Paul Moore Coming to Washington to Work on Rural Policy Issues
Paul Moore, an Oklahoma pharmacist who served as president of the National Rural Health Association in 2008 and who was interviewed for two stories in the Rural Monitor’s Fall 2009 issue on Rural Pharmacies, will be joining the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) on March 1st, specifically to work on clinical and regulatory issues within the Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP).
“We’re excited to have him,” said Tom Morris, director of ORHP. “He has the sort of real-world experience that we really need— he’s a pharmacist by training and a former hospital administrator at a critical access hospital (CAH).” Morris continued, “I see him playing an important role in advising us on how we write grant guidance and how we measure data. He’ll review Medicare regulations for us, and he’ll work on issues around CAHs, patient safety and medication management. One of the big things Congress wants us to focus on is quality improvement. There are a number of ways to do that, but one way is to improve medication management and reduce medication errors. To the extent that some of our CAHs engage in that, he’ll be a wonderful technical resource for them.”
Moore said that he appreciates this opportunity and believes that the greatest asset he’ll bring to the office is his “view from the trenches.” Therefore, he said, while working at OHRP, “I plan to maintain ownership of both my rural community pharmacy and my company which provides remote pharmacist services to small rural hospitals across our nation. I am blessed to have talented and dedicated people working with me who have agreed to take on the day-to-day management of the businesses while I focus my energies at the Federal level.”
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