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Articles

The 14-section order focuses on a variety of policy changes intended to make patients’ out-of-pocket costs for prescription medications more affordable in the US.

Executive Order to Limit PBM Control, Lower Drug Costs

The FDA approved Penmenvy in February 2025 for use in patients aged 10 to 25 years.

ACIP Votes to Recommend the Use of MenABCWY in Adolescent Vaccine Schedule

Videos

At AAP 2025, Greg Mitchell, owner of United Drug Superstore, discussed how retail pharmacies can leverage vaccine services to build long-term patient relationships.

Importance of Vaccination to Independent Pharmacy Profitability | AAP 2025

At AAP 2025, Mark Garofoli, PharmD, MBA, BCGP, CPE, CTTS, discussed how Disney’s approach to customer service can be applied in a community pharmacy setting.

What Pharmacists Can Learn From Disney’s Customer Service | AAP 2025

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Clinical

PBM Challenges and the Evolving Role of Oncology Pharmacists in Community Practices

The Impact of Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians in Recognizing and Responding to Human Trafficking (Pharmacist Credit)

1.0 Credit / Law, Pain Management, Opioids


Ensuring Pharmacy Technicians’ Proficiency in Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies

As over-the-counter birth control becomes increasingly available, pharmacists are uniquely positioned to bridge critical gaps in reproductive health care. 

Q&A: Education, Accessibility Is Key for Reproductive Health Care | APhA 2025

A study found that patients who acquired a SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy had a lower risk of developing long COVID compared to those who were not pregnant.

Pregnancy Could Help Reduce the Risk of Long COVID 

Black women and those living in Southern states had the highest rates of maternal mortality.

Maternal Deaths Due to Cardiovascular Disease Doubled in US Since 1999

Nicole Cieri-Hutcherson, PharmD, BCPS, MSCP, FCCP, clinical associate professor at University at Buffalo, discusses how pharmacists can implement an injectable contraception program.

Q&A: Challenges, Opportunities in Pharmacist-Administered Contraception

The decision makes the therapy the first oral antibiotic treatment approved for uUTIs in over 20 years.

FDA Approves Gepotidacin for Uncomplicated UTI

Katherine Tromp, PharmD, interim dean at Northeast Ohio Medical University College of Pharmacy, discusses how pharmacists can help prevent heart disease in women.

Pharmacists Can Play Crucial Role in Managing Women’s Heart Health

Heart disease remains the leading cause of death among women, yet many of its risk factors often go unnoticed or unmanaged.

 While conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes are common contributors, other critical factors such as depression, stress, and loneliness are frequently overlooked. Pharmacists can play a vital role in identifying these hidden risks by engaging in meaningful conversations and building trusting relationships with their patients.

Because early symptoms of heart-related issues like high cholesterol or hypertension often present silently, pharmacists are in a unique position to emphasize the importance of regular health checkups and screenings, said Katherine Tromp, PharmD, interim dean at Northeast Ohio Medical University College of Pharmacy. Encouraging women to prioritize their own health, especially amid busy lives filled with caregiving responsibilities, is essential.

Pharmacists are also key players in counseling on lifestyle interventions such as smoking cessation, dietary changes, and exercise recommendations. Tromp said pharmacists’ skill in motivational interviewing makes them effective coaches for behavior change.

® recently sat down with Tromp to discuss the most common cardiovascular risk factors in women that pharmacists should be aware of, the role pharmacists play in identifying early signs of cardiovascular disease in women, how pharmacists can help in the prevention of heart disease through lifestyle modification counseling, challenges women face in managing their heart health, and resources pharmacists can use to stay informed about cardiovascular health in women.

“Making sure that pharmacists have that awareness of looking for some of those less well known symptoms, like that loneliness and depression, and just having conversations and connecting with patients if they have any concerns about those risk factors [is important],” Tromp said. “Since a lot of the early symptoms of high cholesterol and high blood pressure don’t actually have symptoms, making sure the patients are aware of that and encouraging them to make their annual appointments with their health care provider.”

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1. Leading Causes of Death, United States. Report. CDC. December 11, 2024. Accessed April 16, 2025. 

https://www.cdc.gov/womens-health/lcod/index.html

Pharmacists Play Crucial Role in Managing Women’s Heart Health

Nicole Cieri-Hutcherson, PharmD, BCPS, MSCP, FCCP, discusses tips for implementing pharmacist-administered injectable contraception programs.

