Related Articles

Objective. To develop, implement, and assess the effectiveness of an online medication therapy management (MTM) program to train pharmacists and pharmacy students in providing MTM services for patients with diabetes and to increase their intent to perform these services.

Design. An online program was created using an Internet-based learning platform to simulate 4 MTM meetings between a pharmacist and a virtual patient diagnosed with diabetes.

Assessment. Eighty students and 42 pharmacists completed the program. After completing the program, scores on post-intervention assessments showed significant improvement in 2 areas: control over performing MTM, and knowledge of how to perform MTM. Students had a significantly less-positive attitude about MTM and a decline in their perception of the social expectation that MTM is part of the practice of pharmacy, while pharmacists’ attitudes did not change significantly in these areas.

Conclusion. This online program using a virtual patient improved both participants’ belief that they have control over performing MTM, and their knowledge of how to perform MTM for diabetic patients, which may increase the likelihood that pharmacists and pharmacy students will perform MTM in the future.

Objective. To describe the implementation of an advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) in medication therapy management (MTM) designed to contribute to student pharmacists’ confidence and abilities in providing MTM.

Design. Sixty-four student pharmacists provided MTM services during an APPE in a communication and care center.

Assessment. Students conducted 1,495 comprehensive medication reviews (CMRs) identifying 6,056 medication-related problems. Ninety-eight percent of the students who completed a survey instrument (52 of 53) following the APPE expressed that they had the necessary knowledge and skills to provide MTM services. Most respondents felt that pharmacist participation in providing Medicare MTM could move the profession of pharmacy forward and that pharmacists will have some role in deciding the specific provisions of the Medicare MTM program (92% and 91%, respectively).

Conclusion. Students completing the MTM APPE received patient-centered experiences that supplemented their confidence, knowledge, and skill in providing MTM services in the future.

Objectives. To evaluate the impact of student pharmacists delivering medication therapy management (MTM) services during an elective advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE).

Methods. Student pharmacists provided MTM services at community pharmacy APPE sites, documented their recommendations, and then made follow-up telephone calls to patients to determine the impact of the MTM provided. Students were surveyed about the MTM experience.

Results. Forty-seven students provided MTM services to 509 patients over 2 years and identified 704 drug-related problems (average of 1.4 problems per patient). About 53% of patients relayed the recommendations to their physician and 205 (75%) physicians accepted the recommendations. Eighty-eight percent of patients reported feeling better about their medications after receiving MTM services. A majority of the students perceived their provision of MTM services as valuable to their patients.

Conclusions. Providing MTM services to patients in a pharmacy practice setting allowed student pharmacists to apply skills learned in the doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) curriculum.

Objective. To measure the impact of medication therapy management (MTM) learning activities on students’ confidence and intention to provide MTM using the Theory of Planned Behavior.

Design. An MTM curriculum combining lecture instruction and active-learning strategies was incorporated into a required pharmacotherapy laboratory course.

Assessment. A validated survey instrument was developed to evaluate student confidence and intent to engage in MTM services using the domains comprising the Theory of Planned Behavior. Confidence scores improved significantly from baseline for all items (p < 0.00), including identification of billable services, documentation, and electronic billing. Mean scores improved significantly for all Theory of Planned Behavior items within the constructs of perceived behavioral control and subjective norms (p < 0.05). At baseline, 42% of students agreed or strongly agreed that they had knowledge and skills to provide MTM. This percentage increased to 82% following completion of the laboratory activities.

Conclusion. Implementation of simulated MTM activities in a pharmacotherapy laboratory significantly increased knowledge scores, confidence measures, and scores on Theory of Planned Behavior constructs related to perceived behavioral control and subjective norms. Despite these improvements, intention to engage in future MTM services remained unchanged.

Objective. To implement and evaluate an introductory pharmacy practice experience (IPPE) based on the medication therapy management (MTM) service model.

Design. Patient Care 2 is an IPPE that introduces third-year pharmacy students to the MTM service model. Students interacted with older adults to identify medication-related problems and develop recommendations using core MTM elements. Course outcome evaluations were based on number of documented medication-related problems, recommendations, and student reviews.

