Innovation in health care: a call to action

Innovation in health care is difficult yet necessary in this era of health care delivery and payment reform. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Innovation Center and the CMS Partnership for Patients have announced priority areas to achieve better health, better care, and reduced costs through continuous improvement. Pharmacists possess the therapeutic knowledge and medication process expertise to create collaborative and innovative solutions that address medication use and safety problems. As a profession, we face a call to action. As pharmacy practitioners, educators, and researchers, we face an unprecedented opportunity to make a difference. So, either individually or collectively in our workplaces and pharmacist professional organizations, we must respond to this call to action. Some practical suggestions are offered to get us started on this journey.