2020 Army Pharmacy Leadership and Innovation Award

Captain Alexander Vos receives the 2020 Army Pharmacy Leadership and Innovation Award

Sponsored by the University of Cincinnati Master’s in Pharmacy Leadership Program

The UC James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy Master’s in Pharmacy Leadership is a proud sponsor of the Joint Federal Pharmacy Seminar (JFPS) Army Pharmacy Leadership and Innovation Award. This award was established in 1994 to recognize superior achievement in which either a person’s or an organization’s vision was lifted to a higher standard recognized as functioning beyond the norm.

The 2020 Award recipient, Captain Alexander Vos, was recognized for his skills and ingenuity at Irwin Army Community Hospital.

The award was presented during the recent 2020 Joint Federal Pharmacy Seminar (JFPS) conference. JFPS is coordinated annually by the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) as a national conference for federal pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. The JFPS 2020 conference was held virtually, with hundreds of attendees, and provided educational sessions and recognition ceremonies for federal pharmacists and technicians honored for their professional achievements through the annual Service Award programs.

Nomination Criteria

Nomination criteria for the Army Pharmacy Leadership and Innovation Award include any Army Pharmacy Employee (military or civilian) or Pharmacy Department or Section that has demonstrated excellence in leadership through innovation in improving patient care, operational efficiency, cost-effectiveness, or other such worthy improvements in practice. The 2020 award recipient, Captain Alexander Vos of Irwin Army Community Hospital in Kansas, was recognized for his exceptional leadership and significant contributions at both his place of practice and Army Pharmacy nationally.

Demonstrated Excellence in Leadership Through Innovation

Captain Vos utilizes his computer skills and leverages technology to advance Irwin Army Community Hospital (IACH) Pharmacy Services.  His access and knowledge of MHS Mart (M2) for data analytics reviews prescription information, beneficiaries, and network leakage at the local level.  He is the only person outside of the Resource Management section with M2 access.  He regularly assists other Army Pharmacy with M2 data pulls for prescription analysis.

For Q-flow, CPT Vos learned coding and created new routing options for queuing patients at the outpatient pharmacy.  He helped DHA Pharmacy Operations Division assess Q-anywhere as a future platform while also securing the B2B connection at our facility.  At the onset of COVID-19, CPT Vos singlehandedly trained all the pharmacy staff members to use Q-flow texting.  He developed, tested, and created the text message for patients notifying prescriptions available for pick-up to encourage social distancing.  CPT Vos also developed the remote routing option in Q-flow for providers to notify pharmacy to fill new prescriptions for urgent or next day pick-up.  This significantly reduced phone and Vocera calls to the pharmacy while providing an early prescription filling notification for the pharmacy.

CPT Vos is the primary Army Pharmacist for the ScriptPro standardization SIG group.  His understanding of the automation capabilities resulted in a new best practice for all DHA Pharmacy for the handling of hazardous medications.

As the Supply Officer, CPT Vos also analyzes, reviews, and guides all procurement for IACH Pharmacy.  He developed several reports for year-end procurement based off dispensed prescriptions, Omnicell usage, and past buying patterns.  He established a 28-day par for three outpatient pharmacies, 46 Omnicells, and inpatient services. These actions allowed the pharmacy to execute the FY20 budget and credits without any issues or returns to the US Treasury.  His technical skills and ingenuity continue to innovate Army Pharmacy.

Dr. Jenelle Sobotka, Director of the Online Certificate and master’s programs in Pharmacy Leadership, commented that Captain Vos’ ingenuity and leadership reflect the goals of the UC’s Pharmacy Leadership Program. “Captain Vos showed a unique way to lead others through innovative means. His tenacity and dedication reflect our own program’s values and goals to promote leadership development, innovation, and drive practice advancement for our graduates. His efforts in supporting his pharmacy team and leading change are remarkable and highly deserving of recognition with this award!”

Learn More About the Pharmacy Leadership Program with UC Online

The Pharmacy Leadership program from the University of Cincinnati James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy is flexible and 100% online. Build your business management skills and advance your career as a leader in the pharmacy field with a program custom-built for busy working pharmacists.

Learn More about the Pharmacy Leadership program with UC Online.