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Objective: To survey the knowledge, attitude, and practices of Vietnamese pharmacists regarding the COVID-19 pandemic., Method: This cross-sectional, paper-based study was conducted from June to August 2020. A validated questionnaire (Cronbach's alpha = 0.84) was used to interview 1,023 pharmacists in nine provinces of Vietnam. Analysis of covariance was employed to identify factors associated with the knowledge of pharmacists. The best model was chosen by using the Bayesian Model Averaging method in R software version 4.0.4., Results: The mean knowledge score was 12.02 ± 1.64 (range: 6-15), which indicated that 93.4% of pharmacists had good knowledge of COVID-19. There was no difference in the average score between males and females (p > 0.05). The multivariate linear regression model revealed that the knowledge was significantly associated with pharmacists' age, education level, and residence (p < 0.001). About attitude and practices, pharmacists daily sought and updated information on the COVID-19 pandemic through mass media and the internet (social network and online newspapers). Nearly 48% of them conceded that they communicated with customers when at least one person did not wear a face mask at the time of the COVID-19 outbreak. At medicine outlets, many measures were applied to protect pharmacists and customers, such as equipping pharmacists with face masks and hand sanitizers (95.0%), using glass shields (83.0%), and maintaining at least one-meter distance between two people (85.2%)., Conclusion: The pharmacists' knowledge of COVID-19 transmission, symptoms, and prevention was good. Many useful measures against the spread of this perilous virus were applied in medicine outlets. However, pharmacists should restrict forgetting to wear face masks in communication with medicine purchasers. The government and health agencies should have practical remedies to reduce the significant differences in the COVID-19 knowledge of pharmacists among provinces and education-level groups., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Background: This position paper highlights the opportunistic integral role of the pharmacist across the patient pathway utilizing cardiovascular care as an example. The paper aims to highlight the potential roles that pharmacists worldwide can have (or already have) to provide efficient patient care in the context of interprofessional collaboration., Methods: It results from a literature review and experts seeking advice to identify existing interventions and potential innovative interventions. We developed a conceptual framework highlighting seven critical phases in the patient pathway and for each of those listed some of the initiatives identified by our experts worldwide., Results: Existing pharmacists' interventions in each of these phases have been identified globally. Various examples in the area of prevention and self-management were found to exist for long; the contribution for early detection and subsequently to timely diagnosis were also quite clear; integration of care was perhaps one of the areas needing greater development, although interventions in secondary care were also quite common. Tertiary care and end of life interventions were found to often be left for other healthcare professionals., Conclusion: On the basis of the findings, we can argue that much has been done but globally consider that pharmacists are still an untapped resource potentially useful for improved patient care., (© 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

Purpose: UNC Medical Center converted to an electronic health record (EHR) in 2014. This conversion allowed for the transition of paper chemotherapy orders to be managed electronically. This article describes the process for converting inpatient paper chemotherapy orders into the new EHR in a safe and effective manner., Summary: A collaborative interdisciplinary approach to the EHR transition enabled our organization to move from using paper chemotherapy orders to fully electronic chemotherapy treatment plans in both ambulatory and acute care areas. Active chemotherapy orders for acute care inpatients were reviewed and transcribed by two oncology pharmacists in the cancer hospital prior to being signed by an attending physician. The newly input orders were independently verified by two pharmacists in the cancer hospital inpatient pharmacy. Nurse review of the signed and verified treatment plans, along with reconciliation of the medication administration record ensured a safe transition to the new EHR workflow. Providers benefit from the ability to review treatment plans remotely, track changes, and include supportive medications in one consolidated location. The coordinated team effort allowed for a smooth transition with minimal interruptions to patient care., Conclusion: The pharmacist-led, multidisciplinary conversion to electronic chemotherapy orders was safe, accurate, and occurred ahead of schedule for the EHR go-live. Advance communication and planning around scheduled inpatient admissions helped to minimize the impact of the transition from paper to electronic treatment plans. Both pharmacist and physician engagement were necessary to ensure a smooth transition for active inpatient treatment plans., (© American Society of Health-System Pharmacists 2020. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Objective. To compare pharmacy students' perceptions about and performance when using paper-based versus virtual patient cases to reinforce knowledge of the collect and assess elements of the Pharmacists' Patient Care Process ( PPCP). Methods. Twenty-seven pharmacy students enrolled in an ambulatory care elective course were randomized to receive either paper-based cases or virtual patient cases for three weeks. They then crossed over to receive the alternative case format for the next three weeks. Each student received a score for their performance on questions related to the collect and assess elements of the PPCP. Students completed a survey and participated in a focus group to evaluate their perceptions of each learning method. Statistical analyses were performed on all data collected. Results. Students' performance (n=27) was better on the assess questions of the PPCP when they used paper-based patient cases than when they used virtual patient cases. The only difference in students' perceptions was related to the collect element, as students favored using paper-based patient cases over virtual patient cases when collecting subjective and objective information. Students who participated in the focus groups believed that the virtual patient cases provided a more realistic and engaging experience in addition to promoting critical thinking. Conclusion. While paper-based patient cases allowed pharmacy students to quickly identify and "collect" relevant information, increased use of virtual patient cases may enhance students' comfort level with and ability to "assess" actual patients., (© 2020 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy.)

