Nearly 4,200 Attendees Gather for AMCP Annual Meeting 2019 in San Diego, California

Managing access to gene therapy, mitigating risk of inappropriate opioid utilization, the current state of value-based contracting, and drug pricing reform efforts are just some topics of the nearly 40 educational sessions that took place at the AMCP Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy Annual Meeting last week in San Diego. AMCP also used the General Session to unveil the organization’s new logo and revitalized brand messaging.

Nearly 4,200 managed care pharmacy professionals from across the country attended the AMCP Annual Meeting 2019, which kicked off March 25 with premeeting events and ran through Thursday, March 28.

The Meeting is the premier event each spring for pharmacists, physicians, nurses and other health care professionals who manage the pharmacy benefit of more than 270 million Americans. In addition to the educational sessions, the event features dozens of ancillary educational programs, student pharmacist programming, an awards ceremony, a high-profile keynote speaker at the General Session, and an Expo hall featuring 120 exhibitors and more than 375 scientific posters.

“Our Annual Meetings have become the must-attend event each year for thousands of health care professionals who provide quality care for millions of Americans,” said AMCP CEO Susan A. Cantrell, RPh, CAE. “We are particularly proud this spring to unveil AMCP’s revitalized brand, which will both position AMCP as a vibrant and influential organization going in the future while honoring its rich history. Attendees will leave San Diego armed with best practices and learnings that will allow them to successfully address today's most pressing health care challenges.”

The Annual Meeting’s educational programming is divided into six tracks: (1) Value-Based Care: The New Normal; (2) Business Trends Impacting the Health Care Marketplace; (3) Practical Research that Identifies and Illuminates (4) Spotlight on Formulary Management (5) Keeping Up with Legislative and Regulatory Matters (6) Perspectives in Managed Care Pharmacy.

The Meeting kicked off Monday with a pre-meeting Specialty Connect event, which focused on the promising field of gene therapy. The program reviewed both the science behind gene therapies and payer considerations for supporting patient access to these innovative treatments. On Tuesday, attendees of the General Session got a first glimpse of AMCP's revitalized brand and redesigned logo. The event also will feature a keynote address by award-winning author and business leader Margaret Heffernan, whose TED talks have been seen by over seven million people.

During the General Session, AMCP installed its 2019‐2020 Board of Directors, which includes four new officers: President-elect Marissa Schlaifer, MS, RPh; Treasurer Christina J. Barrington, PharmD; and Directors James R. Hopsicker, BS Pharmacy, and Vinson C. Lee, PharmD, MS, FAMCP. On Wednesday evening, AMCP recognized managed care pharmacy leaders who have made lasting contribution to the managed care pharmacy field at a gala Awards Dinner.

The Annual Meeting’s Expo feature 120 exhibitors as well as AMCP's Annual Poster Program, which included more than 375 professional and student posters describing research on the latest practices of managed care pharmacy. In addition to formal programming, the Annual Meeting includes 10 independently designed Science and Innovation Theaters; 11 Satellite Symposia; and two Industry Workshops, all covering a wide range of topics on specific products, therapeutic areas and/or disease states.

Student programming includes the 19th Annual National Student Pharmacist Pharmacy & Therapeutics Competition (P&T) and 2019 Best Poster Contests for student pharmacists, resident/fellows, and graduate students, featuring nearly 115 poster entries (see story below). In addition, more than 100 student pharmacists will attend a leadership academy designed to set them on a course for careers in managed care pharmacy.