The role of the community pharmacist is changing as millions of Americans rely on community pharmacists to provide a new level of care during this healthcare challenged time. Independent pharmacists are able to take active roles to improve outcomes for their patients and lower costs for payers and patients alike.
Todays special guest is Dr. Rina Shah, PharmD. Rina is Group Vice President of Pharmacy Operations and Services at Walgreens. Her passion for pharmacy has been centered around transforming patient care to make an impact on patients’ lives as well as empowering those around her to do more.
In her current role, Rina leads a team that is responsible for pharmacy operations, services and specialty pharmacy across 9,000+ Walgreens pharmacies. In the last year, Rina has led Walgreens pharmacy response to COVID-19, implementing changes such as waiving prescription delivery fees, initiating proactive outreach by pharmacists to vulnerable patients, and enhancing team member and customer safety protocols. In addition to her current role, she now leads pharmacy operations for COVID-19 vaccination services.
Rina helped launch Feel More Like You in 2019, a health and beauty service available at no cost to help people living with cancer manage the medical and physical changes associated with cancer treatment. She also spearheaded the creation of a new team of dedicated pharmacists at Walgreens called Health Outcomes Pharmacists. Often outside of a traditional retail setting, these specialized pharmacists work closely with patients most at-risk of medication non-adherence to address barriers that could prevent them from taking their medications as prescribed. In 2020, Rina led the pharmacy team that secured the first enterprise-wide URAC accreditation in Specialty Pharmacy for more than 300 community-based specialty pharmacies. Often patients with life-changing health challenges need support from their pharmacy team in their local community, this accreditation assures patients of the high standards of care in place as they access their medications and understand their treatment.
She began her career at Walgreens in 1998, where she held various pharmacy roles in store. In 2007, Rina joined the corporate support center to lead several pharmacy-specific initiatives across the organization, including the launch of the Walgreens immunizations program chain-wide. The program increased immunization rates among customers covering 7 million people. She has also led sales operations and client services within market access.
Rina was recognized by Crain’s Chicago Business as one of “40 under 40” for her leadership at Walgreens, by Fierce Healthcare as one of 2020’s Most Influential Minority Executives, and by Drug Store News as one of the Top Women in Retail for her business excellence. Rina is actively involved with the UIC College of Pharmacy, APhA, NASP, the CDC and NACDS.
She received her Doctorate in Pharmacy from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2005.
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