoming where she got her start in pharmacy working at the local City Drug. She attended the University of Wyoming School of Pharmacy for her Doctor of Pharmacy. She was active in student government while at UW and also served as president and later as vice-president of her pharmacy class. For 10 years post-graduation, Jamie worked in community pharmacy while having and raising her 4 little boys. Frustrated by the stress and schedule of that position created her own job for herself that better suits her talents, her passions, and her family’s busy schedule. She abruptly jumped out of retail and into the world of entrepreneurship and has found her true calling in life. She is the founder & CEO of Arches Health, LLC. She serves patients in her community as a consultant pharmacist focusing on pharmacogenomics. After getting her p

In this episode, our guest Peter Koshland shares about his path to compounding and issues facing it today. Peter Koshland, PharmD opened his compounding pharmacy, Koshland Pharm, in 2009 in San Francisco and works with doctors and patients on individualized, integrative therapies that make a difference in the quality of patients’ day-to-day lives. Peter has seen the profound impact high-quality compounded medicine can have, so producing the absolute best patient outcomes is what drives his decisions as CEO of Koshland Pharm. When he is not in the pharmacy, Peter spends his time consulting with and educating doctors about the multiple applications of compounded medicine in their respective fields. Main topics: Why big pharma is lobbying against bio-identical HRT How bias against compounding pharmacies could limit the options available to doctors treating patients The economic impact that FDA overreach could have on pharmacists across the country Peter Koshland -LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterkos

Our guest, Sarah Ruth, has spent almost a decade building healthtech startups. She cut her teeth in healthcare technology at Oscar Health, where she helped grow the team by 1000 in less than two years. She moved on to Sidewalk Labs, an Alphabet company, where she scaled the internal team and launched several of its portfolio companies, including CityBlock Health. Most recently, she led US Portfolio talent for Octopus Ventures, a UK-based VC fund that specializes in launching healthtech companies. Currently, she leads Recruiting for Thyme Care, a Nashville-based oncology navigation startup backed by Andresseen Horowitz, AlleyCorp, Frist Cressey, Casdin, and Bessemer. Sarah Ruth lives in Wedgewood Houston with her husband Michael and their Golden Retrievers Charlotte and Lucy. Talking Points: What does the interview process typically look like from behind the scenes? What makes a candidate standout? What is the best way to work with a recruiter? Is it ok to reach out to people on Linkedin? Guest - Sarah R

In this episode, our guest is Ramzi Yacoub, PharmD, who is Chief Pharmacy Officer at RxSense, overseeing the clinical side of the health tech company that provides transparency and access to consistently low prices on prescription drugs. He provides clinical guidance to clients, lends expertise and oversight to program development and oversees compliance for standards of care and safety. Prior to RxSense, he was Director of Client Services at Catalyst Health Solutions, then Catamaran, where he was a senior clinical consultant to large health plans and premier clients. He also spent several years as AVP of Health Plans with Solid Benefit Guidance. Ramzi holds a Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) from the University of Florida. He is based in Florida. Ramzi's Social Handles: https://www.linkedin.com/company/singlecare/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/rxsense/ https://www.instagram.com/singlecare/?hl=en https://www.singlecare.com/ https://rxsense.com/ https://twitter.com/rxsense?lang=en https://twitter.com/sing

In this episode, our guest is Dr. Rajinder Rai, (Ra-GIN-der RIE) PharmD, the founder and CEO of digital wellness company SunRais Health™. With over two decades of experience in the field of pharmacy and pharmaceutical education, Dr. Rai is disrupting this field in holistic and innovative ways. As an advocate for pharmacists, she is actively involved in the advancement of this industry, and currently serves as the president of the Ventura County Chapter of California Pharmacists Association as well as on the advisory board of PatchRx and GoodRx. Dr. Rai aims to guide disease prevention from a holistic approach in order to lead and teach others how to live a healthy, strong, and free life. Main points: 1. Changing role of pharmacists and opportunities for them to pivot 2. Importance of aligning your vision in life with your purpose to have a fulfilling career and life. 3. Helping women get off "auto-pilot" Guest: Dr. Rajinder Rai www.thrivewithdrrai.com | IG: @thrivewithdrrai | www.sunraishealth.com | IG:

In this episode, our guest is Jim Hrncir (pronounced: hern-sir), who is recognized as one of the pioneers of modern pharmaceutical compounding. Jim is responsible for the formulation of many Bio-Identical Hormones, Dermatological, Nutritional, and Anti-Aging compounds in wide use throughout the US. He has worked in radio and TV, including multiple appearances on Dr. Phil as a hormone expert. As a member of the board of the Alliance for Pharmacy Compounding (APC), Jim is passionate about the benefits pharmaceutical compounding can bring to patients. Jim Hrncir, RPh founded Las Colinas Pharmacy, Compounding & Wellness in 1984 and is recognized as one of the pioneers of modern pharmaceutical compounding. Jim’s 1986 creation of Estradiol Transdermal Gel was the first of its kind in the United States, and he is responsible for the formulation of many Bio-Identical Hormone, Dermatological, Nutritional, and Anti-Aging compounds in wide use throughout the US. Jim was named the 2017 Compounding Pharmacist of t

In this episode, our guest is Helen Sairany, the CEO for South Carolina Pharmacy Association. Prior to joining SCPhA, Helen served as the Director of Content Development and Partnership at the American Pharmacist Association. She has extensive knowledge, skills, and experiences in administrative management, regulatory, practice, healthy equity, and accreditation systems gained through her 11 years of serving the profession as a Director of Content Development and Partnership at the American Pharmacists Association (APhA), Director of Quality Assurance at the University of Duhok College of Pharmacy, and as a trauma-informed provider serving the needs of underserved communities at the frontline in Northern Iraq. We talk about the role of the state executive, current issues facing pharmacy, and the Women of Leadership meeting hosted by South Carolina Pharmacy Association.

Our guest, Dustin Lippert is someone I met in Nashville at the Entrepreneur Center. He just redesigned my website hillaryblackburn.com. If you are looking for someone to help with updating your website, he did a fantastic job. Wanted to have him on to talk about the importance of branding. A bit more about Dustin Over the last 6 years, between his 9-5 in a marketing agency and growing his own clients on the side, Dustin Adam Lippert has created identity systems for local, regional, and national brand ranging from startups to companies with annual revenue of $600 million. In the process he partnered with architectural firms, IT departments, interior design teams, and tech teams to implement brand assets across every medium including print, digital, and environmental products. On the side of his day job, Dustin successfully freelances with several of his own clients doing UI/UX for webdesign, branding, and independent consulting. Main points: 1) What is design? - Good design solves both visible and invisible

In this episode, our guest is Mitch Lee of the ReTell Pharmacy podcast. Mitch started in retail pharmacy as a cashier in 2004 and stayed with it as a tech and into pharmacy school (graduated as a pharmacist in 2010). He began to see and hear SO many interesting intersections as a floater and decided to start ReTell Pharmacy Podcast to share those stories so others in our industry won’t feel alone when they have a tough day. Listeners send in their stories through Facebook and Twitter and a new episode of the show drops once a week on Fridays. He really tries to be intentional in being down-to-earth and not taking himself too seriously, as is often the case in the medical field. Guest Guest: Mike Lee (ReTell Pharmacy) Email: mitchell.lee83@gmail.com Host - Hillary Blackburn, PharmD, MBA www.hillaryblackburn.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/hillary-blackburn-67a92421/ @talktoyourpharmacist for Instagram and Facebook @HillBlackburn Twitter

In this episode, our guest is Our guest, Sonia Oskouei, PharmD, BCMAS, DPLA, joined Cardinal Health in June 2020 to lead the company’s biosimilar strategy. She most recently served as the Vice President of Innovation and Digital Health at Premier Inc., where she led their national biosimilars strategy on behalf of 4,000 where she partnered with pharmaceutical manufacturers and providers to create resources, and education to help health system stakeholders evaluate and adopt biosimilars. Sonia is an established thought leader with numerous publications and currently serves on the Board of Advisors for the Center for Biosimilars. She holds a Doctor of Pharmacy from Belmont University. Main Talking Points: Commonly asked questions: - What are biosimilars? - How they are different than generics - How long they have been approved in the U.S. (and the rest of the world) - Why are they important (eg cost savings) - Explaining the interchangeability designation + why it matters - Understanding state regulations an