Gender disparity exists in leadership roles within healthcare. While the majority of the healthcare workforce is comprised of women, significantly fewer women occupy leadership positions, particularly at executive and board levels. As the field of oncology pharmacy continues to rapidly expand and evolve, an assessment of the current state of women in oncology pharmacy leadership roles is vital to the growth and development of the profession. In the fall of 2017, the Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association (HOPA) hosted a summit to explore leadership issues facing women in oncology pharmacy which have the potential to affect our membership and our profession. This meeting included invited participants from across the fields of oncology and pharmacy and was part of HOPA's strategic leadership initiative developed through the work of the HOPA Leadership Development Committee in 2016. This promotes a primary goal of HOPA, which is to support oncology pharmacists as they assume leadership roles within their practices and within healthcare to assure oncology pharmacy is integrated into cancer care. The purpose of this white paper is to (1) summarize key issues that were identified through a membership survey; (2) review ongoing efforts to address the needs of female oncology pharmacists in leadership development; (3) serve as a call to action for individuals and professional organizations to assist with and disseminate these efforts and highlight available resources, and (4) to provide practical steps to meet the needs of individuals, training programs, and institutions/employers.

Belgium is in a transition phase from paper-based prescriptions to electronic prescriptions (ePrescriptions) during which both the paper and electronic format are valid. Since patients still get a paper proof of the ePrescription, sometimes pharmacists use the ePrescription as paper-based prescription. When the government demands a complete dematerialization, i.e. no more paper-based prescriptions, this will no longer be possible. Therefore, we questioned the frequency and reasons for treating an ePrescription as paper-based. The logged interactions in the national database were used to identify possible reasons. The tarification service Koninklijk Limburgs Apothekers Verbond (KLAV) provided prescriptions of June 2018. KLAV supports tarification for community pharmacies all over Belgium, thereby providing a representative sample for the Belgian community pharmacies. A two-stage cluster random sampling technique was applied to retrieve a subset of 10,000 prescriptions. In this subset we identified 4961 ePrescriptions (49.61%) of which 226 (4.56%, in total 2.26%) were treated as paper-based. Reasons observed for this incorrect handling are (1) non-compliance of the community pharmacist; (2) errors in software or handling of the community pharmacist; (3) errors at the prescriber side or patient tries to fraud; (4) incorrectly revoking the ePrescription; and (5) errors in software of prescriber. The main reasons for treating ePrescriptions as paper-based are non-compliance of the community pharmacist (n = 124, 54.87%) by ignoring its digital nature, and errors in software or handling of the community pharmacist (n = 85, 37.61%). Future research is necessary to investigate user opinions and to measure the impact of introducing ePrescribing in the daily routine.

Processes for the credentialing and privileging of health professionals are of increasing importance and value to the U.S. health care system and to society. As efforts continue to provide and reward more efficient, affordable, and higher quality health care (the "triple aim" described by Berwick et al.1), the ability to ensure the capabilities and competence of the health professionals, including pharmacists, who practice within an increasingly complex and sophisticated system has become both more relevant and essential. Currently, all U.S.-educated pharmacists attain a fundamental set of credentials to qualify to enter practice-an accredited professional pharmacy degree and a license awarded upon successful completion of a national postgraduation examination administered by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy on behalf of state boards of pharmacy. This process provides an established framework to assure stakeholders of the ability of pharmacists to provide care and services that reflect sound, entry-level practice. However, evolving patient care and health system needs and demands have heightened the requisite skills needed by pharmacists to deliver more complex services. Ongoing professional development and competency assessment are integral parts of health professionals' expectations to maintain a contemporary practice. This resource guide on the credentialing and privileging of pharmacists has been developed to supplement the Council on Credentialing in Pharmacy (CCP)a Guiding Principles for Post-licensure Credentialing of Pharmacists2 and to assist those who are introducing or enhancing a credentialing and privileging system for pharmacists within their health care settings. CCP does not provide the guide for use as a standard of practice nor intends to represent the content as best or expected practices.

