Community Pharmacy Innovation in Quality (CPIQ) Awards


The Community Pharmacy Innovation in Quality (CPIQ) Awards recognize high performance for a pioneering individual practitioner and an innovative community pharmacy practice that result in improvements in quality of care, medication optimization and patient outcomes. The awards are supported by funding from the Community Pharmacy Foundation and presented at the PQA Annual Meeting.

Previous CPIQ Award recipients are profiled on this page. For information about the current award cycle, please visit the PQA Awards Program page.

 

Individual Award 

2020 – Vikram Sundararaman, PharmD, MBA, Clinical Pharmacy Site Manager, Genoa Healthcare

Working in a pharmacy that is physically integrated into the clinic setting, Sundararaman has been an innovative leader in developing strategies to build personal relationships with physicians, nurses and patients, while ensuring access to the right pharmacy services at the right time. Through face-to-face consultations, action plans and pharmacist-provided care, performance-based quality metrics for medication adherence, hospital admissions and hospital readmission rates have continued to exceed benchmarks and improve in his pharmacy. Always focused on patients, Sundararaman achieved a Net Promoter Score of 95, reflecting his patients’ satisfaction and willingness to recommend him. 

2019 – Lindsey Valenzuela, PharmD, APh, BCACP, Administrator of Population Health and Prescription Management, Desert Oasis Healthcare

Valenzuela and her team of 24 pharmacists, three pharmacy residents and many technicians support thousands of patients, most of whom are living with multiple, complex chronic conditions and multiple medication therapies. Valenzuela has implemented an innovative, pharmacist-led personalized care model that provides medication therapy management services and structured care plans to manage disease. As part of this effort, she has pioneered the implementation of digital medicines, which feature FDA-approved ingestible sensors that help her team improve patient care.

2018 – Kari Trapskin, PharmD, Vice President, Health Care Quality Initiatives, Pharmacy Society of Wisconsin

Trapskin was recognized for her contributions to the Wisconsin Pharmacy Quality Collaborative (WPQC), a quality and service payment initiative. Launched in 2007, the WPQC is a sustainable program providing expanded pharmacy services that are reimbursed by payors. Wisconsin Medicaid wishes to expand this cost-effective program.

Pharmacy Award

2020 – The Kroger Company

Kroger has made innovation a core focus of its work to improve the health of its employees and customers. For more than a decade, Kroger has implemented innovative programs for medication adherence, medication therapy management, health coaching, transitions of care, and nutrition. Kroger’s community partnerships focused on interdisciplinary care and coaching for diabetes have had a positive impact on patients’ average level of blood sugar and other biomarkers critical to good health. To expand and scale successful programs, Kroger launched in 2018 a novel training program for its pharmacists and technicians to drive consistent, high-quality care.

Pharmacy Award

2019 – Towncrest Pharmacy of Iowa

Towncrest Pharmacy was recognized for its total transformation from a traditional dispensing pharmacy to a practice focused on patient therapeutic outcomes through medication optimization services and collaboration with other care providers. This was accomplished by enhancing the role of technicians, adopting automation, implementing medication synchronization, freeing up the pharmacists to provide patient care services, and creating an efficient and effective documentation system.

2018CharitablePharmacy of Central Ohio

Charitable Pharmacy of Central Ohio was recognized for its collaborative and innovative model providing comprehensive pharmacy services for vulnerable patients who may otherwise lack access to essential prescription medications. The Charitable Pharmacy of Central Ohio demonstrated success in medication optimization, using a longitudinal model that allows for continuity of patient care.