How Pharmacists Can Implement Injectable Contraception Programs

Journal of the American Pharmacists Association

, investigators from the University at Buffalo School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Science set out to determine the feasibility, applicability, and satisfaction of pharmacist-administered injectable contraception.

 The study aimed to assess the perspectives of patients, pharmacists, and other health care professionals to highlight potential benefits and challenges associated with this type of program.

The study found pharmacists were interested in administering injectable contraceptives and that it could positively impact patient access and convenience, particularly in rural areas. Although pharmacists said they felt confident and capable towards administering injectable contraception, they highlighted the need for more training and resources. There were also several barriers to implementation noted in the study, including lack of infrastructure, mixed acceptance among other health care professionals, reimbursement, and regulatory frameworks.

® sat down with Nicole Cieri-Hutcherson, PharmD, BCPS, MSCP, FCCP, clinical associate professor at University at Buffalo and an author on the study, to discuss how community pharmacists can effectively implement an injectable contraception program into their practice, what kinds of barriers they should be aware of, and how the barriers can be addressed.

“I think that this is a really great option to improve access to contraceptive care,” Cieri-Hutcherson said. “We know that there is potentially an increasing desire for long-acting, effective contraception. By providing this service, pharmacists have the opportunity to fill a gap, provide more complete care services to patients and expand reproductive health services right in the pharmacy setting.”

1. Cieri-Hutcherson NE, Hutcherson TC, Bradley EM, et al. Mixed-methods systematic review of pharmacist-administered injectable contraception: Insights from patients, pharmacists, and other health care professionals. 

 (2003). 2025 Feb 15:102360. doi: 10.1016/j.japh.2025.102360. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39956291.

A conversation with Nicole Cieri-Hutcherson, PharmD, BCPS, MSCP, FCCP, clinical associate professor at University at Buffalo.

Pharmacist-Administered Injectable Contraception Can Help Fill Gaps in Care

In the United States, over 65% of women between the ages of 15 and 49 currently use some form of contraception. Of those, 14% reported using the pill and 10.4% said they use long-acting reversible methods, such as intrauterine devices or contraceptive implants.

Access to contraception is critical. However, depending on the state, between 17% and 53% of patients currently live in a contraception desert, where access to contraception is limited.

As the most accessible members of the health care team, pharmacists are well positioned to help improve access to contraception. In a recent review published in the 

, investigators assessed the feasibility, applicability, and satisfaction of pharmacist-administered injectable contraception.

 The study found that it can be beneficial, accessible, and convenient for patients.

® recently sat down with Nicole Cieri-Hutcherson, PharmD, BCPS, MSCP, FCCP, clinical associate professor at University at Buffalo and an author on the study, to discuss why community pharmacists are well-positioned to provide injectable contraception, as well as how pharmacists and patients view the service.

“Community pharmacists … [with] their current scope of practice and ability to administer vaccinations means that contraceptive injection techniques are training that they already have,” Cieri-Hutcherson said.

“Pharmacists have the opportunity to really address a large gap in contraceptive access,” she added. “Over 19 million females of reproductive age in the US reside in a contraceptive desert, which means that they are unable to easily access a health clinic that offers the full range of contraceptive methods.”

1. Contraceptive Use. Report. National Center for Health Statistics. December 15, 2023. Accessed March 17, 2025. 

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/contraceptive.htm

2. Barber JS, Ela E, Gatny H, et al. Contraceptive Desert? Black-White Differences in Characteristics of Nearby Pharmacies. 

. 2019 Aug;6(4):719-732. doi: 10.1007/s40615-019-00570-3. Epub 2019 Feb 20. PMID: 30788813; PMCID: PMC6660992.

3. Cieri-Hutcherson NE, Hutcherson TC, Bradley EM, et al. Mixed-methods systematic review of pharmacist-administered injectable contraception: Insights from patients, pharmacists, and other health care professionals. 

 (2003). 2025 Feb 15:102360. doi: 10.1016/j.japh.2025.102360. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39956291.