Background: Heart failure (HF) care takes place in multiple settings, with a variety of providers, and generally involves patients who have multiple comorbidities. This situation is a "perfect storm" of factors that predispose patients to medication errors., Methods and Results: The goals of this paper are to outline potential roles for clinical pharmacists in a multidisciplinary HF team, to document outcomes associated with interventions by clinical pharmacists, to recommend minimum training for clinical pharmacists engaged in HF care, and to suggest financial strategies to support clinical pharmacy services within a multidisciplinary team. As patients transition from inpatient to outpatient settings and between multiple caregivers, pharmacists can positively affect medication reconciliation and education, assure consistency in management that results in improvements in patient satisfaction and medication adherence, and reduce medication errors. For mechanical circulatory support and heart transplant teams, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services considers the participation of a transplant pharmacology expert (e.g., clinical pharmacist) to be a requirement for accreditation, given the highly specialized and complex drug regimens used. Although reports of outcomes from pharmacist interventions have been mixed owing to differences in study design, benefits such as increased use of evidence-based therapies, decreases in HF hospitalizations and emergency department visits, and decreases in all-cause readmissions have been demonstrated. Clinical pharmacists participating in HF or heart transplant teams should have completed specialized postdoctoral training in the form of residencies and/or fellowships in cardiovascular and/or transplant pharmacotherapy, and board certification is recommended. Financial mechanisms to support pharmacist participation in the HF teams are variable., Conclusions: Positive outcomes associated with clinical pharmacist activities support the value of making this resource available to HF teams., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: To identify the current challenges and opportunities in compensation and recognition for pharmacist-provided immunizations across the lifespan and to establish guiding principles for pharmacist-provided immunization compensation and recognition., Data Sources: 22 stakeholders gathered on June 29, 2011, at the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) headquarters in Washington, DC, for a meeting on immunization compensation that was convened by APhA and the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy. Participants included representatives from community pharmacy practices (chain, grocery, and independent), employers, national consumer health and advocacy organizations, national pharmacy and public health organizations, health plan representatives, pharmacy benefit managers, and health information technology, standards, and safety organizations. Key immunization leaders from TRICARE Management Activity, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the National Vaccine Program Office of the Department of Health & Human Services, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also participated in the meeting., Summary: The increased numbers of pharmacists providing vaccination services and the availability of pharmacist-provided immunizations to populations in need of vaccines has continued to increase. This has resulted in a rise in the percentage of patients who receive vaccines at pharmacies. Pharmacists are now working to lever-age their ability to identify people with key risk factors (e.g., diabetes, heart disease or previous myocardial infarction), encourage them to receive their CDC-recommended vaccinations, and administer the required vaccine. Challenges and opportunities in compensation and recognition for pharmacist-provided immunizations across the adult lifespan persist. Variability in state practice acts, reimbursement and compensation processes and systems, and mechanisms for documentation of vaccine services create substantial differences in how pharmacist-provided immunizations are delivered throughout the United States., Conclusion: Pharmacist-provided immunizations are clinically sound, are cost effective, are readily accessible, and support our nation's public health goals. Pharmacists have demonstrated that patient vaccination rates have improved through expansion of pharmacist-provided immunizations. The profession should continue efforts to collaborate with other immunization stakeholders and expand a pharmacist scope of practice that is built around a uniform and recognized standard of immunization provision and that supports the provision of all CDC-recommended vaccines through pharmacy-provided immunizations.

Objectives: To (1) generate discussion about the role of the pharmacist in supporting patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), (2) provide practical recommendations on how pharmacists can work with employers and other health care providers to improve patient outcomes, and (3) develop a pharmacist-based service offering for patients with COPD., Data Sources: Literature review and survey information provided by a group of national stakeholders who participated in a roundtable discussion., Summary: COPD is currently the fourth leading cause of death in the United States, and incidence rates have been increasing. COPD is estimated to affect 24 million American adults, with almost one-half remaining undiagnosed. If current trends continue, COPD is predicted to become the third leading cause of death and fifth leading cause of morbidity in the United States by 2020. This will cause a dramatic increase in use of health care resources, which is projected to reach annual total costs of $49.9 billion in 2010. Roundtable participants uniformly agreed that based on current and projected statistics, COPD is a major health concern. To address this growing concern, emphasis should be placed on the collaborative efforts of the health care community to become active in the detection, assessment, treatment, and management of patients with COPD and that pharmacists can contribute to each of these areas considerably., Conclusion: Access in the community (often 24 hours a day, 7 days a week) combined with extensive clinical knowledge makes pharmacists uniquely capable of helping those with chronic disease, especially patients with COPD who require monitoring and encouragement throughout their lifelong treatment.