Assessment. Fifty-seven older adults participated in the course. Students identified 52 medication-related problems and 66 medical problems, and documented 233 recommendations relating to health maintenance and wellness, pharmacotherapy, referrals, and education. Students reported having adequate experience performing core MTM elements.

Conclusion. Patient Care 2 may serve as an experiential learning model for pharmacy schools to teach the core elements of MTM and provide patient care services to the community.

Objectives

To determine the impact of active-learning strategies in a medication therapy management (MTM) elective on pharmacy students' preparedness to participate in real-life MTM counseling sessions.

Design

The elective included active-learning assignments such as patient cases, group discussions, role playing, and use of actual patients to prepare students for MTM services.

Assessment

A survey was administered before (week 11) and after (week 15) completing a face-to-face comprehensive medication review (CMR) to evaluate achievement of course objectives and students' preparedness to participate in MTM. In the pre-CMR survey, 66.7% of the students strongly agreed that the course prepared them to provide MTM services. In the post-CMR survey, 88.9% of the students strongly agreed (p = 0.046).

Conclusion

The active-learning strategies used in the MTM elective course provided students with the skills necessary to participate in MTM counseling sessions. Face-to-face CMRs better prepared pharmacy students to provide MTM services.

A pharmacist-delivered, outpatient-focused medication therapy management (MTM) program is using a remote blood glucose (BG) meter upload device to provide better care and to improve outcomes for its patients with diabetes. Sharing uploaded BG meter data, presented in easily comprehensible graphs and charts, enables patients, caregivers, and the medical team to better understand how the patients’ diabetes care is progressing.

Pharmacists are becoming increasingly more active in helping to manage patients’ complex medication regimens in an effort to help detect and avoid medication-related problems. Working together with patients and their physicians as part of an interdisciplinary health care team, pharmacists are helping to improve medication outcomes. This article focuses on two case studies highlighting the Diabetes Monitoring Program, one component of the Meridian Pharmacology Institute MTM service, and discusses the clinical application of a unique BG meter upload device.

Objective

To develop and implement a medication therapy management (MTM) curriculum and assess students' skills and attitudes after the provision of MTM services to faculty and staff members.

Design

Third-year students enrolled in a pharmaceutical care laboratory course received lectures and participated in MTM activities in preparation for an MTM encounter. Students conduced MTM sessions with university faculty and staff members, providing comprehensive medication review, blood pressure checks, and optional blood glucose and cholesterol (total cholesterol and HDL) screenings.

Assessment

A faculty-developed rubric was used to evaluate students' ability to explain MTM to the participant and address medication-related problems. Students' responses on pre- and post-encounter survey instruments showed their confidence to provide MTM services, communicate with participants and other health care providers, and provide point-of-care screening services had increased.

Conclusion

Incorporating MTM into an existing laboratory course increased students' confidence and perceived ability to provide MTM services.

The pressures driving the need for an expanded practice scope in community pharmacy have been building for the past 2 decades. Many pharmacists have chosen to embrace the pharmaceutical care model in their practice sites to meet patient and healthcare system needs. The potential for medication therapy management (MTM) services provide an additional career opportunity for pharmacy graduates. Colleges of pharmacy offer advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPEs) in the community setting that are designed to prepare students for these opportunities. These sites provide students with the opportunity to observe the integration of pharmaceutical care activities into community practice. Although developing an APPE site is challenging, serving as a preceptor benefits the students, the site, and the patients served. Therefore, colleges of pharmacy and community pharmacists are collaborating to increase the number of APPE sites to prepare pharmacy students for practice today and tomorrow.

Objective. To determine the impact of an elective course on pharmacy students’ perceptions, knowledge, and confidence regarding Medicare Part D, medication therapy management (MTM), and immunizations.

Design. Thirty-three pharmacy students were enrolled in a Medicare Part D elective course that included both classroom instruction and experiential training.

Assessment. Students’ self-reported confidence in and knowledge of Part D significantly improved upon course completion. End-of-course student perceptions about the relative importance of various aspects of MTM interventions and their confidence in performing MTM services significantly improved from those at the beginning of the course. Students’ confidence in performing immunizations also increased significantly from the start of the course.

