Jennifer Aka

• Achieved 35% improvement in patient outcomes and expanded clinical pharmacy program reach by 25% through targeted operational and clinical initiatives.
• Scheduled and supervised staff meetings to discuss new ideas and update participants on program details and milestones.
• Provided ongoing direction and leadership for program operations.
• Appointed as Executive Sponsor for Elevance Health Enterprise to provide leadership, direction, and problem-resolution skills
• Managed projects end- to-end and clearly communicated value of initiatives to business side of organization
• Collaborated with stakeholders across various business lines Commercial, Medicaid, Medicare STARS, standalone, offshore (globally diverse teams), and onshore as well as with Scrum teams, IT, and engineers to address issues and enhance overall clinical pharmacy program for enterprise
• Executed and managed 35-45 projects at any given time with $5-$10 million budget to enhance clinical pharmacy program and Digital-First Healthy Innovations platform, electronic health records (EHR) system
• Led cross-functional teams to ensure successful project implementation, driving improvements in healthcare delivery and member outcomes
• Directed and led project aimed at improving employee retention, pharmacy program growth, and employee engagement for pharmacy call center.
• Successfully reduced turnover rate from approximately 35% in 2021 to around 25% by end of 2023, reflecting 10%-point improvement
• Achieved this by introducing enhanced training programs, better advancement incentives, and improved employee support
• Directed transition to new Automated Phone Call Distribution System for pharmacy call center of 500 associates, optimizing call flow and improving operational efficiency
• Directed and managed operational and system transition to new version of digital-first healthy innovations platform for 500 associates, ensuring smooth integration and enhanced system functionality
• Served as designated point of contact for all IT system escalations within clinical pharmacy program, taking full ownership of issue resolution and ensuring minimal disruption to operations
• Presented four executive summaries weekly and provided updates to senior leadership
• Identified risks and offered recommendations, with 95% acceptance rate
• Innovated and launched Pharmacy Department first-ever public facing webpage on anthem.com, collaborating with stakeholders and securing senior leadership approval
• This initiative significantly enhanced call center branding and reduced spam misidentification which contributed to 64% increase in engagement and positive customer experience for company clinical pharmacy programs
• Identified and secured stakeholder relationships, funding, and senior leadership buy-in to launch innovative automated survey for pharmacy call center, designed to assess customer satisfaction, as well as Voice of Customer (VoC), and drive improvements based on feedback
• Spearheaded unique, first-of-its-kind annual retreat, bringing together stakeholders across enterprise
• This innovative solution fostered cross-functional relationships and identified collaborative opportunities for project and process improvements within clinical pharmacy call center
• Mentored, trained, and facilitated project managers to advance clinical pharmacy program, enhancing their skills and driving program success
• Ensured that strict procedures are followed around pharmacy call center
• Represented facility in state and federal regulatory audits, visits, and communications
• Maintained relationships and ensured adherence with state and federal regulatory agencies
• Developed operational standard of procedures (SOPs) and ensured adherence to pharmacy policies and procedures
• Functioned as liaison with Quality Team to drive improvements in clinical pharmacy program, ensuring alignment with quality standards and best practices
• Conducted regular SWOT analyses to enhance program effectiveness.

• Responsible for day-to-day management of clinical pharmacy programs including but not limited to medication adherence, medication therapy management (MTM), utilization, polypharmacy and high-risk medication monitoring
• Conducted biweekly presentations on clinical disease states to physician groups and cross-functional medical teams
• Assisted in planning and implementing 8 new and revised clinical programs and services
• Served as formulary, pharmacy benefits, and drug information resource, assisting Clinical, Pharmacy, HEDIS, and other departments as well as allied healthcare providers across organization
• Contributed to projects aimed at improving Part D Star ratings and other pharmacy-related quality metrics
• Monitored drug utilization and assists leadership team in understanding quality and cost control issues related to pharmacy
• Worked with PBM to manage formulary changes and provide updates to clinical leaders
• Worked with leadership on developing annual training sessions for applicable staff regarding pharmacy benefit changes for upcoming year
• Provided medication therapy management services including examination of member medical records, performed comprehensive medication reviews, and targeted medication reviews, and communicated with members and providers, including outbound calls to members to discuss their medications
• Reviewed members' medication profiles and applied evidence-based medicine and national guidelines when creating recommendations to health care providers for optimizing members' medication regimen
• Analyzed and reviewed medication lists for potential patient safety problems, including drug interactions, sub-optimal medication regimens, etc.
• Assisted Director of Pharmacy with developing/updating policies and procedures and implementing changes to comply with state and federal regulations
• Provided clinical medication therapy evaluations and recommendations to members and providers regarding safe appropriate and cost- effective use of medication.