Objective: The purpose of this initiative was to establish a Coordinating Council to Improve Collaboration in Supporting Patients with Alzheimer's Disease. The Council convened on March 5-6, 2008, in Washington, DC. The American Pharmacists Association (APhA) Foundation, in conjunction with leading national experts in Alzheimer's disease (AD), assessed the level of care and services currently provided by pharmacists to AD patients and developed this "blueprint document" for how they might be more effective in helping patients and family caregivers manage the burden of this devastating disease., Data Source: A premeeting survey of Council members was conducted to elicit their perceptions regarding the needs and challenges facing AD patients and their family caregivers and to gain insights as to what roles pharmacists could and should be playing to help manage drug therapy and enhance the quality of life in patients with AD., Summary: AD is one of the most significant health crises that will be faced in the United States over the next 30 years. Currently, it is the sixth leading cause of death in the country. The findings of the Council confirmed that pharmacists are playing important roles in the management of AD but can expand these roles., Conclusion: Pharmacists are accessible, trusted, and respected resources. Increased pharmacist involvement in the care of individuals with AD could improve clinical outcomes and family caregiver quality of life. With the expected increase in the number of individuals diagnosed with AD, the resources and services to care for and support this population will be even further taxed. Innovative approaches for expanding pharmacist involvement in AD should be developed to maximize the difference pharmacists can make in the lives of those who suffer from the disease.

Self-care is what people do to themselves to establish and maintain health, prevent and deal with illness. It includes nutrition, lifestyle, self-medication, hygiene, socio-economic and environmental factors. Self-care has been with us for thousands of years, but today there is an opportunity for pharmacists to assist patients with self-care. Society is better educated than ever before and now has access to accurate, understandable and objective, up-to-date information about drug therapies. Moreover, there is a general trend to take back control from physicians and other care-givers, and for patients to make decisions about their own care. Additional drugs are becoming available OTC and some information may require professional interpretation. On a parallel plane, the pharmacist is being recognized as a trustworthy source of information and advice. When these trends interact, there becomes a golden opportunity for pharmacists to demonstrate their worth to their patients. This report provides the perspectives from numerous sources as to the future role of the pharmacist in self-care.

Cadet de Vaux, in partnership with Louis Dussieux and Olivier de Carancez, was the creator of the first French daily news paper, on the 1st of January 1877. Cadet had the responsibility of the scientific section. Several lampoons were written against the three directors of the paper. The paper was momentarily suppressed two times, because of non convenient contributions, and it was stopped his activities in the paper.

The Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists (SIDP) is an organization, comprised mainly of Pharm D.s in academia, industry, and hospital practice, whose professional orientation is in the area of infectious disease pharmacotherapy. SIDP membership has deemed it necessary to produce position statements on issues of concern to the infectious disease community. This article is an overview of SIDP, along with a description of their guidelines for position statement development. The value of any organization's position statement(s) is influenced by a multitude of factors (e.g., author's expertise, accuracy, evidence, opinion, etc.); thus, some degree of scrutiny is advised.