Conclusion. A classroom course covering Medicare Part D with an experiential requirement serving beneficiaries can improve students’ attitudes and knowledge about Medicare Part D and their confidence in providing related services to beneficiaries in the community.

Objective

To implement and assess a medication therapy management (MTM) training program for pharmacy students using the MirixaPro (Mirixa Corporation, Reston, VA) platform and case studies.

Design

Students received lectures introducing MTM and were given a demonstration of the MirixaPro platform. They were divided into teams and assigned cases and times to interview patients portrayed by faculty members. Using the MirixaPro system, students performed 2 comprehensive medication reviews during the semester, recording the patient's current medications, indications, side effects, allergies, health conditions, and laboratory test recommendations and developed a personal medication record and medication action plan.

Assessment

Based on a rubric with a rating scale of 0-10, campus and distance pathway students received mean scores ranging from 6.3-7.4 for their performance on the second MTM exercise, an increase of 47%-54% over the first MTM exercise. In qualitative assessments, the majority of students believed that their confidence in providing MTM was enhanced by the activity, while faculty members recognized the advantage of using MirixaPro, which allowed students to experience what is required in processing a pharmacist led, billable MTM encounter.

Conclusions

Use of the MirixaPro system and patient cases provides students with a “hands-on” experience that may encourage them to promote MTM during their APPEs and provide MTM services as practicing pharmacists.

Background

Collaborative working relationships (CWRs) between community pharmacists and physicians may foster the provision of medication therapy management services, disease state management, and other patient care activities; however, pharmacists have expressed difficulty in developing such relationships. Additional work is needed to understand the specific pharmacist-physician exchanges that effectively contribute to the development of CWR. Data from successful pairs of community pharmacists and physicians may provide further insights into these exchange variables and expand research on models of professional collaboration.

Objective

To describe the professional exchanges that occurred between community pharmacists and physicians engaged in successful CWRs, using a published conceptual model and tool for quantifying the extent of collaboration.

Methods

A national pool of experts in community pharmacy practice identified community pharmacists engaged in CWRs with physicians. Five pairs of community pharmacists and physician colleagues participated in individual semistructured interviews, and 4 of these pairs completed the Pharmacist-Physician Collaborative Index (PPCI). Main outcome measures include quantitative (ie, scores on the PPCI) and qualitative information about professional exchanges within 3 domains found previously to influence relationship development: relationship initiation, trustworthiness, and role specification.

Results

On the PPCI, participants scored similarly on trustworthiness; however, physicians scored higher on relationship initiation and role specification. The qualitative interviews revealed that when initiating relationships, it was important for many pharmacists to establish open communication through face-to-face visits with physicians. Furthermore, physicians were able to recognize in these pharmacists a commitment for improved patient care. Trustworthiness was established by pharmacists making consistent contributions to care that improved patient outcomes over time. Open discussions regarding professional roles and an acknowledgment of professional norms (ie, physicians as decision makers) were essential.

Conclusions

The findings support and extend the literature on pharmacist-physician CWRs by examining the exchange domains of relationship initiation, trustworthiness, and role specification qualitatively and quantitatively among pairs of practitioners. Relationships appeared to develop in a manner consistent with a published model for CWRs, including the pharmacist as relationship initiator, the importance of communication during early stages of the relationship, and an emphasis on high-quality pharmacist contributions.

Objectives

To examine PharmD students' knowledge about Medicare Part D and their attitudes toward and intention to provide Medicare medication therapy management services (MTMS).

Methods

Fourth-professional year students were given a self-administered survey instrument that assessed: (1) knowledge about Medicare Part D; (2) attitudes, perceived behavioral control, subjective norms, and intention to provide Medicare MTMS; and (3) demographic and experience information.

Results

Ninety-five students responded for a response rate of 94%. Students showed good basic knowledge about Medicare Part D, with a mean score of 94%. Almost 60% of students agreed that they intended to provide Medicare MTMS, but agreement dropped to 37% when they were asked if they were willing to take initiative to provide MTMS.

