"Medication therapy management"

PURPOSE: Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are particularly vulnerable to the risks of polypharmacy, largely owing to various comorbid conditions. This vulnerability is further compounded by an escalated risk of renal function deterioration when exposed to nephrotoxic medications. As part of the national health insurance program in Taiwan, the pre-end-stage kidney disease patient care and education plan has included pharmaceutical care since October 2021. This study aims to explore the effect of pharmacist involvement in a multidisciplinary care team for patients with kidney disease in outpatient settings...

BACKGROUND: Pharmacists involvement in residential aged care facilities has traditionally been limited to that of an external contractor providing medication reviews, or medication supply. AIM: To explore Australian pharmacists' interest and perceived preparedness to work as on-site pharmacists in residential aged care. METHOD: National cross-sectional anonymous online survey open for two weeks (September 17th to October 1st 2022) consisting of Likert-type, multiple choice and multiple selection questions...

With the advent of small-molecule immune modulators, recombinant fusion proteins, and monoclonal antibodies, treatment options for patients with rheumatic diseases are now broad. These agents carry significant risks and an individualized approach to each patient, balancing known risks and benefits, remains the most prudent course. This review summarizes the available immunosuppressant treatments, discusses their perioperative implications, and provides recommendations for their perioperative management.

BACKGROUND: Medication use during acute illness increases the risk of experiencing drug related problems (DRPs), including acute kidney injuries. It is recommended that potentially nephrotoxic medications are withheld during acute illness, including sulfonylureas, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, diuretics, metformin, angiotensin receptor blockers, non-steroidal anti-inflammatories and sodium glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors (SADMANS). It is unknown if Australian pharmacists currently provide sick day medication management advice regarding SADMANS medications...

BACKGROUND: After the revision of the Korean Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, the certification of specialized pharmacists is scheduled to be legally recognized in 2023. Considering that the specialized pharmacist certification was developed based on the working model of hospital clinical pharmacists, it is necessary to establish standards for clinical pharmacists in hospitals and to calculate appropriate manpower. Through this study, we aim to establish practical standards for clinical pharmacists and propose a method for calculating staffing levels based on an investigation of actual workloads...

BACKGROUND: The transition from in-hospital intravenous administration to subcutaneous therapies to treat inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) can raise some concerns among patients due to the self-administration concerns, the management of potential side effects and the overall worries related to a change of treatment. This study aimed at evaluating patients' opinion about the switch from intravenous to subcutaneous formulations and their knowledge on new available therapeutic options. METHODS: We conducted a survey using a questionnaire prepared by a team of gastroenterologists and nurses working at the IBD unit...

Background: COVID-19 infection is associated with a high risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) events. VTE prophylaxis reduces the risk of these events. The optimal dose of VTE prophylaxis however remains uncertain. Objectives: To compare the incidence of VTE in patients treated with either standard dose VTE versus intermediate dose VTE prophylaxis. Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, we analyzed data from 1786 adult patients admitted into the hospital with polymerase chain reaction confirmed COVID-19 infection between April 2020 to September 2021...

The recent evolution of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) treatments has created challenges for healthcare providers in terms of new potential interactions between these COVID-19 treatments and psychotropic drugs in patients with psychiatric disorders. Current clinical practice guidelines on managing interactions between psychotropic medications and COVID-19 treatments do not account for the newer COVID-19 medications. There is a need for updated patient management recommendations that take into account drug interactions between psychotropic drugs and the latest pharmacological approaches to COVID-19 treatment...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Curricular overload in doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) programs is necessitating innovative approaches to support student learning. The purpose of this study was to describe the design, delivery, and assessment of a non-credit extracurricular course that reinforced foundational concepts through the application of learning in case-based activities. EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITY AND SETTING: A 14-week extracurricular course, designed using principles of spaced repetition and interleaving in the context of case-based exercises, was offered to third-year PharmD students...

BACKGROUND: Medicare Part D plans are required to provide Medication therapy management (MTM) programs to eligible beneficiaries to optimize medication utilization. MTM programs' effects on medication utilization among older persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHs) remain unclear. OBJECTIVE: This study examined the effects of the Medicare MTM programs on medication utilization among PLWHs. METHODS: This study analyzed 2017 Medicare databases linked to the Area Health Resources Files...

