Kerr Health

Chapel Hill, North Carolina (map)

1106 Environ Way
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
919-918-7595

Preceptor: Tasha Michaels, PharmD (tmichaels@kerrhealth.com)

Sara Dawson
2009-2010 resident

Kerr Drug is a regional chain pharmacy with about eighty stores and seven health-care centers located throughout North Carolina. Chapel Hill is the site of one of these unique, stand-alone health-care centers run by residency trained clinical pharmacists. Chapel Hill became the first UNC community pharmacy residency site in 2000. The site moved into a brand new facility with a dedicated research center in 2009.

Over the past several years, Kerr has been recognized both statewide and nationally for its efforts in patient care. Kerr has been recognized by Outcomes^® as the MTM Provider of the Year for 2007, 2008, and 2009. In 2008, Kerr received the American Diabetes Association Diabetes Education Provider of the Year in North Carolina and the Eagle Award for improving health outcomes in North Carolina communities. Kerr also received the APhA Foundation's Pinnacle Award in 2006.

Kerr Health is a division of Kerr Drug that focuses on specialty pharmacy, outsource pharmacy, and care management. The Care Management division of Kerr Health encompasses the Kerr Health Care Centers. The Care Management division strives to provide innovative health-care services including (but not limited to) the following:

• Immunizations
• Adherence programs
• Medication therapy management programs
• Consulting and medication management services to long-term care facilities
• Practice management, marketing, reimbursement strategies, community outreach and education
• Education programs including a Diabetes Self-Management Education Program recognized by the American Diabetes Association
• Teaching experience in classroom and clinical practice settings
• Disease prevention, detection, and monitoring services (blood pressure, bone density, blood glucose, A1c, cholesterol, immunizations)
• Research initiatives including pharmacogenomics and CRO investigations
• Extensive involvement in pharmacist-run employer wellness initiatives

About the Preceptor

Tasha Michaels, PharmD

Residency preceptor since 2009

Natasha "Tasha" Michaels, PharmD, is the clinical coordinator at the Kerr Drug in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Michaels received her bachelor of science in chemistry and biology from Meredith College in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 2003, and her doctor of pharmacy from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy in 2007. Michaels completed her PGY1 community pharmacy residency at Kerr Drug in Raleigh with preceptors Gretchen Jenkins and Debbie Pruss. During her residency, Michaels presented her research on North Carolina’s Medicaid Medication Therapy Management Program at national meetings, including an abstract publication in the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association in April 2008. Her residency research was published in the May/June 2010 issue of JAPhA.

Michaels joined the Care Management team in 2007 and is currently the clinical coordinator at the Kerr Health Care Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Since joining the team, her primary focus has been to provide clinical services to patients in the community setting. These services consist of medication therapy management services, immunizations, and disease state management, including diabetes education. Michaels is also an adjunct faculty member at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. She serves as a preceptor for community experiential rotations for pharmacy students from various schools of pharmacy, as well as PGY1 and, starting in 2010, PGY2 residents.

Michaels serves as a co-investigator for pharmacogenomics research and has served as an investigator for Pegus Research, Inc. She is a member of the American Pharmacists Association and the North Carolina Association of Pharmacists. She currently serves on NCAP’s Community Care Practice Forum Executive Committee, Membership Committee, and Community Care Practice Forum ex officio member for the Vision 2015 Task Force. Michaels received the Community Care Pharmacist of the Year award in August 2010 from NCAP.