AMCP Members Choose President-Elect and Three Board Members

Alexandria, Va., March 9, 2016 — The Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) today announced the election of four members to the AMCP Board of Directors. The members will be sworn in on April 20 at the AMCP Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

AMCP President-Elect for 2016-2017 is Diana Brixner, RPh, PhD, FAMCP, a professor in the Department of Pharmacotherapy at the University of Utah College of Pharmacy. Dr. Brixner also is Executive Director of the Pharmacotherapy Outcomes Research Center and Director of Outcomes for the Program in Personalized Health at the University of Utah. She has published numerous articles, authored five book chapters, and has been awarded a patent, as well as presented at national and international meetings. Dr. Brixner has served on the AMCP Board of Directors and is a past President of the International Society of Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research. 

Also newly elected as a director is Deb Schering Sternaman, PharmD, Senior Director of Formulary Services at OptumRx. Dr. Sternaman has served as chair of AMCP’s Membership and Special Projects committees, and as an AMCP Diplomat. She is co-founder and former leader of the Southwest AMCP Affiliate, and in 2008 she received the AMCP Spirit of Volunteerism award. Dr. Sternaman has presented at AMCP meetings and has published on various managed care topics.

Reelected to Board as directors for 2016-2018 are: 

• James Kenney, RPh, MBA, Manager of Specialty and Pharmacy contracts at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care. Mr. Kenney serves as liaison to the AMCP Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Committee and is a peer reviewer of the Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy (JMCP). He also has served as a mentor for the AMCP student chapter at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Sciences.
• Gary M. Owens, MD, President of Gary Owens Associates. Dr. Owens heads a boutique consulting firm serving pharmaceutical and technology developers. He has written almost 100 articles on managed care, pharmacy and biotechnology, many of which have been published in JMCP, American Health and Drug Benefits, The Journal of Managed Care Medicine and The American Journal of Managed Care. 

The balance of the 2016-18 Board of Directors will include continuing members Incoming President Babette Edgar, PharmD, MBA, FAMCP; Past President Raulo Frear, PharmD; Treasurer Jim Marttila, PharmD, MBA; Director Lynn Nischida, RPh; and Director Cynthia Pigg, BSPharm, MHA, FAMCP. 

“We are fortunate to have such an experienced and conscientious group of individuals leading the Academy during a time of rapid growth of the organization and profound change in the U.S. health care system,” said AMCP Chief Executive Officer Susan A. Cantrell, RPh, CAE. “With their leadership AMCP will continue to prepare our members to improve access to affordable medicines, improve patient outcomes and ensure that best practices are applied in the management of biosimilars and other specialty pharmaceuticals.”