Purpose: The prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in cancer patients is high. During the medication review process, clinical pharmacists could detect and manage drug-related problems (DRP) to optimize pharmacotherapy but there is a need to standardize pharmacists' interventions (PI) especially for T2DM-related DRP. The present study aims to describe DRP in cancer patients with T2DM undergoing anticancer treatment (AT) and to propose related preliminary guidelines to manage T2DM-related DRP., Methods: The study was conducted in one oncology outpatient hospital where a clinical pharmacy team performs medication reviews to detect and manage DRP by performing PI in cancer patients undergoing AT. All the data from November 23rd, 2015 to November 23rd, 2019 were extracted and demographic, clinical, oncological, and biological data were collected and analyzed. Based on these results and a literature review, a working group (2 pharmacists and one diabetologist) was constituted to propose a first set of preliminary guidelines clinical pharmacists that were then reviewed using the Delphi method by an expert panel of oncologists and pharmacists., Results: A total of 161 T2DM cancer patients were included in the study (19.7% of all cancer patients screened). Overall, 152 DRP (mean 1.67/patient) were detected (49.3% drug interaction) and 152 PI were performed by clinical pharmacists, mainly drug monitoring (48.0) and drug discontinuation (25.7%). Specifically, there was 24 T2DM-related DRP (including 29.2% drug interactions). Twenty-four DRPs were directly related to T2DM status. The five proposed guidelines reached a consensus after revisions and a sixth has been added., Conclusion: DRPs were frequent among cancer patients with T2DM and we hypothesize that the preliminary guidelines should improve the detection of DRPs directly related to T2DM. The implementation of the preliminary guidelines should now be assessed in clinical practice., Competing Interests: Declarations Ethics approval The study was conducted in accordance with the Helsinki declaration. Patients’ records were anonymized prior to analysis. A database from ONCOPTIMAL (F20220817142044) was created in accordance with the reference methodology MR004 of the National Commission of Liberties and Informatics (no. MR00414012022). As per French regulations about retrospective study, no informed consent and additional ethical committee review were required. Competing interests The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: In Europe, opioid use has surged, largely due to prescriptions for chronic non-malignant pain (CNMP). General practitioners (GPs) and community pharmacists (CPs) play a major role in opioid prescribing for non-malignant pain. Exploring their personal beliefs and practices might reveal underlying mechanisms to identify measures that could halt the further escalation of opioid use., Methods: Guided by the health belief model, a survey was designed and distributed nationwide to examine the practices and beliefs of GPs and CPs in the domains: threats, benefits, barriers and self-efficacy. The results of GPs and CPs were compared at the statement level using chi-square analysis., Results: Of 214 GPs and 212 CPs who completed the survey, the majority agreed that too many opioids are used in the treatment of chronic non-malignant pain (66.8% GPs and 66.5% CPs). Furthermore, they were concerned about the addictive potential of opioids (83.1% GPs and 71.7% CPs). In general, both professions have concerns about opioid use. GPs report a slightly higher degree of self-efficacy and perceive fewer benefits from opioids in treating CNMP. GPs and CPs valued the recommended measures to reduce opioid prescribing, yet less than half actively implement these strategies in their clinics., Conclusion: GPs and CPs believe that opioids are being used too frequently to treat CNMP. However, both professions lack the actions to improve opioid-related care. GPs and CPs require education, collaboration and tools to implement guidelines on non-malignant pain and opioids., Significance: This study, guided by the health belief model, reveals that general practitioners and community pharmacists have serious concerns about opioid use in chronic non-malignant pain. Despite shared concerns, both professions differ in their beliefs about opioid benefits and perceived self-efficacy. Both professions have in common that they value recommended measures to reduce opioid prescribing. Also, they both struggle to implement strategies, emphasizing the urgent need for education, collaboration and tools to align practices with guidelines on non-malignant pain and opioids., (© 2024 The Author(s). European Journal of Pain published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Pain Federation ‐ EFIC ®.)

Background: Emotional intelligence (EI) is a critical set of skills that impacts clinical pharmacists' well-being and positively influences high-level patient-centred care. Describing pharmacists' perceptions may support the integration of EI development approaches into their professional development continuum., Aim: The aim of this study was to analyse pharmacists' perceptions of the characteristics of emotionally intelligent clinical pharmacists, the importance of EI in clinical practice, and educational models and approaches to enhancing EI., Method: A qualitative study with a focus group methodology was conducted with pharmacy practitioners using a semi-structured guide grounded in the EI competency framework and existing qualitative research methodology practices. Purposive sampling was conducted until information and meaning saturation occurred. The focus group recordings were transcribed and independently coded by two researchers. The conventional content analysis of qualitative data was applied with the inductive thematic approach at its core., Results: According to the 17 focus group participants, emotionally intelligent clinical pharmacists are perceived as self-confident communicators who control and manage emotions, work well under pressure, and handle every situation effectively. Emotional self-control, self-awareness, awareness of others, tolerance, understanding, and empathy have emerged as key EI competencies required for challenges in clinical practice. EI lectures with reflections from clinical applications, behaviour modelling, and behaviour-changing methods were perceived to be of particular importance for pharmacist education and development programmes., Conclusion: Postgraduate pharmacy practitioners perceived EI competencies as necessary for their professional success and high-quality patient-centred care. They suggested that EI competencies be a focal point in pharmacy professional development programmes., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

The principles of writing and publishing scientific papers are outlined. Scientific writing can be both professionally and financially rewarding, but many pharmacists hesitate to write for publication. A primary obstacle is not knowing how to begin. Thoughtful planning is the first and most important step. Before writing a word, the writer should identify the main message, audience, target journal, resource materials, type of manuscript, and authorship. The sections of a paper reporting original research include the title, abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion, conclusion, references, and tables and figures. Some of these elements also appear in review papers and columns. In general, information given in one section should not duplicate information in another. The writer typically drafts the methods section first, followed by the results, the discussion, and the introduction. Along with intellectual responsibility for the paper, an author must assume various ethical responsibilities, such as ensuring that it contains no plagiarism, that all sources of funding have been acknowledged, and that the paper has not been simultaneously submitted to other journals. To enhance the likelihood of publication, the writer should edit the manuscript carefully and follow the target journal's instructions to contributors. Once the writer has submitted a paper, it must pass the muster of editors and, for peer-reviewed journals, outside experts. Several revisions may be requested before final acceptance. Pharmacists who adhere to the established pattern for writing and submitting scientific papers have the best chance of seeing their work in print.