Investigators from the University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy discuss 2 studies that assessed perspectives on pharmacist prescribed hormonal contraceptives.

Majority of People Support Pharmacist Prescribed Hormonal Contraceptives

For the 66 million women in the United States aged between 15 to 44, access to reproductive health care is critical.

 But over the past several years, access to this type of care has decreased. This is due to a multitude of barriers, including difficultly finding clinics and logistical constraints. As pharmacists are the most accessible members of health care teams, they are well positioned to offer different care like contraceptive services.

 Over 30 states have now passed legislation allowing pharmacists to prescribe contraception, with more pending.

, investigators set out to assess perspectives on pharmacist prescribed hormonal contraceptives as well as barriers faced in accessing contraception, among students, patients, pharmacists and clinicians.

 The studies found that, among all survey respondents, the majority supported pharmacist prescribed hormonal contraceptives.

 sat down with Ginger Lemay, PharmD, clinical professor of Pharmacy Practice and Clinical Research and residency program director at the University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy, Jeffrey Bratberg, PharmD, clinical professor of Pharmacy Practice and Clinical Research at the University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy and academic collaborations officer at the Rhode Island Department of Health, and Audrey Whalen, PharmD, clinical pharmacist specialist at Rhode Island Hospital, who were authors on both studies, to discuss the most common barriers patients face in accessing hormonal contraception, key challenges pharmacists face when prescribing hormonal contraception, and strategies pharmacists can use to build stronger patient trust.

“It’s been know that there is a significant provider shortage in the country right now,” Whalen said. “Contraception is a space where pharmacists are definitely trained and able to step up and fill that role and help provide prescriptions for these drugs that patients need right now. I would say that having pharmacists step up and provide this service can help free up some of the time that doctors are searching for. Pharmacists are trained to do it, we have a lot of education in school about it, and it is just something that we are able to do with our training, so why not put it to good use?”

1. Population. Report. March of Dime. February 24, 2024. Accessed January 27, 2025. 

https://www.marchofdimes.org/peristats/data?reg=99&top=14&stop=125&slev=1&obj=3

2. Espey E, Dennis A, Landy U. The importance of access to comprehensive reproductive health care, including abortion: a statement from women's health professional organizations. 

. 2019 Jan;220(1):67-70. doi: 10.1016/j.ajog.2018.09.008. Epub 2018 Sep 26. PMID: 30267653.

3. Lemay V, Whalen A, Cohen L, et al. Assessing Student and Patient Perspectives on Pharmacist Prescribed Hormonal Contraceptives. 

 (2003). 2024 Oct 3:102259. doi: 10.1016/j.japh.2024.102259. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39368549.

4. Whalen A, Bratberg J, Cohen L, et al. Assessing pharmacist and clinician perspectives on pharmacist-prescribed hormonal contraceptives. J Am Pharm Assoc (2003). 2024 Jan-Feb;64(1):314-320.e3. doi: 10.1016/j.japh.2023.11.013. Epub 2023 Nov 13. PMID: 37967721.

A discussion with Natalie DiPietro Mager, PharmD, PhD, on how community pharmacists can improve access to contraceptive services.

Pharmacists Can Play Important Role in Contraceptive Services

Access to reproductive health care is critical for the nearly 66 million women in the United States who are between the ages of 15 and 44.

 However, over the past several years, data has shown that access to comprehensive reproductive health care has decreased due to a number of barriers, including restrictions on reproductive rights, difficultly finding clinics that offer reproductive health care services, and logistical constraints.

According to Natalie DiPietro Mager, PharmD, PhD, professor of pharmacy practice at Ohio Northern University, pharmacists are in a key position to provide reproductive health care services. As the most accessible members of the health care team, pharmacists can offer patients different screenings, access to OTC and prescription contraception, as well as counseling and education services.

 sat down with DiPietro Mager to discuss the role that community pharmacists can play in improving access to contraceptive services.

“We do see in our country higher rates of unintended pregnancy,” DiPietro Mager said. ”Among patients who report unintended pregnancy, nearly half report using a contraceptive product in the month prior to conception. Either that means it’s been used incorrectly or inconsistently or patients may be discontinuing their contraception due to side effects. That’s where pharmacists can really step in. We can make sure patients know how to use their contraception correctly and consistency each time. We can educate patients about what sort of side effects they can expect and how to mitigate those and if they do feel like they want to switch methods, how to do so effectively.”

 from this interview with Natalie DiPietro Mager.

