Samantha Russo
Newington,CT
Summary
Self-motivated pharmacy manager with strong work ethic and outstanding interpersonal skills. Reliable, and accomplished health care professional with a track record of establishing positive relationships with customers, colleagues and medical professionals. Experienced and adaptive pharmacist seeking to pursue a new opportunity that will lead to personal and professional growth.
Overview
14
14
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Pharmacy Manager
BigY Pharmacy
01.2019 - Current
- Carry out key tasks including verification, patient consultation, inventory management, and vaccination administration
- Process and bill insurance claims resolving all DURs, rejects, adjudications, and initiating necessary prior authorizations
- Take prescriber calls providing consultations, medication reconciliations, and new verbal prescriptions
- Provide medication therapy management services allowing for increased patient adherence and medication knowledge
- Coordinate, package and verify monthly medication packs for patients
- Set-up and led many community outreach programs at local senior centers offering free consultation & medication reconciliation
- Manage inventory to optimize medication availability and reduce shrink
- Cultivated a customer-centric environment within the pharmacy, fostering personal connections and long-term loyalty among patients
- Maintained compliance with pharmacy guidelines relating to HIPPA, storage of pharmacy records, and additional requirements to fulfill federal and state regulations
- Train pharmacy interns and newly hired pharmacists
- Contributed to significant growth in pharmacy revenue by initiating town awareness of the services offered and ease of transferring prescriptions during closures of multiple competitors in town
- Led a high-performing team of pharmacists and technicians to deliver exception patient care and service, resulting in being awarded BigY's pharmacist of the year 2023
- Fostered a culture of growth and development for IPPE students while encouraging a hands on learning experience, leading to the honor of being recognized as UConn's School of Pharmacy Community Preceptor of the Year 2025
Staff Pharmacist
CVS Pharmacy
01.2016 - 01.2019
- Fill, verify, and dispense prescriptions while counseling patients and providing drug information to physicians and nursing staff
- Consult with physicians and patients with regard to medication, dosage, and drug interactions to ensure positive patient outcomes
- Maintain accurate patient records, dose information, and directions for use to properly educate patients on their medication
- Supervise and train technicians, interns, and other ancillary staff resulting in prescriptions accurately filled within 15 minutes or less
- Manage ancillary staff in filling 3,000 plus prescriptions weekly
- Supervise activities of technicians to assure accurate production and dispensing of medications and timely drug administration
- Offer and administer vaccinations to eligible patients
Pharmacy Technician/Intern
CVS Pharmacy
01.2012 - 01.2016
- Count and label prescriptions in an organized and timely manner
- Complete data entry by inputting all refills and new prescriptions
- Complete all tasks given by and under supervisions of pharmacist on duty
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Department of Allied Health Sciences UCONN
01.2012 - 01.2013
- Compiled literary searches
- Computed effect sizes and other helpful statistical techniques
Education
Doctorate of Pharmacy - Pharmacy
University of Saint Joseph School of Pharmacy
CT05.2016
B.S. - Biology
University of Saint Joseph
CT05.2013
Skills
- Patient education and counseling
- Medication therapy management
- Customer relationship management
- Regulatory compliance
- Drug utilization review
- Adjudication resolution skills
- Medicare and medicaid process
- Vaccination administration
- Training and mentoring
- Self-management
- Emotional intelligence
Certification
- Registered Pharmacist - State of Connecticut License #13747
- CPR Certified
- Immunization Certified
- Narcan Prescriptive Authority - University of Connecticut
Timeline
Pharmacy Manager
BigY Pharmacy
01.2019 - Current
Staff Pharmacist
CVS Pharmacy
01.2016 - 01.2019
Pharmacy Technician/Intern
CVS Pharmacy
01.2012 - 01.2016
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Department of Allied Health Sciences UCONN
01.2012 - 01.2013
B.S. - Biology
University of Saint Joseph
Doctorate of Pharmacy - Pharmacy
University of Saint Joseph School of Pharmacy