Medicine shortages are an increasing issue, with broad public health implications for patients, health professionals and institutions. Despite national notification mechanisms involving sponsors and national regulators (e.g. Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration), shortages continue to be a significant workload in hospitals, particularly for pharmacy staff. In this article, we describe the implications of medicine shortages and a team approach to their management in an Australian public hospital. The medicine shortages team comprises senior pharmacists, a pharmacy technician, and a purchasing officer, in consultation with medical staff. A 10 week audit recorded 34 medicine shortages and/or discontinuations, comprising 49 usually stocked products. Shortages were more quickly identified by the purchasing officer using established relationships with suppliers, rather than relying on sponsor or government communication. Having a team systematically dealing with these shortages enables expertise in supply chains, finances, therapeutics, and medicine safety to be shared, to identify optimal interventions to mitigate patient risk., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Introduction: Pharmacists are often not recognised as a core part of palliative care teams, despite their ideal placement to assist with the burden of medication management., Objective: This study explored the role of pharmacists working in the rural palliative care team, in the home-based setting., Design: Health care professionals working with palliative care patients in rural South Australia participated in semi-structured interviews. Data were analysed using thematic analysis., Findings: Data from 20 participants identified 10 themes. Theme 1: This model of care gives patients a choice. Theme 2: The pharmacist is a trusted source of support and information. Theme 3: Patient, carer and family distress is reduced. Theme 4: Enables patients to stay at home by improving medication knowledge and decreasing burden; 4.1-Patient, carer and family's understanding about medication management is improved, 4.2-Patient, carer and family travel is decreased, 4.3-Burden associated with getting to the doctor is decreased. Theme 5: Communication between all parties is enhanced; 5.1-Enhanced communication between the patient and health care team, 5.2-Enhanced communication within the health care team. Theme 6: Patient, carer and family burden of coordinating prescriptions and medications is reduced. Theme 7: Benefits health care professionals by improving medication knowledge, reducing workload and stress; 7.1-Understanding about medications and their management is improved, 7.2-Workload is reduced, 7.3-Work-related stress is reduced. Theme 8: The disparity of care between rural and urban patients is reduced. Theme 9: Helps to address rural workforce shortages. Theme 10: Challenges of this model of care; 10.1-A need for greater pharmacist capacity to meet demand, 10.2-A need for increased and sustained funding for the pharmacist role, 10.3-Large amount of travel to get to patients., Conclusion: Rural health care professionals are supportive of pharmacists working as part of the palliative care team in home-based settings and identified many benefits of this model of care., (© 2024 The Authors. Australian Journal of Rural Health published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of National Rural Health Alliance Ltd.)

Objective: To assess the state of readiness for the adoption of paperless labeling among a nationally representative sample of pharmacies, including chain pharmacies, independent retail pharmacies, hospitals, and other rural or urban dispensing sites., Methods: Both quantitative and qualitative analyses were used to analyze responses to a cross-sectional survey disseminated to American Pharmacists Association pharmacists nationwide. The survey assessed factors related to pharmacists' attitudinal readiness (ie, perceptions of impact) and pharmacies' structural readiness (eg, availability of electronic resources, internet access) for the paperless labeling initiative., Results: We received a total of 436 survey responses (6% response rate) from pharmacists representing 44 US states and territories. Across the spectrum of settings we studied, pharmacists had work access to computers, printers, fax machines and access to the internet or intranet. Approximately 79% of respondents believed that the initiative would improve the adequacy of drug information available in their work site and 95% believed it would either not change (33%) or would improve (62%) communication to patients. Overall, respondents' comments supported advancing the initiative; however, some comments revealed reservations regarding corporate or pharmacy buy-in, success of implementation, and ease of adoption., Conclusions: This is the first nationwide study to report about pharmacists' perspectives on paperless labeling. In general, pharmacists believe they are ready and that their pharmacies are well equipped for the transition to paperless labeling. Further exploration of perspectives from product label manufacturers and corporate pharmacy offices is needed to understand fully what will be necessary to complete this transition.

