M A I N E P H A R M A C Y ASSOCIATION
September Meeting
Minutes
September 30, 2014
9:00AM
Attendees: Gregory Cameron, Betty Harris, Lisa Martin, Cassandra White, Linda Earley, Sarah Vincent, Deb Sturpe, Meagan Rusby, Dan Mickool
Agenda
1. Minutes from August Meeting
No changes requested to meeting minutes from August. Motion was made to approve the August minutes. Seconded – Meeting minutes were approved.
2. Treasurer’s Report (Eric)
Eric was not able to be on the call. Since it is the end of the month, the financials are not yet prepared. Linda reported the scholarships have been paid and Hollywood Casino has been paid leaving about $100,000.00 in the accounts.
3. Conventions:
a. Fall 2014 – September 5-7 – Hollywood Casino, Bangor, ME
Linda requested feedback on the venue from the last convention. It was felt having the large screen in the middle was better than the 2 smaller TV screens. There was also a concern the buffet was not staffed to handle the crowd at noon. Needed to have more servers available to provide the beverages.
Cassie asked how the Pharmacy Night on the Town went. Greg reported that the attendance was good, maybe the best he has seen in the last 3 years. Linda reported that the Husson Students paid for the food and the entertainment for the evening. Greg will send thank you.
b. Spring 2015 – March 20-22, 2015 – Hilton Garden Inn, Freeport, ME
Education is next item that needs to be worked on for the Spring convention. Mac usually lined up the speakers using a needs assessment. Dan stated that will be sent in October and will find the top 15 topics of interest. Cassandra offered to present at the Spring convention. Deb Sturpe commented that we need to be flexible with collaborative care and involving pharmacists depending on the outcome. Linda mentioned that we also need to consider if we want to continue with the CPR and Immunization tracks. In 2014, the immunization trainings were at capacity at both conventions with 25 in the Spring and 10 in the Fall. The fall convention had 5 people attend the CPR training. It was questioned to the cost. It does cost an additional 20 to add on to the convention registration or 40 if just taking CPR, which covers the supply cost and is comparable to Amer Red Cross with the pharmacist also receiving CE credits for attending.
It was asked if there is a budget for speakers to see if there is a chance to schedule national speakers. Linda stated that in the past, nothing actually budgeted for speakers in an effort to keep costs low. Eric will be preparing the budget for the next fiscal year and maybe something to consider for the future or Sesquicentennial.
c. Fall 2015 –TBD– TBD
Linda mentioned that we need to determine the venue/dates for the fall convention. She solicited other venues in Northern Maine to consider for proposals. None were offered at the meeting but will get in touch with Linda if any come to mind.
Linda will work with Larry and the Convention Committee to compare the Hollywood Casino and Cross Center for 2015. Hollywood Casino will no longer offer the Buffet Lunch. They did say they will work on creating a lunch in the space at the 10.99 price point.
4. Legislative Update /Board of Pharmacy (Mac & Greg)
Mac was not able to join the call. He sent the following updates:
MaineBoard of Pharmacy: The Board has determined as we suspected that it must create rules subsequent to LD 1134: An Act to Allow Collaborative Practice Agreements between an Authorized Practitioner and a Pharmacist. I was told that this rule-making will be fast-tracked.
Maine Legislature: As you know, two pharmacists are campaigningfor the Maine House of Representatives; Bob Nutting in District 78 and Paul Chace in District 46. MPA voted affirmatively to support these candidates at our fall convention. Should we send an email announcement expressing our support or post a webpage announcement? I'm happy to craft a statement of support for the Board's approval.
MAINE PHARMACY LEGISLATIVE DAY: Save the date - March 4 from 12:30 to 2:30. Hall of Flags, Maine Capital, Augusta.
National Legislature: Both Representative Pingree and Michaud have now officially co-sponsoredHR 4190 which would amend the Social Security Act to include pharmacists as providers. We're now up to 116 co-sponsors! I was told by Alex Adams, VP NACDS, that Maine was the first state in the nation with more than 1 representative to have 100% support for HR 4190!
Lawsuit: Due to the lack of progress on our case, our attorneys filed a motion last week to spur action by Judge Torrensen.
Board of Pharmacy notes were sent out by Greg. It addressed rule making on collaborative practice and discipline.
5. Membership Committee (Laurie)
Laurie was not on call. Linda reported that the membership numbers are consistent from last month. Retention/Renewal seems to be the issue. For every new member we get, one does not renew. Still sending reminders and notices at renewal. There are 40 more pharmacist members than at the same time last year.
6. Education (Dan Mickool)
Dan will take on the chairman role for this position. As mentioned earlier in the meeting, he will begin working on the needs assessment.
7. MPA Office Report (Linda)
Linda received a request from MPHP for a letter of support from MPA to send to the pharmacy chains when soliciting for donations. There was concern it would appear to be a double dip. Linda stated we are still working to secure support from the pharmacy chains outside of the few that sponsor/support MPA. Linda will contact John to solicit input.
Linda reported she is working on bringing the financial reporting in house. She has been working on getting familiar with the QuickBooks programming and reporting.
The Bylaw vote needs to be sent. The bylaws contain the information about updating the bylaws and also question whether the position of VP will be eliminated.
Greg will reach out to the current committee chairs to see if they are staying in the position for the next year.
8. Website Update (Mac/Linda)
The website appears to be up to date. Linda mentioned she is currently taking a class on Word Press to see about getting the pictures changed/removed from the bottom of our home page.
9. Technician Committee & Face book report (Candy)
Candy was not on the call. No updates to provide.
10. Sesquicentennial for MPA 2017
Decisions need to be made for the event in 2017. Linda will reach out to Larry to work with the convention committee. There will need to be a location and date set soon. Betty suggested we send out an inquiry to the membership for input. Linda stated that there will be one sent out with the bylaw changes and will include in that email. Cassie suggested we do some sort of giveaway to those who complete the survey like a gift card and someone suggested admission to the convention. Linda will work with Betty to draft. Dan will work with Deb for national speakers.
11. Next Meeting:
OCTOBER 28, 2014 at 2:00PM