Conclusions

The lack of willingness to take initiative to provide Medicare MTMS suggests that colleges and schools of pharmacy must strengthen efforts to encourage students to take on the role of service provider.

Adherence to a biologic treatment regimen is essential for tracking efficacy and justifying its cost. That’s where medication therapy management services come in.

Pharmacists are providing medication therapy management (MTM) services for patients taking biologics, although studies to demonstrate its cost-effectiveness are lacking. Is this the best way to ensure that high-cost, high-impact biologics are used correctly?

The number of patients with cardiovascular and kidney disease in the United States continues to grow as the population ages, increasing the demand on the health care system and its providers. Many patients develop chronic conditions in which optimization of care is labor intensive, specifically hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, heart failure, and chronic kidney disease. Therefore, innovative and collaborative approaches to health care are warranted. Several team-based health care models have evolved and are gaining popularity, including the Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) and Medication Therapy Management (MTM). Team-based care is widely supported in the literature, demonstrating significant improvement in cardiovascular and renal outcomes. This article will review the premises of PCMH and MTM, review the evidence and roles for team-based care specific to cardiovascular and renal outcomes, and introduce fundamentals to implement collaborative practice focusing on pharmacist-provider teams.

Background

Although community pharmacists in the United Kingdom are expected to assess elderly patients' needs for additional support in managing their medicines, there is limited data on potentially useful assessment tools. We sought to evaluate a 13-item assessment instrument among community dwelling elderly patients, 65 years and above. The instrument is composed of a cognitive risk sub-scale of 6 items and a physical risk sub-scale of 7 items.

Findings

The instrument was administered to elderly patients in a survey performed in a community to the west of Glasgow, Scotland. The survey recruited 37 participants, 31 from 4 community pharmacies and 6 patients whose medication management tasks were managed by the West Glasgow Community Health and Care Partnership (managed patients). Community pharmacists independently rated 29 of the 37 participants' comprehension of, and dexterity in handling their medicines. We assessed scale reliability, convergent validity and criterion validity. In sub-analyses, we assessed differences in scores between the managed patients and those recruited from the community pharmacies, and between multi-compartment compliance aid users and non-users. The instrument showed satisfactory internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha of 0.792 for 13-item scale). There was significant strong negative correlation between the cognitive risk sub-scores and community pharmacists' assessment of comprehension (ρ = -0.546, p = 0.0038); and physical risk sub-scores and community pharmacists' assessment of dexterity (ρ = -0.491, p = 0.0093). The Area Under the Receiver Operator Characteristic Curve (AUC ± SE; 95%CI) showed that the instrument had good discriminatory capacity (0.86 ± 0.07; 0.68, 0.96). The best cut-off (sensitivity, specificity) was ≥4 (65%, 100%). In the sub-analyses, managed patients had significantly higher cognitive risk sub-scores (6.5 versus 4.0, p = 0.0461) compared to non-managed patients. There was a significant difference in total risk score (4 versus 2, p = 0.0135) and cognitive risk sub-score (4 versus 1.5, p = 0.0029) between users and non-users of multi-compartment compliance aids.

Conclusions

This instrument shows potential for use in identifying elderly patients who may have problems managing their own medicines in the community setting. However, more robust validity and reliability assessments are needed prior to introduction of the tool into routine practice.

Background: No randomised studies have addressed whether self-management for asthma can be successfully delivered by community pharmacists. Most randomised trials of asthma self-management have recruited participants from secondary care; there is uncertainty regarding its effectiveness in primary care. A randomised controlled study was undertaken to determine whether a community pharmacist could improve asthma control using self-management advice for individuals recruited during attendance at a community pharmacy.

Methods: Twenty four adults attending a community pharmacy in Tower Hamlets, east London for routine asthma medication were randomised into two groups: the intervention group received self-management advice from the pharmacist with weekly telephone follow up for 3 months and the control group received no input from the pharmacist. Participants self-completed the North of England asthma symptom scale at baseline and 3 months later.

