By Lori Maricle, College of Pharmacy
SPOKANE, Wash. – Danial Baker, associate dean and professor at the Washington State University College of Pharmacy, has been appointed to two subcommittees of a federal organization that sets standards for drug regulations.
Baker is on the Medicare Model Guidelines subcommittee and the Model Guidelines for All Marketed Products expert panel of the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention’s (USP) Healthcare Quality Expert Committee. He has more than 25 years of experience as a member of various types of formulary committees, including a Medicaid program, a pharmacy benefit management company and other healthcare plans.
The subcommittee was established in 2003 in response to the Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act. It names the USP as the organization to develop and maintain the list of drugs and their therapeutic uses that health plans may cover under Medicare Part D.
“Updating of the Model Guidelines for the USP that is used by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will influence the drug benefit that will be provided to millions of people in the United States covered by Medicare,” said Baker.
“While the Model Guidelines for All Marketed Products is a new initiative, I will be helping to develop it from the ground up,” he said. “It has the potential to impact the drug benefit programs offered to all Americans.
“Faculty engagement in these types of activities also helps to illustrate to our students … how an individual can influence policies that affect patient care, the health care industry and the health of the nation,” he said.
Contacts:
Lori Maricle, WSU College of Pharmacy communications, 509-368-6679, lmaricle@wsu.edu
Danial Baker, WSU College of Pharmacy, 509-358-7660, danial.baker@wsu.edu
