Suzanne Solven

Suzanne Solven is the Associate Vice President of Audit, Investigations and Quality Assurance at Pacific Blue Cross.  Suzanne brings over 25 years of strategic leadership experience to the position.  She leads the fraud branch and has developed and implemented a 5 year Anti-Fraud Strategy as well as leads the Internal Audit branch to ensure appropriate controls are in place from an enterprise wide, holistic viewpoint.

Prior to her work at Pacific Blue Cross, Suzanne was the Deputy Registrar of the College of Pharmacists of British Columbia for over 9 years. In her capacity as Deputy Registrar, led the development of the award winning DrugSafe BC Initiative, changes to the ownership provisions in the pharmacy legislation, successful undercover pharmacy investigations and first in Canada successful investigative collaboration with the US Food and Drug Administration.

Prior to her work at the College, Suzanne was employed by the government of British Columbia for over 13 years in the positions of Executive Director and Senior Pharmacist of the BC PharmaCare program. While with government Suzanne led inter-professional drug policy initiatives such as evidenced based drug review processes, limited use drug coverage, special authorization expert committees and standardized product listing agreements. She was also a provincial partner in the development of the Common Drug Review.

Suzanne is a current member of the Alumni UBC Advisory Council and the UBC Therapeutics Initiative Oversight Committee,  past member of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC Prescription Review Panel, past Co-Chair of the National Pharmaceuticals Strategy, and past chair of the Advisory Committee on Pharmaceuticals, Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technology in Health.

1. What’s your journey post pharmacy school and how did you get to where you are?

"I graduated in 1987 and worked in a community pharmacy for 6 years. I wanted to go back and do a PharmD and then life got in the way (got married, had kids).

After 6 years I was looking for a change as I felt I was not maximizing the skills that I thought we were trained for - I wanted more. And then a job came up at the Ministry of Health for a pharmacist within the Pharmacare program. It had to do with inspections of long term care facilities because in those days, Pharmacare used to inspect the Medication Administration System to ensure alignment with payment for Plan B claims.

I did that for a year in 1993 and then in 1994, the government started looking at cost containment strategies (prior to 1994 in BC, generally, if a drug was approved for sale in Canada, it was added to the Pharmacare formulary). I helped to develop and implement the policy around low cost alternatives (brand vs generic) or the LCA program as it is known today. At the same time, that is also when the government implemented Special Authorization processes. Around the same time the government also brought in a formalized drug review process looking at the clinical and pharmacoeconomic benefit of drugs in comparison to currently funded drugs - trying to answer the cost-effectiveness question. Together with my colleagues, we developed the policy and processes to make this happen. It was a very exciting time as I was working with world class experts in drug policy and evaluation. The following year, we were working on policy for the Reference Drug Program or Reference-based Pricing, which is what we called back then. In 1995, we rolled out the first 3 categories. During this time I was promoted to Senior Pharmacist and then later to Executive Director. From there we continued to develop drug policy and set the foundations for the policy that exists today.I feel very privileged to have been involved in provincial and national policy development such as the Common Drug Review and the National Pharmaceuticals Strategy and worked with dedicated expert colleagues and mentors. Working for the government was a fantastic learning journey that developed my skills in leadership, risk management, building effective stakeholder relationships and partnerships, value of collaboration, policy and evaluation development and implementation, to name a few.

In 2007, I moved from the government to the College of Pharmacists of BC in the role of Deputy Registrar. That role really appealed to me because of the public safety aspect within my practice area of Pharmacy. At the College, as Deputy, I was responsible for Legislation and Policy development as well as the Complaints process of Inquiry and Discipline. I assisted the Registrar and Board with development of the College strategic direction and achievement of goals and objectives for enhanced patient care and public safety. We were doing a number of exciting initiatives at the College at the time which were very rewarding and I am very proud to have contributed to or led them such as the Drug Safe BC initiative, MMT action plan, PODSA ownership changes and many others. I very much enjoyed working with my pharmacy colleagues. My time at the College enhanced my skills with respect to working with a Board and understanding and developing skills in the area of administrative law and procedural fairness, enabling legislation change and drafting and developing bylaws.

After 10 years at the College I moved to Pacific Blue Cross in the role of Associate Vice President of Audit, Investigations and Quality Assurance. I am responsible for the fraud audit/investigations and internal audit departments which looks to minimize risks for our clients, enhance sustainability of benefit plans and add business value to the organization. I am excited about this new role because it takes me into areas that are new for me and allows me to continue to share my experience and knowledge while at the same time gain new skills and knowledge. That is important to me - I cannot be stagnant, I always want to be learning."

2. What motivated you to pursue your specific area of practice?

"What really led me to where I am today is my passion for leadership, mentoring and the public good and making a difference for my patients and/or the public. Upholding morals and ethics is something that I value. In the different jobs I’ve had, that has been my compass that’s led me to where I’ve gotten to today, giving back for the betterment of society. This has been a driving force in all the jobs I’ve taken."

3. What does your day to day job look like?

"As a leader, I need to provide vision and direction for the department consistent with the PBC strategic plan and overall goals and objectives. That flows down to the department goals and objectives. So our day to day is focused on ensuring we are meeting our short term and long term goals and objectives. This is accomplished by attending meetings within and outside my department where we discuss strategic or operational issues as well as planning and working collaboratively with our teams. We need to take into account budget as well as reporting deliverables such as reporting to the Executive or Audit Committee on our progress with regards to our goals and objectives. We are very focused and everything flows from our company strategic plan down to our departmental plans."

4. What do you find challenging/rewarding about your job?

Rewarding

"Let’s start with rewarding! I love working with people and motivating teams of people to be passionate and excited about what they’re doing. For me, I’ve always led with passion. I’ve found things I’m passionate about and that drives me. I love coming to work because I love what I do. I’m passionate about it because it makes a difference! I want to be part of the solution that minimizes what’s being abused in our system and be a part of helping ensure sustainability. It’s very rewarding to be part of these solutions."

Challenging

"All kinds of challenges! All jobs have limited resources available and competing priorities so you have to ensure you maximize what you have to be successful and set reasonable expectations. Working with people can be so rewarding but at the same time challenging and you have to develop skills to be successful in working collaboratively with people and recognizing and celebrating everyone's unique skills and value.

And sometimes life just gets in the way, so finding the right work/life balance to ensure you stay healthy and fit for your family and your work."

5. What advice would you offer students who are interested in pursuing a job in the field you currently work in?

"First of all, what I tell all my students is to go out and get some experience. Work (hospital, community, etc…) and utilize the training that you received and see the world out there. Also, move around a bit. When you’re young, it’s a good opportunity to move around and experience different work environments to see what really drives you and what you’re passionate about. Find what excites you. And think outside the box. When I started my pharmacy career I didn’t even know about the opportunities and roles that I have had - so explore and see what is out there.

The networking piece is key -put yourself outside your comfort zone at every event you go to - meet someone new and build new relationships and networks. Learn from people you meet - I guarantee you will learn something new every time and get exposed to more and more networks. It is through networks that people gain new experiences and opportunities.

For the various roles I have had - the basic pharmacy knowledge was important. From there it was building the leadership skills and gaining experience. So start off by volunteering at the College through committees, or at the Association, or even volunteering for outside pharmacy boards/associations. Go and meet and talk to people in the roles you think you might be interested in - take additional courses and just apply if a role comes up. If you aren’t successful the first time - ask for a debrief on why you were not successful - this could help you focus where you need to improve. And Good Luck!"