1. Population. Report. March of Dime. February 24, 2024. Accessed January 27, 2025. https://www.marchofdimes.org/peristats/data?reg=99&top=14&stop=125&slev=1&obj=3

2. Espey E, Dennis A, Landy U. The importance of access to comprehensive reproductive health care, including abortion: a statement from women's health professional organizations. 

Natalie DiPietro Mager, PharmD, PhD, professor of pharmacy practice at Ohio Northern University, provides best tips and practices for providing maternity care.

How Pharmacists Can Integrate Maternity Care Services Into Routine Workflows

Over 2 million women aged between 15 and 44 years in the United States live in a maternity care desert, an area with little to no obstetric services or providers.

As the most accessible members of health care teams, pharmacists are well positioned to provide care to patients living in a maternity care desert. However, implementing these services can be difficult due to a lack of time or resources.

In an effort to determine if community pharmacists practicing in maternity care deserts or low access areas provide maternal health services and are aware that they practice in such an area, investigators of a study sent surveys to over 200 pharmacists to assess knowledge and attitudes about maternal health services. The study found only 35% of respondents recognized they are currently practicing in a maternity care desert. However, 96% said they believe community pharmacists can help optimize women’s health before and during pregnancy and 67% were interested in providing more services for women.

 sat down with Natalie DiPietro Mager, PharmD, PhD, professor of pharmacy practice at Ohio Northern University and an author on the study, to discuss the best ways to integrate maternal health services into the routine workflow of community pharmacies to make them more accessible to pregnant individuals.

“In pharmacy we face a lot of challenges of time and staff and there is a lot of things we would like to do but are hard to implement,” DiPietro Mager said. “Really making sure that we think intentionally about how to put this in our workflow is really going to be the only way that we will be successful with it. I think of it in 2 main parts. One is establishing a new service and 1 is leveraging services you already provide.”

1. Duodu M, DiPietro Mager N. Provision of maternal health services among Ohio community pharmacists practicing in maternity care deserts. 

 (2003). 2024 Nov 13:102292. doi: 10.1016/j.japh.2024.102292. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39542241.

A discussion with Natalie DiPietro Mager, PharmD, PhD, professor of pharmacy practice at Ohio Northern University.

Pharmacists Critical for Providing Patient Care in Maternity Care Deserts

In the United States, over 2 million women between the ages of 15 and 44 years live in an area without obstetric services or providers. These areas, called maternity care deserts, have increased over the last several years and lead to a higher prevalence of conditions associated with poorer health and birth outcomes.

 As the most accessible members of health care teams, pharmacists are well positioned to provide care to patients living in a maternity care desert.

, researchers sought to determine whether community pharmacists practicing in maternity care deserts or low access areas provide maternal health services recommended by the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations.

The study found that of the pharmacists who responded to a survey, only 35% recognized they are currently practicing in a maternity care desert. Although 96% said they believe community pharmacists can help optimize women’s health before and during pregnancy and 67% were interested in providing more services for women, they reported several obstacles. These included needing more staff, time, reimbursement, access to medical records and a private consultation space to develop new services.

The authors concluded the findings show a need to raise awareness and increase education among community pharmacists practicing in maternity care deserts or low access areas.

Drug Topics sat down with Natalie DiPietro Mager, PharmD, PhD, professor of pharmacy practice at Ohio Northern University and an author on the study, to discuss the primary role of pharmacists in addressing maternal health in maternity care deserts and what can be done to raise awareness and increase education among pharmacists about maternal health services and maternity care deserts.

“I think pharmacists really have a key role to play in ensuring comprehensive care and the continuity of care for patients,” DiPietro Mager said. “Really trying to ensure patients have equitable access to care…Once someone is pregnant, it’s almost too late sometimes to address some of the most important chronic conditions or health behaviors that might really impact their pregnancy and birth outcomes. As pharmacists, we are well positioned to work with patients on what we call the preconception or interconception period, which is just as important as supporting patients who are pregnant and postpartum. We have unique rolls that we can play in each of those areas.”

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