Season's greetings from the staff and leadership of APhA. Hopefully, this blog post is the last "official" thing I do before going into full holiday mode and taking a break for a few days.

As I think about the past year, one word comes to mind: collaboration. I'm so proud of our team and the energy we spend on promoting collaboration wherever possible. We've actively pursued joint efforts on the policy front; on the Hill; with our colleagues in other national organizations, including medicine and nursing; with consumer groups; with corporate partners; and with our affiliated state pharmacy associations and their organization, the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations (NASPA). We believe that the issues we face are bigger than any one organization, and that only by working together can we achieve real success for the profession and the patients you take care of.

This latter group, NASPA, has become an important partner. I'd like to give a special shout-out to Becky Snead, NASPA's Executive Vice President and CEO. I don't know how she does everything she does, but she does it well. I truly enjoy the partnerships we've built and continue to build with NASPA and state associations. For example, many of you may have received in the last couple of months a letter in your mail or e-mail, either from me or from your state pharmacy association executive, or both. Many states are working with us to promote membership in both APhA and your state association. I have gone on record supporting every pharmacist's membership in his or her state association, and in a similar fashion, many state associations have sent letters to their members promoting membership in APhA. Becky was instrumental in designing this outreach.

NASPA and APhA hope to announce another new and exciting initiative early in the new year. Stay tuned...

The year was certainly one filled with change on the health care reform front. We are now fully locked and loaded into implementation mode. We're working with anyone who will partner with us to keep pharmacists' services fully integrated into accountable care organizations (ACOs) and medical homes. I have made numerous visits to innovative practices this year, including an exciting one in the Kansas City area last week and several in North Carolina a month ago. The innovation being led by these folks deserves a broader audience, so we're building projects around their work and integrating that with our work on principles for collaborative practice. Meanwhile, I encourage each of you in practice to do similar work right where you are. You can use this forum and the comments section to get ideas from others about how to do that.

Thanks for a great year. Your growing support of our work is invaluable as we hustle every day to ensure pharmacists have a relevant place in health care. Please continue to tell me what's on your mind. Believe me, I don't just get happy talk. I also get significant input on what is wrong with various aspects of practice, and without that input, we can't do an effective job. We have significant challenges ahead, including continuing workplace stress, transitions of care challenges, errors in hospitals and in community practice, and the danger of pharmacy services being undervalued or marginalized as health care evolves. I think that together, we're up to the challenge.

On behalf of the leadership and staff at APhA, we wish you and your family a healthy, happy, and prosperous new year!