September 14, 2014
“I feel very humbled and grateful for the support I have received for this award,” states Dr. Choe.

Dr. Hae Mi Choe has been selected to receive the APhA Foundation’s 2014 Pinnacle Award in the Individual Career Achievement (Category I).

In 1998, the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) Foundation's Quality Center established the Pinnacle Awards to celebrate significant contributions to the medication use process.  The Individual Career Achievement Award recognizes individuals whose actions have demonstrated exceptional leadership in enhancing health care quality and medication use.

Dr. Choe is currently a faculty member at the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy, and she serves as the Director of Ambulatory Pharmacy Care Transformation within the University of Michigan Health System’s (UMHS) Department of Pharmacy Services. She has also recently been appointed as the Director of Pharmacy Innovations & Clinical Practices for Faculty Group Practice (FGP), health systems’ physician group practice.

For the past 15 years, Dr. Choe has been a pioneer in advancing the role of pharmacists in the ambulatory care setting and within organized systems of care, such as the Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) and Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). At the University of Michigan, she has served as the primary leader of these pharmacy services, which have become a model nationally.

“We are using our clinical expertise, but integrating and tying into the current health care delivery model to improve overall care of our patients.  Pharmacists have been recognized as a valuable member of the care team in the patient centered medical home,” states Dr. Choe.

“I have been privileged to work with Dr. Choe and to witness the amazing impact she has had on the advancement of pharmacy in the ambulatory care setting within our health system, the state, and nationally. Dr. Choe has been very active in sharing her experience with others so that they can also develop their programs more effectively,” states Associate Dean James Stevenson.

Dr. Choe earned her PharmD in 1993 from the University of California, San Francisco, and completed her pharmacy practice residency with Kaiser Permanente in Los Angeles in 1994. Following that, Dr. Choe spent five years overseas, where she developed and implemented anticoagulation and asthma services for the first time at the Samsung Medical Center in Seoul, South Korea.

In 1999, Dr. Choe joined the University of Michigan to develop ambulatory clinical services at the East Ann Arbor Health Center. In her leadership role as Director of Innovative Ambulatory Pharmacy Practices, Dr. Choe and colleagues created a group-practice model at 14 of the U-M Hospitals and Health Centers. Dr. Choe has also developed a reimbursement process for clinical pharmacy services.

“I feel very humbled and grateful for the support I have received for this award,” states Dr. Choe. 

“Dr. Choe is one of the premier ambulatory care pharmacists in the country and a recognized leader and educator. Her leadership has been exceptional and has resulted in significant improvements in the health outcomes of our patients,” according to Dean Frank Ascione.

“Dr. Choe is someone who provides thought leadership and develops actionable efforts to define and advance the emerging role of the pharmacist as a health care provider. She consistently challenges the status quo and seeks to influence and evolve existing health care industry practices and norms to enable our industry to better serve our patients’ complex needs for improved medication management and holistic care planning. In the time I have collaborated with her, I have been able to observe and experience the meaningful influence she has had on payers, physicians, and community pharmacy to lead the effort to better align incentives and collaborate in the interests of patient care. Specifically, her direct advocacy and leadership were instrumental to bringing the joint collaboration that we are currently working on together to fruition,” explains Jason Todd Peters, Director of Retail Pharmacy Strategic Product Development at CVS/Pharmacy.

“The pharmacist care model that Hae Mi has developed will serve as a model on how to effectively integrate pharmacist care into medical teams. Her willingness to share her approach and successes with others, as well as develop new practitioners who understand how effectively pharmacists can provide direct patient care within a medical team, is truly admirable,” states Laurie Wesolowicz, Director II of Pharmacy Services Clinical at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.

The Pinnacle Award will be presented on Monday, September 15, 2014, from 4:00pm - 8:30pm at APhA Headquarters in Washington, DC.

Congratulations to Dr. Choe on this significant honor recognizing her accomplishments!

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