Managed Care Pharmacy Leaders Recognized with Distinguished Awards at AMCP 2024

Alexandria, Va., April 26, 2024 – AMCP and the AMCP Foundation are pleased to announce winners of this year’s awards that recognize individuals who have made significant contributions to the organizations and managed care pharmacy. The awards are presented annually in the spring.

“I offer my deepest congratulations to the outstanding AMCP and AMCP Foundation awardees,” says AMCP CEO Susan A. Cantrell, RPh, CAE. “Each one personifies the enduring commitment of our profession to serve millions of Americans while setting an example for their peers and the next generation of managed care pharmacy leaders.”

AMCP and the Foundation present eleven awards, with the highest honor conferred to the Foundation’s Steve G. Avey Award. The 2024 award recipients are:

Steven G. Avey Award: Recipient Doug Burgoyne, BS Pharm, PharmD, FAMCP. Doug’s storied career has included leadership roles at Rx America and IHC Health Plans (now SelectHealth). He co-founded and served as president for VRx Pharmacy Services/Veridicus Health and currently serves as Chief Strategy Officer for Cooperative Benefits Group and as an adjunct associate professor at the University of Utah College of Pharmacy. His unwavering commitment to the future of managed care pharmacy has included terms as AMCP board member, chair of the board, and president. Most recently, he served as a member of the Biologics & Biosimilars Collective Intelligence Consortium (BBCIC).

Distinguished Service Award: Recipients Amy Lugo, PharmD of Lone Star Health Solutions, and Paul Jeffrey, PharmD of Jeffrey Consulting. Amy has served on a variety of AMCP committees and most recently served as a finalist judge for the AMCP Foundation P&T Competition. Paul has served a variety of roles with AMCP including Past President and most recently as chair of the Leadership Development Committee.

Individual Contribution Award: Recipient Tom Pomfret, PharmD with For Health Consulting at UMass Chan Medical School. Tom was an integral part of AMCP’s Health Disparities Group and serves as AMCP’s representative to the ASHP Commission on Credentialing.

Spirit of Volunteerism Award: Recipient Abby Shimon, PharmD, MBA with Novo Nordisk. Abby’s work with the Southwest AMCP Affiliate, where she served as President, has been an integral part of their growth and success.

Grassroots Advocacy Award: Recipient Matt Lennertz, PharmD, MS, MBA with MedImpact Health Systems. Matt chairs AMCP’s Legislative and Regulatory Action Committee and was key in getting Representative Madeleine Dean to co-sponsor the Access to Prescription Digital Therapeutics Act, one of AMCP’s top federal legislative priorities.

New Practitioner Award: Recipient Morgan Portner, PharmD with Elevance Health. Morgan has been active with AMCP since she was a student and was an integral part of the AMCP Mid-Atlantic Formation Committee, where she now serves as Secretary. She is also a Diplomat for Notre Dame University of Maryland.

Experiential Education Preceptor Award: Recipient Heather Gross, PharmD, of Aetna Medicaid. Heather has been instrumental in helping to develop students interested in managed care pharmacy.

Managed Care Pharmacy Residency Director/Preceptor Award: Recipient Theologia Horchaini, PharmD, BCPS. She worked to improve and optimize the managed care residency experience at HealthFirst to ensure residents had the technical and soft skills needed to succeed in a professional setting.

Diplomat of the Year: Recipient Alicia Meaney, PharmD with Centene Pharmacy Services. She serves as the Diplomat to the University of Buffalo – the State University of New York, where she acts as a sounding board for the chapter and has helped inspire and implement numerous new initiatives.

Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy (JMCP) Award of Excellence (Article from 2023): Winner: “Drug use and spending under a formulary informed by cost-effectiveness” by authors Kai Yeung, Maricela Cruz, Emily Hsiao, John Watkins, and Sean Sullivan. The article appeared in JMCP’s October 2023 issue.

AMCP Fellows: AMCP inducted six new Fellows this year. AMCP Fellows have demonstrated sustained excellence in the pharmacy profession and made exceptional contributions to AMCP. The 2024 class of Fellows are:

• Brenden O’Hara, RPh, BCAP with Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina
• Patty Taddei-Allen, PharmD, MBA, BCACP, BDGP with MJH Associates
• Laura Happe, PharmD, MPH with the University of Florida and the JMCP Editor-in-Chief
• Maher Abdel-Sattar, PharmD, MS with Indivior
• Desola Davis, PharmD, BCPS, BCACP with Gilead Sciences
• Jeff Larson, RPh, MS, MBA with CVS Health

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About AMCP

AMCP is the professional association leading the way to help patients get the medications they need at a cost they can afford. AMCP’s diverse membership of pharmacists, physicians, nurses, biopharmaceutical professionals, and other stakeholders leverage their specialized expertise in clinical evidence and economics to optimize medication benefit design and population health management and help patients access cost-effective and safe medications and other drug therapies. AMCP members improve the lives of nearly 300 million Americans served by private and public health plans, pharmacy benefit management firms, and emerging care models. Visit www.amcp.org.  

About AMCP Foundation

Established in 1990, the 501(c)3 nonprofit AMCP Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP). It exists to advance collective knowledge and insights on major issues associated with the practice of pharmacy in managed care health care settings. By facilitating innovative research initiatives and providing educational opportunities to learn about managed care pharmacy, the AMCP Foundation invests in the future of managed care. For more information, visit AMCP Foundation.