E-prescribing is now widespread and, in some countries, has completely replaced paper prescriptions. In Norway, almost all prescribing is electronic, except for multidose drug dispensing (MDD), which is still sent to the pharmacy by fax or ordinary mail. MDD is an adherence aid used by one-third of all patients receiving home care services. In this paper, we present results from a qualitative study evaluating the introduction of e-prescribing for MDD in a community health care setting. The focus is on the work and workflow for the pharmacists and nurses involved in the medication-handling process. We used the pragmatic process evaluation framework and the systematic text condensation method to analyse the data. We conducted 12 interviews with 34 nurses and pharmacists. This study shows that the e-prescribing of MDD led to greater integration between systems, both within the existing MDD system and across care levels, potentially improving patient safety. However, the structured prescriptions increased the need for clarifications, resulting in an increased overall workload. A greater understanding of the roles and responsibilities of the different professionals in the medication management chain and their needs would improve the workflow of the nurses and pharmacists involved.

Objective: To explore the roles of early adopters of Australia's embedded on-site pharmacist model in supporting quality use of medications in residential aged care facilities (RACFs)., Methods: Qualitative semistructured interviews were conducted with 15 pharmacists working as embedded on-site pharmacists, or beyond the scope of traditional consultant pharmacist roles in Australian RACFs. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and thematically analysed independently by two investigators using an inductive approach. Deductive analysis was also undertaken using a knowledge broker framework: knowledge manager, linkage agent and capacity builder., Results: Dominant themes were roles and benefits of embedded pharmacists, factors associated with success and challenges. Roles and benefits included (1) resident-level interventions and an enhanced ability to provide collaborative outcome-focussed resident-centred care, including timely input and follow-up, and improved relationships with residents, family and interdisciplinary team; and (2) system-level interventions such as contributing to clinical governance and quality improvement. Factors associated with success included personal capabilities and approach of the pharmacist, and organisational culture and sector-wide support. Challenges included pharmacist workforce shortages, perceived lack of pharmacist readiness and difficulty determining an appropriate service model. Deductive coding demonstrated roles of embedded pharmacists were consistent with all three activities of a knowledge broker., Conclusions: This study highlights the resident- and system-level roles and benefits of embedded on-site pharmacists, and provides a framework for defining this emerging workforce model in Australian RACFs., (© 2023 The Authors. Australasian Journal on Ageing published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of AJA Inc’.)

Pharmacists are expected to demonstrate their expertise in clinical practice and conduct research activities to generate new evidence. However, the factors promoting research activities among pharmacists remain unclear. Therefore, we investigated the research activities of Japanese pharmacists through a questionnaire survey and examined the factors contributing to the promotion of research activities. A web-based questionnaire using Google Forms was disseminated across pharmacists working in community pharmacies, drugstores, hospitals, and clinics. The questionnaire included respondents' backgrounds, research activities, and research environments. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the factors promoting pharmacists' research activities, with experience in research paper acceptance as the objective variable. In total, 401 responses were included in the analysis. Of the respondents, 54.1% were hospital pharmacists, and 77.1% were pharmacists with > 5 years of pharmacist experience. Furthermore, 50.4% of the pharmacists had presented at conferences, and 22.2% had experience in research paper acceptance. The influential factors were "master's degree or higher," "number of affiliated academic societies," "acquisition of specialists/certified pharmacists," and "daily availability of a consultant for writing research papers." This study revealed the factors contributing to the promotion of research activities among pharmacists. We believe that our findings will help promote research among pharmacists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Despite the established role of the critical care pharmacist on the ICU multiprofessional team, critical care pharmacist workloads are likely not optimized in the ICU. Medication regimen complexity (as measured by the Medication Regimen Complexity-ICU [MRC-ICU] scoring tool) has been proposed as a potential metric to optimize critical care pharmacist workload but has lacked robust external validation. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that MRC-ICU is related to both patient outcomes and pharmacist interventions in a diverse ICU population., Design: This was a multicenter, observational cohort study., Setting: Twenty-eight ICUs in the United States., Patients: Adult ICU patients., Interventions: Critical care pharmacist interventions (quantity and type) on the medication regimens of critically ill patients over a 4-week period were prospectively captured. MRC-ICU and patient outcomes (i.e., mortality and length of stay [LOS]) were recorded retrospectively., Measurements and Main Results: A total of 3,908 patients at 28 centers were included. Following analysis of variance, MRC-ICU was significantly associated with mortality (odds ratio, 1.09; 95% CI, 1.08-1.11; p < 0.01), ICU LOS (β coefficient, 0.41; 95% CI, 00.37-0.45; p < 0.01), total pharmacist interventions (β coefficient, 0.07; 95% CI, 0.04-0.09; p < 0.01), and a composite intensity score of pharmacist interventions (β coefficient, 0.19; 95% CI, 0.11-0.28; p < 0.01). In multivariable regression analysis, increased patient: pharmacist ratio (indicating more patients per clinician) was significantly associated with increased ICU LOS (β coefficient, 0.02; 0.00-0.04; p = 0.02) and reduced quantity (β coefficient, -0.03; 95% CI, -0.04 to -0.02; p < 0.01) and intensity of interventions (β coefficient, -0.05; 95% CI, -0.09 to -0.01)., Conclusions: Increased medication regimen complexity, defined by the MRC-ICU, is associated with increased mortality, LOS, intervention quantity, and intervention intensity. Further, these results suggest that increased pharmacist workload is associated with decreased care provided and worsened patient outcomes, which warrants further exploration into staffing models and patient outcomes., Competing Interests: Dr. Newsome has received research funding through the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Award Numbers UL1TR002378 and KL2TR002381. Dr. Rech’s institution received funding from Spero Pharmaceuticals; she received funding from Harm Reduction Therapeutics. Dr. DePriest received funding from Baxter. Dr. Flannery’s institution received funding from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, the American Society of Nephrology, and La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company. The remaining authors have disclosed that they do not have any potential conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2022 by the Society of Critical Care Medicine and Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

