THE PCCA BLOG

Clinical Services Spotlight - Matt Martin

Fri, 31 Jan 2020 18:34:30 GMT

By Seth Humble, Digital Content Specialist

Kentucky is a special kind of place. Roving through its rolling hills, blanketed in the wind-swept, world-famous bluegrass from which the state takes its nickname, people find themselves taken aback, perhaps even awestruck. Kentucky is a place of dusky beauty. It’s a state physically gowned and culturally capped in blue. From the roots of terra firma to the soaring musical top of the Foggy Mountain Boys, Kentucky is the kind of humble place that crafts a humble man.

“You can say that blue has always been a big part of my life,” says Matt Martin, PharmD, a PCCA clinical compounding pharmacist. “I went to Moorehead State for undergraduate work, then the University of Kentucky for my pharmacy education. So, blue and blue. And surprise, I’m a Dodgers fan — blue there, too. And now, I work for PCCA, which is of course, famously blue.

We go through the normal, beginning particulars of every get-to-know-you scenario over the phone. He works for PCCA remotely from his home state. The first thing Matt wants to tell me is about his family.

“I have a lovely wife and we have four kids: three girls and one boy. We’ve also got a 6-year-old pup named Tiny,” he says. There is a distinct kind of nostalgia that rings in Matt’s voice when he tells me about the family he grew up with. His father, an aluminum-parts production supervisor who served at the same company loyally for 40 years, encouraged Matt’s love for collecting baseball memorabilia — especially baseball cards. His mother is a deaf schoolteacher at the Kentucky School for the Deaf, but you would never know it by her incredible proficiency at reading lips. Matt talks about his young life with a breezy ease; the trademark of the Southern raconteur.

When we talk about what Matt does for PCCA, his tone changes. It’s still calm, smooth and direct, but there is a dynamism that flows into his voice when he starts talking about pharmacy compounding guidelines and regulations.

“I talk with pharmacies, especially about regulation,” he says. “I help them understand where to find resources to best equip themselves to handle often-changing interpretation of the regulatory landscape. Legislation dictates how pharmacies are able to compound, what they are able to compound with; that legislation dictates how or if a pharmacy can help a patient. That can be very frustrating. It’s my job to help those pharmacies navigate those scenarios.”

“Legislation is something you’re clearly passionate about,” I say.

“To me, that’s why ACT is so important and, honestly, encouraging because of how many new faces I see each year that want to serve as advocates for patients,” Matt says of PCCA’s annual legislative conference in Washington, D.C. “ACT lets them share their concerns with congressional offices and advocate for patients’ access to customized medicine. It’s important to recognize that our voice, the voice of compounders, is a big voice in regulation, but not the only voice. So conveying our message in person does make a difference.”

The phone goes quiet, but I can feel the wheels of Matt’s mind turning.

“I don’t mean to go on, but something that I think is important is this: One word can have so much power to change the interpretation and the outcome for patient care,” Matt says. “So, no matter if it’s sterile or nonsterile compounding, or we’re dealing with USP guidelines it’s important to know that it takes care and focus to really navigate these documents. I want pharmacies to be able to help people, and in order to do that, I am striving to stay on top of this ever evolving regulatory system.”

I ask him what he does to understand these finer points.

“Understanding the documents, going through them line by line carefully,” he responds. “And honestly, it’s people — talking with people during inspections. Those are tense, high-pressure situations. In those moments, you want to let those people know that they are not alone, that there is someone they can talk to, someone that can help them walk through these situations. Being a person who helps them is very special to me.”

“So what can people do to prepare for those kinds of situations?” I ask.

“Pharmacies should practice for the inspection with assigned roles of who does what when the inspectors arrive. Knowing that and practicing that eases the tension if a real inspection occurs.”

“Anything else?” I follow up.

He laughs; it is a slow, self-effacing sound. “Yeah. Call me. Let’s get prepared. Let’s talk about what you should consider about your facilities, personnel, procedures, and how you can be a voice for continued access to needed compounded medications.”

This is Matt Martin — an eagle scout and native son of the Bluegrass State, who loves fall camping in the Red River Gorge. A clinical compounding pharmacist who believes that sharing special experiences with those we love is essential to a meaningful life. He was PCCA’s 2018 Employee of the Year and is a compounding legislation and regulation hawk, always looking for every possible way to empower the pharmacies he speaks to on a daily basis. PCCA is proud to call him one of our own.

Clinical Services Spotlight - Tricia Heitman

Mon, 16 Dec 2019 15:13:00 GMT

by Seth Humble, Digital Content Specialist

Though winter is at its full height when we meet, Tricia Heitman brandishes an unyielding summertime smile. After a few minutes of typical introductions, I ask, “You’ve been at PCCA for...”