In this episode our guest is Sharon Phares, PhD, MPH who is Senior Vice President of Research and Data Innovation with PSG. As the Senior Vice President of Research and Data Innovation, she oversees the strategy and execution of research and educational initiatives. These include primary and sponsored research as well as client projects for PBMs and pharmaceutical manufacturers. Sharon also serves as Assistant Adjunct Professor of Clinical Pediatrics and Assistant Adjunct Professor of Internal Medicine with Washington University in St. Louis. Sharon’s expertise is at the intersection of best-in-class research and marketing—educating the market with scientifically valid yet understandable and actionable insights. Sample projects include: Creating a market analysis and report for a pharma manufacturer bringing an opioid addiction recovery drug to market Conducting a national survey on customer satisfaction for PBMs Discovering the impact of a drug manufacturer’s specialty patient support program through statist

In this episode, our guest is Carm Huntress who co-founded RxRevu with the mission to create a more seamless, cost-effective prescribing experience for patients and providers. Since 2013, Carm has helped develop the industry’s leading Prescription Decision Support solution, which allows providers to select appropriate medication options for their patients. By working closely with physicians, health plans, IT vendors, and health systems, RxRevu is driving informed decision-making and better patient care. Carm brings more than 20 years of experience in startups focused on consumer and enterprise technology. Prior to founding RxRevu, Carm served as chief technology officer at Reef Partners and Audiogon. At a national level, he has played a key role in supporting data interoperability through the development of the FHIR standards and other projects with the Office of National Coordinator (ONC). Carm is a passionate thought leader who has presented at dozens of healthcare innovation conferences (HLTH, AHIP, He

Our guest, James LaValle (Jim), R.Ph., C.C.N.M.T., ND (trad), is an internationally recognized clinical pharmacist, author, board-certified clinical nutritionist, and expert and educator in integrative and precision health. James is best known for his expertise in personalized integrative therapies uncovering the underlying metabolic issues that keep people from feeling healthy and vital. A thought leader in drug/nutrient depletion issues he has published 4 books and 3 databases in this area alone. As such he has over 35 years’ experience integrating natural and integrative therapies into various medical and business models. His latest research is in drug-induced microbiome disruption. He is the founder of Metabolic Code Enterprises, Inc., which has launched the cloud-based Metabolic Code which helps practitioners and consumers identify their metabotype through labs, subjective surveys, evaluation of drug-induced nutrient depletion, and biometrics. He also founded Integrative Health Resources, which is

In this episode, Dr. Kenneth Hohmeier who is a faculty member at the University of Tennessee College of Pharmacy invited me to share some remarks with his leadership class. I share about writing the book, How Pharmacists Lead, and about what leadership means to me.

In this episode, our guest is Melissa Murer Corrigan was founding Executive Director and CEO of the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB) in Washington, D.C. from 1994-2011. She also is an innovator in credentialing and pharmacy workforce initiatives. Melissa’s leadership launched the PTCB program that has now certified over 700,000 pharmacy technicians working across the United States in large chains such as Walgreens and CVS, health systems and community pharmacies. PTCB certified technicians serve millions of patients annually. Murer Corrigan embraced ambition, took risks, and was the only women on the PTCB Board of Governors during her 17-year tenure as CEO. In 2012 Melissa joined educational assessment leader ACT in Iowa City as an executive leader for the Workforce Development Division and then progressed to serve as Vice President of Social Impact for ACT’s Center for Equity in Learning. Her current chapter includes leading the healthcare and credentialing consultancy Manville Heights LLC. She

In this episode, our guest is Dr. Leigh Ann Ross who is the Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs at the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy and Professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice. She previously served as the Chair of the Department of Pharmacy Practice and currently serves as Director of the Center for Clinical and Translational Science and Research Professor in the Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences at UM. Dr. Ross also works with the John D. Bower School of Population Health at the University of Mississippi Medical Center as a Professor in the Department of Population Health Science. Dr. Ross received a Bachelor of Business Administration and a Doctor of Pharmacy from Ole Miss. She completed a Primary Care Pharmacy Residency at UMMC. Since joining the faculty in 2009, Dr. Ross has led practice initiatives to implement medication management services at the Medical Center and in communities through UM’s Community-Based Research Program. In addition to her work in pharmacy, Dr