Bluesight’s Second Annual Medication Intelligence Summit

Theresa “Terri” has been a pharmacist for over 30 years with 15 years of experience in medication safety and drug diversion monitoring. Her background includes work in various clinical roles, as well as leadership roles such as Pharmacy Operations Manager, Medication Safety Officer and Pharmacy Director. She has overseen and started diversion monitoring programs at healthcare facilities. Terri is a subject matter expert in drug diversion prevention and monitoring. In addition to her years of experience in hospital pharmacy and involvement in drug diversion prevention and monitoring, she possesses the ability to see the big picture. She knows what to look for and how to look for it. While she is compassionate toward healthcare professionals that have a substance abuse problem, she also understands the safety risks and is not afraid to ask the hard questions during investigation interviews. She is also the host of Drug Diversion Insights, a podcast for those in the healthcare industry looking for ways to reduce substance abuse and drug diversion. She founded Rxpert Solutions so that all facilities would have access to her expertise as an alternative to, or to act as a bridge while waiting for, personnel on site to develop the expertise.

Danielle Neal is the Director of Drug Diversion and Controlled Substances Compliance within Pharmacy Shared Services at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist. She is a graduate of Campbell University’s College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. Additionally, Danielle completed her Master of Business Administration at The Lundy-Fetterman School of Business at Campbell University. Danielle has served in various leadership capacities during her career in both Retail and Acute Care settings. Danielle’s professional interests include pharmacy compliance and operations, analytics and informatics, medication safety, and maximizing individuals and teams. Danielle is a native to North Carolina where she resides with her husband and 3 children.

Jake Nichols is a pharmacist in long‐term recovery with extensive experience in community pharmacy, academia, primary care, managed care, and the pharmaceutical industry. He specializes in the treatment of substance use disorders, with a focus on medication for addiction treatment. He regularly speaks at conferences across the country, highlighting his experiences as a patient, along with the importance and value of treatment. Through his fifteen-year struggle with substance use, he found his calling in the field and has dedicated his career to helping patients and their families suffering from this debilitating chronic disease.  By providing clinical support for clinicians treating patients with substance use disorder and serving as a vocal advocate for treatment, Jake has established himself as a key resource within the field.

Dr. Nichols has shared the story of his own struggles with addiction at well over 200 pharmacy, nursing, and medical schools across the country. He also regularly facilitates patient and parent support groups. Jake is currently the Co‐founder, President, and CEO at Renovo Health, which offers key stakeholders evidence‐based tools and support to enhance patient outcomes. He received his Doctor of Pharmacy Degree from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy in 2000 and his master’s degree in Business Administration from UMass Boston in 2007.

Nilesh Desai joined Baptist Health as chief pharmacy officer in March 2020. In this newly created role, he is responsible for pharmacy operations across the eight-hospital system, including oversight of the system’s retail pharmacies.

Desai spent 21 years with Hackensack University Medical Center/Hackensack Meridian Health in New Jersey, most recently as administrator of pharmacy and clinical operations. In this leadership role, he oversaw inpatient, outpatient and retail pharmacies and had responsibility over OB/GYN and maternal-fetal medicine physician faculty practices.

He also served as a program preceptor for the PGY1 pharmacy residency program and a clinical adjunct professor with the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy and Massachusetts School of Pharmacy.

Under Desai’s leadership, the hospital implemented a number of successful systems, including Epic medical record software, Barcoded Medication Administration, National Drug Code billing, e-prescribing, and other technologies. The hospital also constructed USP-compliant clean rooms for sterile and hazardous compounding.

Desai led an effort to centralize and integrate all decision-making on technology, training, educational materials, formulary standardization, medication management policies, workflows, Epic build and standardization across the Hackensack Meridian Health network.

In addition, he expanded the clinical pharmacist team and the pharmacy residency program, and established Transitions of Care, Med to Beds, and PGY2 Emergency Medicine programs.

Desai holds a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy and an MBA in healthcare.