Paul L. Jeffrey, PharmD, a pharmacy director in UMass Medical School’s Commonwealth Medicine division, has been named chair of the Eastern Medicaid Pharmacy Administrators Association (EMPAA).
Jeffrey, clinical associate professor of UMass Medical School’s Family Medicine and Community Health, will serve a two-year term that ends in November 2017. He previously held the role of chair from 2004-2007. EMPAA is a not-for-profit association of representatives of state Medicaid pharmacy programs in the Northeast.
A pharmacy director in the Office of Clinical Affairs within the Center for Health Policy and Research in Commonwealth Medicine, Jeffrey also serves as director of pharmacy for the Massachusetts Medicaid program, MassHealth. He provides broad clinical support to MassHealth, and has introduced innovative programs involving opioids and pain management, as well as behavioral and mental health.
Jeffrey is chair of the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy’s Professional Practice Committee. He was appointed to the Massachusetts Opioid Drug Formulary Commission by Gov. Charlie Baker in August. The panel is tasked with assessing the safety of powerful prescription pain medications and developing an opioid formulary to deter addiction. Jeffrey also was a member of Gov. Deval Patrick’s Opiate Emergency Task Force. He is nationally known for his writing, presentations and education sessions on opioid abuse.
Jeffrey received the Massachusetts Pharmacists Association (MPhA) Bowl of Hygeia Award in September. The annual award recognizes pharmacists who have outstanding records of civic leadership in their communities.