Results: The groups were well matched at baseline for demographic characteristics and mean (SD) symptom scores (26.3 (4.8) and 27.8 (3.7) in the intervention and control groups, respectively). Symptom scores improved in the intervention group and marginally worsened in the control group to 20.3 (4.2) and 28.1 (3.5), respectively (p<0.001; difference adjusted for baseline scores = 7.0 (95% CI 4.4 to 9.5).

Conclusions: A self-management programme delivered by a community pharmacist can improve asthma control in individuals recruited at a community pharmacy. Further studies should attempt to confirm these findings using larger samples and a wider range of outcome measures.

Purpose

Interventions made by pharmacists to resolve issues when filling a prescription ensure the quality, safety, and efficacy of medication therapy for patients. The purpose of this study was to provide a current estimate of the number and types of interventions performed by community pharmacists during processing of prescriptions. This baseline data will provide insight into the factors influencing current practice and areas where pharmacists can redefine and expand their role.

Patients and methods

A cross-sectional study of community pharmacist interventions was completed. Participants included third-year pharmacy students and their pharmacist preceptor as a data collection team. The team identified all interventions on prescriptions during the hours worked together over a 7-day consecutive period. Full ethics approval was obtained.

Results

Nine student–pharmacist pairs submitted data from nine pharmacies in rural (n = 3) and urban (n = 6) centers. A total of 125 interventions were documented for 106 patients, with a mean intervention rate of 2.8%. The patients were 48% male, were mostly ≥18 years of age (94%), and 86% had either public or private insurance. Over three-quarters of the interventions (77%) were on new prescriptions. The top four types of problems requiring intervention were related to prescription insurance coverage (18%), drug product not available (16%), dosage too low (16%), and missing prescription information (15%). The prescriber was contacted for 69% of the interventions. Seventy-two percent of prescriptions were changed and by the end of the data collection period, 89% of the problems were resolved.

Conclusion

Community pharmacists are impacting the care of patients by identifying and resolving problems with prescriptions. Many of the issues identified in this study were related to correcting administrative or technical issues, potentially limiting the time pharmacists can spend on patient-focused activities.

Objective

To evaluate the impact of a tobacco cessation training program on pharmacists' confidence, skills, and practice-change behaviors.

Design

Quasiexperimental study.

Setting

Wisconsin during 2002–2003.

Participants

25 community pharmacists.

Intervention

A continuing education training program was developed and implemented using home and live training components consisting of the national tobacco cessation guidelines, including the 5A's counseling process. The home study component included lectures and readings in CD-ROM format. Consistent with self-efficacy theory, the live training was based on exercises that included modeling, rehearsal, and feedback to learners.

Main outcome measures

Knowledge assessment, pre- and postsurveys assessing confidence and skill levels, and service provision indicators.

Results

Self-efficacy and perceived ability to counsel patients to quit using tobacco improved significantly after the combined program. No significant change in confidence or perceived skills occurred following home study alone, suggesting value in using a combination of teaching strategies (problem solving, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback). Of participants, 92% received a passing knowledge score and 75% attempted to implement a tobacco cessation service posttraining; more than 50% assisted patients up to 1 year posttraining. A relationship between self-efficacy and service provision was found when practice settings were considered.

Conclusion

This program increased pharmacists' knowledge and self-efficacy to counsel patients on tobacco use. Further, the majority of pharmacy participants attempted to implement a tobacco cessation service.

