Kevin Byram, MD. (photo by Erin O. Smith)
Kevin Byram, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Rheumatology and Immunology and Co-director of the Vanderbilt Vasculitis Center, has been named Medical Director of the Vanderbilt Specialty Pharmacy (VSP), effective Oct. 1.
Byram, also Medical Director of Rheumatology at The Vanderbilt Clinic, succeeds Sara Horst, MD, MPH, Professor of Medicine, who was appointed Vice Chair for Clinical Informatics and Care Transformation in the Department of Medicine, effective July 1.
“Kevin has demonstrated remarkable leadership in building and co-directing the Vasculitis Program into a regional center of excellence,” said Joãode Andrade, MD, MMHC, Professor of Medicine, and the department’s Executive Vice-Chair for Clinical Affairs and Business Development.
“Through his work caring for patients with highly complex medical conditions, he has developed a deep appreciation for the critical role that multidisciplinary teamwork and patient-centered care play in achieving the best outcomes,” de Andrade said. “I am confident that these experiences, along with his collaborative leadership style, will make him an outstanding Medical Director of Vanderbilt Specialty Pharmacy Services.”
“The accuracy, reliability, and speed of the VSP make it a vital part of a many specialists’ everyday practice,” Byram said. “I am excited to join the VSP team and help provide the provider perspective to further the mission.”
Accredited as a Rare Disease Pharmacy Center of Excellence, VSP manages specialty medications and offers high-touch pharmacy services for patients with complex and often chronic, rare conditions ranging from cystic fibrosis and hemophilia to inflammatory bowel disease and muscular dystrophy.
Teams of more than 70 pharmacists and certified pharmacy technicians embedded throughout Vanderbilt Health’s clinics and inpatient units provide specialty therapy management programs, periodic assessments and interventions, and financial counseling.
Since its launch in 2011, VSP has decreased time to medication approval and initiation, increased medication adherence, achieved substantial patient cost savings, and increased both patient and provider satisfaction.
A 2012 graduate of the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine, Byram completed his Internal Medicine residency and a fellowship in Clinical Rheumatology and Immunology at Vanderbilt, and a fellowship in Vasculitis at the Cleveland Clinic before joining the Vanderbilt faculty in 2017.
A skilled clinician with expertise in general rheumatology and rare disease, particularly systemic vasculitis syndromes (inflammation of the blood vessels), Byram is a past president and current member of the Vasculitis Foundation Board of Directors and participates as core faculty in the Vanderbilt Undiagnosed Disease Program.
