CPNP Version 2.0

Raymond C. Love, PharmD, BCPP, FASHP, CPNP President

The great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving

- Oliver Wendell Holmes

CPNP was formed to serve the needs of those members who created it, the psychiatric pharmacist. For the first 10 years, identifying and prioritizing those needs was straightforward as the organization established itself by working hard to provide a high quality Annual Meeting and to adequately support the BCPP recertification process.

However, the world of our members has changed radically since CPNP’s formation. The number of pharmacy schools has exploded, healthcare reform has changed the game, and the profession has grown. As the world of members has changed, so has CPNP.

1. Membership has grown from under 300 in the late 1990’s to over 2000 members in 2016.
2. CPNP’s Annual Meeting has nearly doubled in size to serve over 675 attendees versus 350 or less in the mid to late 1990’s.
3. The Mental Health Clinician, CPNP’s peer reviewed journal, publishes 6 times a year and reaches thousands of healthcare professionals.
4. CPNP has sought to further the interests of our members by engaging with the pharmacy, healthcare and political worlds through partnerships, outreach, position papers, and regulatory and legislative involvement. Valuable peer-to-peer dialogue and networking has been enabled through CPNP’s 10 communities.

Given the evolution of healthcare, the profession, our membership, and our organization,  the CPNP Board has recently made the commitment to pursue a member and market research study to thoroughly understand what members (and potential members) want and need and to identify the top priorities for our future.

This study will involve significant interaction with the membership. To successfully complete this study, CPNP has engaged McKinley Advisors, a well-known association consulting and research firm, to:

1. Review existing data to gain a grasp of our organization and needs.
2. Perform focus groups at CPNP 2016 to gather qualitative data from a range of people that cannot be elicited effectively from a survey.
3. Conduct a survey of members, nonmembers and various specific segments to gather useful quantitative data.
4. Perform in-depth analysis of resulting data and present actionable results to the board.
5. Work with the board to process the data as they make strategic decisions for the organization based on the results.

Our success with this study is dependent on you and your involvement. We need to hear from you every step of the way, whether it be through completion of a survey or participation in a focus group. CPNP is your association, and as such, it is critical that these results reflect your needs and your wants. Over the next few months, you will hear more about this study and receive requests for participation. We hope you will say yes to these requests and participate fully as we work together to craft a vision for CPNP version 2.0.

Thanks in advance for your enthusiastic participation in our programs and future.