In 2006, the United States Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services implemented Medicare Part D to provide outpatient prescription drug insurance to disabled and older adults. In creating Part D, a key provision to address quality included medication therapy management (MTM) programs designed to increase proper and safe use of medications among targeted Part D beneficiaries. A preponderance of evidence shows that Part D has increased medication affordability and accessibility; however, what remains less clear is whether it has improved the quality of medication use and optimized health outcomes. Now in its sixth year, Part D is undergoing its first major revision with the gradual elimination of the coverage gap by 2020. Therefore, now is a good time to review the accumulated evidence on the impact of Part D and MTM programs on quality of medication use to help inform future policy decisions and research directions. In this review, we find that Part D’s net effect on quality of medication use mainly has been positive. Cost-related medication nonadherence improves moderately and treatment interruptions happen less than expected. However, vulnerable subgroups, such as sicker and dual-eligible beneficiaries, experienced lags in improvement. Beneficiaries who entered the coverage gap consistently experienced interruptions and displayed worsening medication adherence after entering the gap, with generic-only gap drug coverage offering only suggested limited benefit. Such findings can serve as baseline information as the coverage gap phases out. Limited availability of data is the biggest barrier to research in Part D. Part D’s overall effect on health outcomes and adverse medical events, such as hospitalizations, is inconclusive because of inadequate evidence to date. Similarly, no evaluation of quality of medication use is available on utilization management strategies and MTM programs delivered under Part D. Future research will need to further examine the added value of Part D and address whether it optimizes health outcomes in the Medicare population. As the current economic recession increases the pressure to cut costs, the effect of future spending restrictions, such as restrictions on coverage subsidies, will also be of special concern.

Background:

The renal dosing directive of the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority Pharmacy Program outlines an auditable pharmacy service whereby pharmacists are required to perform documentation (i.e., document their rationale) only if they do not adjust the dose of any medications listed in the directive.

Objective:

To compare the suitability of manual orders (hard copy) and reports from the pharmacy information system (computer-generated) for determining pharmacists’ compliance with the renal dosing directive; to measure compliance with the renal dosing directive; and to determine pharmacists’ opinions about audit programs.

Methods:

A retrospective audit was used to compare 400 manual orders with the corresponding orders in reports from the pharmacy information system, to determine compliance with the renal dosing directive. An e-mail survey was performed to gather pharmacists’ opinions about audit programs.

Results:

Of the 400 orders evaluated, 86 (22%) required consideration of a dose adjustment. Of these, 78 (91%) showed that dosing followed the guidelines for renal dysfunction in standard pharmacy references. Six (7%) of 86 manual orders and 8 (9%) of 86 pharmacy information system orders were not compliant with the renal dosing directive (i.e., no dosage adjustment and no documentation of rationale). Of 77 pharmacists approached, 34 (44%) completed the survey. Most respondents (31/34 [91%]) agreed that auditing is beneficial to patients, and the same number (31/34 [91%]) agreed that auditing provides important information to the pharmacy program. Only 17 (50%) were aware of medications listed in the renal dosing directive, and 14 (41%) felt that they had received sufficient education about pharmacy directives. Most respondents (29/34 [85%]) agreed that audits would reveal areas for improvement, and all (34/34 [100%]) would comply with any changes required to facilitate performance of an audit if such changes did not increase workload.

Conclusions:

Similar results were obtained with the 2 auditing methods used for this study (manual orders and reports from the pharmacy information system). However, pharmacists’ current use of electronic documentation limits the feasibility of pharmacy information system audits. Survey respondents claimed that they were not familiar with the renal dosing directive, but they did agree that auditing clinical services is beneficial.

OBJECTIVE--To investigate systematically participation in audit of NHS hospital pharmacists in the United Kingdom. DESIGN--Questionnaire census survey. SETTING--All NHS hospital pharmacies in the UK providing clinical pharmacy services. SUBJECTS--462 hospital pharmacies. MAIN MEASURES--Extent and nature of participation in medical, clinical, and pharmacy audits according to hospital management and teaching status, educational level and specialisation of pharmacists, and perceived availability of resources. RESULTS--416 questionnaires were returned (response rate 90%). Pharmacists contributed to medical audit in 50% (204/410) of hospitals, pharmacy audit in 27% (108/404), and clinical audit in only 7% (29/404). Many pharmacies (59% (235/399)) were involved in one or more types of audit but few (4%, (15/399)) in all three. Participation increased in medical and pharmacy audits with trust status (medical audit: 57% (65/115) trust hospital v 47% (132/281) non-trust hospital; pharmacy audit: 34% (39/114) v 24% (65/276)) and teaching status (medical audit: 58% (60/104) teaching hospital v 47% (130/279) non-teaching hospital; pharmacy audit 30% (31/104) v 25% (68/273)) and similarly for highly qualified pharmacists (MPhil or PhD, MSc, diplomas) (medical audit: 54% (163/302) with these qualifications v 38% (39/103) without; pharmacy audit: 32% (95/298) v 13% (13/102)) and specialists pharmacists (medical audit: 61% (112/184) specialist v 41% (90/221) non-specialist; pharmacy audit: 37% (67/182) v 19% (41/218)). Pharmacies contributing to medical audit commonly provided financial information on drug use (86% 169/197). Pharmacy audits often concentrated on audit of clinical pharmacy services. CONCLUSION--Pharmacists are beginning to participate in the critical evaluation of health care, mainly in medical audit.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE

To determine if there is improvement in medication management when pharmacists and family physicians collaborate to prescribe medication renewals requested by fax.

DESIGN

Prospective, non-randomized controlled trial.

SETTING

W est Winds Primary Health Centre, an interdisciplinary health centre that includes an academic family medicine practice, located in Saskatoon, Sask.

PARTICIPANTS

All patients whose pharmacies faxed the health centre requesting prescription renewals between October 2007 and February 2008 were selected to participate in the study.

INTERVENTIONS

Medication renewal requests were forwarded to the pharmacist (who works in the clinic part-time) on days when he was working (intervention group). The pharmacist assessed drug-therapy issues that might preclude safe and effective prescribing of the medication. The pharmacist and physician then made a collaborative decision to authorize the requested medication or to request additional interventions first (eg, perform laboratory tests). When the pharmacist was not working, the physicians managed the renewal requests independently (control group).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Medication renewals authorized with no recommendations, medication-related problems identified, new monitoring tests ordered, and new appointments scheduled with health providers.

RESULTS

A total of 181 renewal requests were included (94 in the control group and 87 in the intervention group). The control group had significantly more requests authorized with no recommendations (75.5% vs 52.9%, P = .001). Those in the intervention group had significantly more medication-related problems identified (26 vs 10, P = .031); medication changes made (24 vs 10, P = .044); and new appointments scheduled with their family physicians (31 vs 21, P = .049).

CONCLUSION

There is an improvement in medication management when a pharmacist collaborates with family physicians to prescribe medication renewals. The collaborative model created significantly more activity with each renewal request (ie, identification of medication-related problems, medication changes, and new appointments), which reflects an improvement in the process of care.

Objectives

To develop and establish the validity and reliability of a conflict management scale specific to pharmacy practice and education.

Methods

A multistage inventory-item development process was undertaken involving 93 pharmacists and using a previously described explanatory model for conflict in pharmacy practice. A 19-item inventory was developed, field tested, and validated.

Results

The conflict management scale (CMS) demonstrated an acceptable degree of reliability and validity for use in educational or practice settings to promote self-reflection and self-awareness regarding individuals' conflict management styles.

Conclusions

The CMS provides a unique, pharmacy-specific method for individuals to determine and reflect upon their own conflict management styles. As part of an educational program to facilitate self-reflection and heighten self-awareness, the CMS may be a useful tool to promote discussions related to an important part of pharmacy practice.

Objective

To measure agreement between advanced pharmacy practice experience students using a guided interview process and experienced clinical pharmacists using standard practices to identify drug therapy problems.

Methods

Student pharmacists enrolled in an advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) and clinical pharmacists conducted medication therapy management interviews to identify drug therapy problems in elderly patients recruited from the community. Student pharmacists used a guided interview tool, while clinical pharmacists' interviews were conducted using their usual and customary practices. Student pharmacists also were surveyed to determine their perceptions of the interview tool.

Results

Fair to moderate agreement was observed on student and clinical pharmacists' identification of 4 of 7 drug therapy problems. Of those, agreement was significantly higher than chance for 3 drug therapy problems (adverse drug reaction, dosage too high, and needs additional drug therapy) and not significant for 1 (unnecessary drug therapy). Students strongly agreed that the interview tool was useful but agreed less strongly on recommending its use in practice.

Conclusions

The guided interview process served as a useful teaching aid to assist student pharmacists to identify drug therapy problems.