Background: While evidence supports interprofessional primary care models that include pharmacists, the extent to which pharmacists are working in primary care and the factors associated with colocation is unknown., Objectives: This study aimed to analyze the physical colocation of pharmacists with primary care providers (PCPs) and examine predictors associated with colocation., Research Design: This is a retrospective cross-sectional study of pharmacists and PCPs with individual National Provider Identifiers in the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System's database. Pharmacist and PCP practice addresses of the health care professionals were geocoded, and distances less than 0.1 miles were considered physically colocated., Subjects: In all, 502,373 physicians and 221,534 pharmacists were included., Results: When excluding hospital-based pharmacists, 1 in 10 (11%) pharmacists were colocated with a PCP. Pharmacists in urban settings were more likely to be colocated than those in rural areas (OR=1.32, CI: 1.26-1.38). Counties with the highest proportion of licensed pharmacists per 100,000 people in the county had higher colocation (OR=1.38, CI: 1.32-1.45). Colocation was significantly higher in states with an expanded scope of practice (OR 1.37, CI: 1.32-1.42) and those that have expanded Medicaid (OR 1.07, CI: 1.03-1.11). Colocated pharmacists more commonly worked in larger physician practices., Conclusion: Although including pharmacists on primary care teams improves clinical outcomes, reduces health care costs, and enhances patient and provider experience, colocation appears to be unevenly dispersed across the United States, with lower rates in rural areas. As the integration of pharmacists in primary care continues to expand, knowing the prevalence and facilitators of growth will be helpful to policymakers, researchers, and clinical administrators., Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The support system for research activities has not been sufficiently established in clinical settings. A survey should be conducted to identify the causes of low research activity among pharmacists and the characteristics of pharmacists who could serve as mentors to build a support system at the regional level. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional survey was conducted with 156 pharmacists, including hospital and community pharmacists, who attended a webinar on research ethics held once a year in Mie Prefecture. Decision tree (DT) analysis was performed to extract the low research activities and pharmacists who could serve as mentors in research activities using independent factors identified by multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results: The questionnaire response rate was 72.4% (113/156), and most respondents were community pharmacists (81.4%). In the DT model, pharmacists who did not belong to academic societies (78%, 46/59) or those who belonged to one or two academic societies but had no certifications (100%, 5/5) had low research activities. Pharmacists who read papers more than once a month and had a nearby mentor (73%, 11/15) were more likely to become mentors in research activities. Conclusions: The combination of the number of academic societies and the presence of certifications determines the efforts in research activities. In addition to reading at least one paper monthly, the presence of a mentor for writing research papers may also be a crucial factor in becoming a mentor. The proposed DT model may be helpful in building a support system for research activities at the regional level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The inclusion of pharmacists in the healthcare system of a developing country like Pakistan has always been a subject of debate among the healthcare professionals (HCPs), especially physicians, who have long ruled the healthcare system alone and who have had a long-held position of supremacy. The common argument against the inclusion of pharmacists is the dynamics of the healthcare system, and patients being physician oriented, hence, consider the inclusion of pharmacists as no good. Although the trend of defiance is changing, it is worthwhile mentioning here that the concept of the inclusion of pharmacist was implemented in developed countries by an evidence-based approach, i.e., to actually involve pharmacists in the disease state management of a patient and conducting a trial. This opinion calls for the same to be implemented in a developing country like Pakistan to evaluate its significance.