Dispensed and verified prescriptions for quality and safety and performed daily consultations with patients

• Communicated daily with physicians and specialists to provide medication therapy management interventions for mutual patients
• Led diabetes medication therapy management program in-store, with currently 55 active patients in program being reviewed prospectively
• Presented In-services on diabetes medication management and diabetes care to multidisciplinary clinical staff at local physician office which resulted in 15-20% growth in prescription claims and business revenue for Bellevue Pharmacy from physician-referred new patients
• Collaborated with other Bellevue Pharmacy staff pharmacists to coordinate the procurement of five third-party contracts (Aetna; Cigna Health Springs & Cigna Health Springs PDP; DC Medicaid; AmeriHealth; Amerigroup DC) to be able to submit billing and accept third-party payment for prescriptions
• Managed $65,000 weekly store budget for drug-purchasing by performing daily inventory control, appropriate drug-ordering, and drug procurement
• Conducted and supervised on-site job training for three newly hired pharmacists at Bellevue Pharmacy and improved pharmacist retention rate by 33%
• Supervised and served as preceptor to newly hired pharmacy intern once/week
• Performed without pharmacy technician or pharmacy intern in pharmacy at least once/week and verified prescriptions for quality and safety and performed daily consultations with patients.

• Gathered, compiled, and analyzed research data to develop pharmacy programs according to patients’ needs
• Successfully articulated clinical strategies to wide range of audiences including CEO, Board of Directors, clinicians, employees, partners, regulators, and other stake holders accepted 95% of time
• Provided timely weekly reports to clients on drug utilization of high-risk beneficiaries of health plan in order to improve overall patient care and HEDIS quality measures
• Designed and executed two pharmacist-led clinical programs at Trusted Health Plan’s (THP) Wellness Center in Northeast D.C
• Community, with total of 181 participants who are in top 10% high-risk category for THP
• Performed face-to-face medication therapy management (MTM) & motivational interviewing to 181 members enrolled in new clinical program and improved HEDIS measure outcomes for both Asthma Medication Ratio and Comprehensive Diabetes Care
• Accomplished average hemoglobin a1c reduction of 3-5 points per member in about 3-6 months for members enrolled in Diabetes Medication Therapy Management Clinical Program through pharmacy intervention
• Demonstrated that Diabetes MTM clinical program reduced ER visits by 37% in 2016-2017, yielding $6,914 annual health care savings for member in MTM program
• Pioneered Transition of Care Clinical Program aimed to reduce 30-day readmission rates for chronically-ill members
• Improved appropriate drug utilization and medication adherence in patients with complex case management through interaction with patient, physician, and case manager
• Reviewed medical literature and documented safest and effective medications for various diseases
• Partnered with 10 physicians who are providers of THP diabetes population to collaborate diabetes care for members enrolled in Diabetes Medication Therapy Management Clinical Program
• Communicated evidence-based recommendations to primary care providers which results in accepted medication interventions on average of about 90% of time
• Analyzed and reviewed prior authorizations daily and communicated decision to prescriber, health plan beneficiary, and pharmacy
• Served as adjunct faculty and Ambulatory Care Preceptor to 14 Howard University College of Pharmacy students over course of one year
• Created and taught weekly lesson plans on fundamentals of Pharmacy Benefit Management through academic appointment at Howard University College of Pharmacy
• Attained didactic teaching experience by teaching two classes on Diabetes and Pharmacoepidemiology at Howard University College of Pharmacy
• Presented two accepted abstracts at two national pharmacy conferences (APhA and ASHP) which discussed methodology and outcomes for two THP clinical programs
• Collaborated with multidisciplinary THP staff to achieve reduction in preventable hospital admissions and health plan was commended by District of Columbia Medicaid for team effort
• Served as Residency Program Director In-Training for Trusted Health Plan Managed Care Pharmacy Residency Program.