Health System

Kaiser Permanente Northwest has greatly improved physician efficiency and medication accuracy – and saved the healthcare system millions of dollars - with a pharmacist-centered medication refill program.

A new in-hospital Meijer pharmacy will be used to review medications with patients before discharge and to enroll patients in the retailer’s adherence programs.

Considerable confusion surrounds the new world of biosimilar drugs. Here are the top five issues connected with biosimilars that pharmacists should know about.

Pharmacist outreach to patients admitted to the hospital on high-risk medications or on at least three medications at discharge can help reduce the readmission and emergency department (ED) visit rates during the 30 days following discharge, according to a study in the Journal of Hospital Medicine.

It's National Hospital & Health-System Pharmacy Week, and ASHP is encouraging pharmacists to give themselves a shout-out.

An automated electronic ordering and compounding system, developed in-house a few years ago, has helped Salt Lake City, Utah-based Primary Children’s Hospital nearly eliminate parenteral nutrition (PN) errors.

How a large healthcare system in St. Louis, Mo., drove down the number of severe hypoglycemia cases in hospitalized patients over a five-year period.

Hospital pharmacists are aware that they have too many orders to fill on a daily basis – in addition to numerous other job functions, including working with insurers and counseling patients. And now, a new study verifies that the more orders pharmacists fill, the more likely it is for errors to occur.

HIV patients whose antiretroviral therapy was initiated and managed by pharmacists achieved earlier viral suppression compared with those managed by a primary HIV clinician, according a report published in the September 1 issue of the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy.

By joining together with other hospitals on medication purchasing and other efforts, Kalispell Regional Medical Center in Kalispell, Mt., has saved millions of dollars annually.

Drug shortages are forcing hospitals to turn to compounded meds. It's time to develop a nationally recognized certification program for the practice of sterile compounding.

Richmond University Medical Center, Staten Island, N.Y., recently opened the first fully-functioning retail pharmacy in a hospital in the area.

The picture looks somewhat better than it did a year ago, but many challenges remain.

The product-tracing deadline has been extended to November 1. Other requirements are on schedule. Here's what you have to do, and when you have to do it.

Researchers plan to study the best way to deploy pharmacy-based naloxone rescue kits to help prevent opioid overdoses and deaths.

Hospital pharmacists are taking a greater role in patient care, performing more medication-related patient transition-of-care (TOC) interventions, 24/7 medication order review, and medication counseling, according to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists’ National Survey of Pharmacy Practice in Hospital Settings: Dispensing and Administration-2014.

At the White House Conference on Aging, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) proposed new rules to improve the care of approximately 1.5 million elderly who reside in more than 15,000 long-term care (LTC) facilities nationwide. If finalized, a pharmacist will review a resident's chart at least every 6 months.

The 2015 guidelines are expected to clarify many current ambiguities.

As clinical specialists, these pharmacists are in the best position to monitor psychiatric patients, who often have other medical issues and are receiving additional drug therapies.

Patients hospitalized for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are at high risk for 30- and 60-day readmissions. In 2008, the mean 60-day admission rate following an emergency department visit of COPD patients was 18% and the mean readmission rate was more than 30%.

Who wouldn't want a med specialist on hand when they're wheeled into the Emergency Department?

The former pharmacy director at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City recently pled guilty to four counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance.

A targeted intervention at an urban Veterans Affairs Medical Center helped to improve the prescribing practices for elderly veterans discharged from the emergency department

A groundbreaking bill passes in Washington state, CVS Health to buy Omnivore, FIP in Dusseldorf, and more.

When clinical pharmacists spend time talking with patients, the positive feedback goes up.

24/7/365 in-house pharmacist coverage can result in a scheduling nightmare and high expense for hospitals. Telepharmacy offers another way to go.

A new bedside delivery service of outpatient medications is being tested at an acute care facility in Cincinnati, Ohio.

More than 500 CEOs of hospitals and health systems urged Congress to protect the 340B drug pricing program, which helps fund free and low-cost medication access and clinics for the underserved.

Walgreens recently opened a retail pharmacy inside Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center in Camden, N.J.

Nothing rings truer than the voice of experience. Four pharmacists share what works for them.