Among the many lessons provided by the economic recession of the last two years, perhaps the most obvious is that health system practitioners need to find out how to do more with less; how to stretch every dollar in the budget while still maintaining a high level of patient care and employee satisfaction. If you have found this to be a particularly hard lesson, you are not alone. It can be easy sometimes to forget about yourself and your staff in the midst of budget crises and cutbacks; focusing instead on patient care. However, you must always remember that employee satisfaction and fostering an environment of positivity in your practices are bedrocks of great patient care. It often can be difficult to strike that balance.

While the debate will continue as to whether the economy as a whole has rebounded from the recession, the health care industry in general has seen some very positive indications. To address what, perhaps, has been in the back of everyone’s mind, PP&P is happy to provide the results of our 2010 Pharmacy Salary & Staffing Survey. We received an overwhelming response to this recent survey of directors of pharmacy, and the results are compelling. Are you wondering how your staff numbers stack up against other like-size facilities? Would you like to check your projected budget changes against those of your peers? Perhaps you are curious whether you have been fortunate to hire new staff, or if lay-offs were as prevalent elsewhere as at your own facility. That information and more can be found inside this month’s issue.

In addition to the many great articles in this issue from several leaders in the health system pharmacy realm, we also are proud to announce the launch of our new Web site (www.pppmag.com). The new site has more sophisticated and in-depth search functions, as well as author pages, robust archives, and the ever-expanding Findit resource. Take a moment to check out the new site, and let us know what you think!

All the best,

R. Mitchell Halvorsen
Publisher

P.S. PP&P has made several improvements this year in order to get the relevant and actionable information you need faster than ever. While computer- and Web-based elements such as our new site and the digital edition have assisted in this endeavor, we also have improved our mailing classification to ensure PP&P reaches your desk faster. This is the direct result of you, the reader, helping us by requalifying your subscription. If it’s been a while since you filled out a subscription form, we ask that you visit www.pppmag.com/subscribe, and fill out a few simple questions. It’s just one small way you can help us to help the entire health-system pharmacy profession.