Her eyes widen with excitement. “I’ve been at PCCA for 20 years, six months, and six days.”

“What does two decades mean to you?”

“I started right out of college here. After my father convinced me to get my PharmD, I became a resident at PCCA under Andy Glasnapp. Andy saw something in me that I never would have seen. I remember very vividly that on my first day, I took 11 calls. These days I take about 25 calls a day. Dave Sparks was my first boss, and he was so incredibly supportive and good to me. I’m very thankful for how this opportunity started.”

She sighs, her eyes drifting upward into a cloud of memories. “A lot of maturing happened here. I started here when I was 25. That maturing could be summed up in how I have learned how to help people who are in stressful situations or people who disagree with me. It has taught me how to listen better, try to understand people’s needs better. That is a large part of our job here in Clinical Services, and I think that is why we are so effective. Everyone in our department works hard to listen actively. It is a great joy to be able to help people that way, especially pharmacies. When I listen well to them, it means that I’m listening to the patients they serve, and I get to help them both.”

“So,” I interject, “you might say that listening well has a compounding effect.”

It’s a criminally bad pun.

Tricia laughs, mostly out of what I assume is politeness.

Sitting there, I cannot help but hear the sincere gratitude in her voice. I ask her why being in Clinical Services for PCCA has been so rewarding for her. Her answer does not disappoint.

“I like to imagine all the people we’ve helped over the years. Clinical Services’ reach doesn’t just touch the lives of people working in compounding pharmacy, it touches the lives of patients and the families of those patients. When we help pharmacists apply solutions to their patients’ problems, it means the next time they experience that same issue, they’ve been equipped with a solution.”

“So would you say that personalized medicine has a rippling effect?” I ask.

Tricia’s eyes light up, confirming. “Oh, absolutely.”

“What area have you found the most rewarding?”

“I’ve always been invested in pediatrics. Don’t get me wrong, I love helping people with all sorts of questions and challenges, but I started in pediatrics. I was headed to Children's Hospital Colorado to accept a residency before Andy asked me to be a resident at PCCA. There’s no way to know everything in pediatrics. It is a huge sphere of knowledge, but it doesn’t scare me — it excites me. I want to help kids; my heart goes out to them. I want children to have the very best medicine and the absolute best experience with their medicine. My knowledge in pediatrics is probably the biggest thing I bring to the table, but everyone in Clinical Services is always happy to pitch in. And that’s really what makes our team so powerful: We aren’t just a group of pharmacists, we’re a community. We’ve built that up over years and years and years together; that’s really important, knowing that there is a trust there that’s been earned. We’re a team, a real team, and that trust is a trust all of us lean on.”

“If you hadn’t gone into pharmacy, what would you have become?” I ask.

“A horticulturist. I would have absolutely loved that.”

“Do you dabble?”

“I do! I have a tiny garden, a little herb garden, and an antique rose garden. I’m into succulents. But I’m also a good Texas girl, so I have cabbage and collard greens. Gardening is very spiritual for me; it’s mindless, so it allows me to reflect and focus on growing things.”

“And that helps you with the clinical side of your life, being able to grow things?” I ask.

“Without a doubt. But my clinical work is extremely important to me.” There’s a lilt in Tricia’s voice when she mentions the importance of her work.

“What would be an example of your clinical work?” I ask.

“Take for example — I’ll give you one that came up twice. There was a 5-year-old with ovarian cancer who was having a lot of perineal pain. Knowing the signs of pain and how children in pain behave, I could clearly see that this was neuropathic pain. The child wasn’t sleeping more than two to three hours a night, and with the laundry list of medications she was on, she was just absolutely miserable when trying to sleep. Her doctor wanted to take a certain track with her pain treatment, but I suggested that before they take that road, to give us a chance to help her pain. We did a great deal of research, and we collaborated, and with patience and time and literature, we were able to advise on a path of treatment. We work diligently to understand medications, their side effects, and how physiology will respond to those medications. I’m really proud of my years here. There are always challenges, but I’m so happy I chose this profession. I think helping patients like this is proof that personalized medicine is worth fighting for.”

This is Tricia Heitman.

At the time of this article’s completion, she has worked at PCCA for 20 years, six months and 15 days. She believes in growing things. From growing the succulents, herbs and roses in her home garden to laboring the well-tilled soil of knowledge inside her mind, or enjoying the fruits of community in our Clinical Services department. It’s clear after meeting her that Tricia’s sunny disposition, diligence and hard work are how she’s managed to grow so many things so quickly.