ASHP Launches Innovation Center at Midyear Clinical Meeting

ASHP is pleased to announce the launch of the ASHP Innovation Center, a new initiative that will further elevate the vital roles that ASHP and health-system pharmacy practitioners play in new and emerging science and prepare the workforce for the digital future of pharmacy practice.

The Innovation Center’s mission is to drive innovation and digital transformation related to the safe and effective use of medicines through high-impact partnerships, education, advocacy, research, and entrepreneurship.

ASHP is pursuing this mission by developing strategic partnerships, supporting research and discovery, fostering networking and collaboration, creating educational offerings, and influencing professional and public policy agendas. 

Pharmacists in hospitals and health systems have a long history of introducing innovative practices that optimize medication use and patient outcomes. As members of the interprofessional team, ASHP members are embarking on the use of some of the most cutting-edge technologies available to care for patients. These include the use of precision medicine approaches such as pharmacogenomics, artificial intelligence and machine learning, digital therapeutics, and wearable technologies to individualize patients’ care. 

ASHP in March convened an interdisciplinary Commission on Goals to examine the effect of artificial intelligence on healthcare and pharmacy practice. The 20-member commission included leaders from medicine, nursing, pharmacy, data science, technology, and health policy.

The commission’s work, as described in an October 24 online report in AJHP, addressed clinical applications of artificial intelligence as well as federal and state policies needed to apply artificial intelligence in the medication use system.

For more than 75 years, ASHP has been a leader in transforming pharmacy practice in ways that help members redefine what is possible for the profession. The ASHP Innovation Center will build upon this foundation as the profession looks to the future and embraces technologies that will improve the lives of our patients. Focus areas of the Center will include:

• Digital Transformation
• Artificial Intelligence Center of Excellence
• Innovations in Pharmacy Practice
• Advanced Data Analytics and Big Data
• Technologies including:
  • Auto-verification
  • Next-generation Robotics and Automation
  • Virtual Reality
  • Digital Therapeutics
• Genomics and Personalized Medicine

To create this sustained culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, ASHP will embark on a collaborative process that taps the collective depth and breadth of our growing membership and fosters partnerships with stakeholders within and outside of healthcare.

With the launch of the ASHP Innovation Center, the ASHP Foundation is offering a competitive grant program to support projects that demonstrate the impact of optimizing health information technology and digital transformation that enhance safe and effective use of medications. The grant program is available for interprofessional healthcare teams with a pharmacist as a principal investigator. Applications must be submitted by March 3.

To learn more about the ASHP Innovation Center, attendees of the 2019 Midyear Clinical Meeting and Exhibition can visit Booth 1619 in the Exhibit Hall. For information about upcoming developments, including more information about the ASHP Foundation’s Innovation Grant, AJHP’s innovation theme issue, and educational sessions at upcoming meetings, visit ashp.org/innovation.