OBJECTIVES: The clinical trials pharmacists have an essential role in managing the pharmaceutical part of interventional studies. The primary objective of this article was to provide a template for improving trials management for the growing number of studies without increasing personnel resources. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted between 2016 and 2020 at the service of pharmacy at Lausanne University Hospital in Switzerland. RESULTS: The number of clinical trials (in progress) managed at the pharmacy increased from 77 to 115 (+49%) between 2016 and 2020...

BACKGROUND: The use of potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) is prevalent, costly, and harmful for older adults. These medications are to be avoided among older adults because they generally have (1) a high risk of adverse events in this population and/or (2) limited evidence of benefits in the presence of safer or more effective alternatives. Medication therapy management (MTM) programs can help address PIM use; however, there has not been a synthesis of studies examining the impact of MTM programs on PIM use...

BACKGROUND: Evidence-based medical therapy for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) often entails substantial out-of-pocket costs that can vary appreciably between patients. This has raised concerns regarding financial toxicity, equity, and adherence to medical therapy. In spite of these concerns, cost discussions in the HFrEF population appear to be rare, partly because out-of-pocket costs are generally unavailable during clinical encounters. In this trial, out-of-pocket cost information is given to patients and clinicians during outpatient encounters with the aim to assess the impact of providing this information on medication discussions and decisions...

Over the years, the practice of medication management has taken on various terms and definitions. As a result, health plans have developed different approaches to identifying beneficiaries for medication therapy management (MTM), engaging pharmacists to provide MTM, and adopting standards for documentation and quality assurance. This variation leads to inconsistent delivery of MTM and potential quality concerns. Therefore, an environment needs to be created that allows for health plans to discuss and share approaches, challenges, and best practices...

BACKGROUND: The use of artificial intelligence (AI) to optimize medication therapy management (MTM) in identifying drug interactions may potentially improve MTM efficiency. ChatGPT, an AI language model, may be applied to identify medication interventions by integrating patient and drug databases. ChatGPT has been shown to be effective in other areas of clinical medicine from diagnosis to patient management. However, ChatGPT's ability to manage MTM related activities is little known. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effectiveness of ChatGPT in MTM services in simple, complex, and very complex cases to understand AI contributions in MTM...

OBJECTIVE: To use design thinking to develop a community pharmacist-led intervention for people living with epilepsy (PWE) with desirable, feasible, and viable features. METHODS: This study used design thinking. Three patient personas were created based on previous research: a newly diagnosed PWE, a well-controlled PWE, and a complex PWE with uncontrolled seizures. An intervention prototype was developed for each of the three personas. Structured interviews were conducted with pharmacists, pharmacy students, patients with diagnosed epilepsy, and caregivers to elicit feedback on which features of each intervention prototype were desirable, feasible, and viable...

Community pharmacists providing medication therapy management (MTM) services report difficulty incorporating MTM services with dispensing and other pharmacy services. A variety of approaches exist due to a lack of an ideal standard for service integration. This study seeks to identify and characterize MTM workflow models in pharmacies of one geographic area of a large community pharmacy chain. Thirteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with pharmacists from thirteen different pharmacies. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed for common themes using an inductive qualitative approach...

BACKGROUND: Private sector partnerships through community pharmacies are essential for effective healthcare integration to achieve the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals. This partnership can provide significant clinical outcomes and reduce health system expenditures by delivering services focused on patient-centred care, such as public health screening and medication therapy management. OBJECTIVES: To assess the understanding of the proposed strategic and health system reform in Saudi Arabia by exploring community pharmacists' perspectives towards the capacity and readiness of community pharmacies to use automated pharmacy systems, provide extended community pharmacy services, and identify perceived barriers...

Background and Objectives : There is increasing evidence that patients with dysphagia often have limited access to suitable oral dosage forms, especially when administered via an enteral feeding tube (FT). In addition, there is a lack of clear and readily available information from drug manufacturers on how to administer medications to patients with dysphagia. This study aimed to develop a practical guide for healthcare professionals to increase the safe and effective administration of oral medications to patients with dysphagia...

INTRODUCTION: Medication Therapy Management (MTM) is identified as a group of services provided to the patient in order to optimize the medication use in order to mitigate adverse drug reactions (ADRs), drug-drug interaction (DDI), and polypharmacy. Elderly populations above 60 years old are at high risk for Medication-related Problems (MRPs) due to several factors. Therefore, MTM programs showed good contributions globally regarding enhancing medication use in the elderly population...