Summary of October 31, 2018 Board Meeting

Larry Buie, PharmD, BCOP, FASHP
HOPA Board Member at Large, 2017-2020

The HOPA Board met on October 31, 2018 and celebrated Halloween discussing ways we can continue to achieve the goals within our strategic plan. New collaborations and opportunities discussed are reviewed below:

HOPA is moving forward with collaboration with the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) and Amber Proctor, PharmD, BCOP will serve as the HOPA representative for SITC’s planning committee for the 2019-2020 programs. Thank you Amber! We know that you will represent HOPA well.

HOPA is creating a task force that will be charged with developing a joint statement with ONS that expresses each organization’s views on safe handling and hazardous drug preparation. We look forward to a joint ONS-HOPA publication of this statement in 2019.

HOPA is also collaborating with the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) to reserve designated spots for HOPA members in their MERIT and FIT research training programs. Research is a goal area of the strategic plan and this collaboration will allow HOPA members to develop more robust research skills.

HOPA has gone global and developed a global health task force. Currently the task force is working with the Association of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Nurses (APHON) to expand and develop a safe handling of hazardous drugs curriculum that can be used to teach other nurses in Mexico, Central, and South America. HOPA will be sending a representative to Mexico that will be participating in content development.

HOPA continues to focus much of its attention on educational programming. Currently, HOPA is providing BCOP recertification credits, through a variety of educational mechanisms (annual conference, updates, self-study, etc). During the board meeting, we discussed an opportunity to collaborate with BPS to develop a prep/review course for those considering or renewing their board certification in oncology pharmacy practice. We are very excited about this opportunity and will pass new updates to the membership as they are received.

On behalf of the HOPA Board of Directors, we thank you for your support of our programs and welcome your comments and questions.  We wish everyone a very happy and healthy holiday season!