Health System

Pharmacists are now being included in care teams wherever outcomes are being tracked. Provider status is only a matter of time.

The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), responsible for setting quotas of controlled substances, has not responded to manufacturers’ applications for these quotas in a timely fashion-and this has contributed to the shortage of controlled substances over the last decade, according to a recent GAO report.

FDA has approved the first needle-free, patient-controlled fentanyl delivery system for the management of postoperative pain in adults requiring opioid pain relief in the hospital.

The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists offers two new guidance documents as well as online training to help with meeting the new ASHP Accreditation Standard for Postgraduate Year One Pharmacy Residency Programs.

Beginning in July, California hospitals are required to have an antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP) in place to evaluate the judicious use of antibiotics.

Children’s hospitals with formal antibiotic stewardship programs helped reduce antibiotic use significantly following the 2007 release of guidelines for developing these programs, according to a report published in Pediatrics.

Yet another study has reinforced what several others have also documented - pharmacist involvement in patient care improves medication adherence and healthcare outcomes.

For women building pharmacy careers, going it alone is not the most likely recipe for success.

The work of Drug Topics contributor Truman Lastinger, former board chair of Grady General Hospital in Cairo, Ga., was commemorated recently with the unveiling of his portrait and a ceremony of appreciation.

Approximately 20 to 25 percent of patients using opioids for chronic pain have misused these drugs, according to a report published in the journal Pain.

Approximately one third of U.S. hospitals have completely migrated to the electronic health record (EHR) and are no longer using paper charts. In those hospitals with an EHR that they use completely or in combination with paper charts, 80% give pharmacists the ability to make recommendations and document them in the EHR.

The Joint Commission’s in-person surveys of hospital pharmacies are rigorous, said a hospital executive at the APhA annual meeting in San Diego, and preparation should be just as exacting.

Last week, Grace Hospital in Winnipeg fired a pharmacist because the healthcare worker had allegedly accessed patient health information from 56 hospital patients, just “out of curiosity,” according to a report in the Winnipeg Sun.

As healthcare facilities across the nation deal with shortages of certain drugs, including generics, pharmacists and pharmacy managers are tasked with the daily monitoring of drug supplies and increased communications with other healthcare professionals such as nurses and physicians.

A national survey of pharmacy professionals released March 3 found that Genentech's decision to move three primary cancer drugs to specialty drug distribution has resulted in higher costs to hospitals and reduced availability of the medications.

A community hospital study found that a procedural change could save some big bucks.

Many patients have diabetes for between 10 and 20 years or more before DR develops, so the key to managing ocular complications in patients with diabetes is regular evaluations.

Salaries of entry-level health-system pharmacists are expected to decline by at least 10% over the next five years, predicts a new report from ASHP.

High-dose inactivated influenza vaccinations from community pharmacists during 2012-2013 flu season were more effective than standard-dose inactivated flu shots in patients 65 years and older, and helped in the prevention of influenza-associated hospitalizations, according to a comparative effectiveness study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

Doing everything possible to ensure patients aren’t readmitted in the hospital shortly after discharge is not only in the best interest of patients, but it is in the financial best interests of hospitals.

According to a new government report, health care-associated (HCA) infections in acute care hospitals decreased between 2011 and 2013, including a 10% drop in Clostridium difficile infections and an 8% decline in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteremia.

Oseltamivir, an antiviral agent for the treatment of influenza, should be started within 48 hours of symptom onset for most hospitalized patients and outpatients who are suspected of H1N1 or other strains of the flu, according to a recent report in the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy.

A group representing the nation’s governors has endorsed provider status for pharmacists as a way to improve medical outcomes and lower healthcare costs.

An administrative hearing for a fired pharmacist has provided an eye-opening look into the workloads and the lack of accuracy standards for pharmacists working at Veterans Administration facilities in New Jersey.

Which comes first, diabetes or depression? While the connection is recognized, the answer is not yet certain.

A pharmacy-led prior authorization service can generate additional hospital revenues through increased reimbursements and decreased write-offs, according to a case study to be published in the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy.

According to the most recent update from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 15 children in the United States have died thus far this flu season as influenza has reached epidemic levels.

Agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration recently searched records at a Virginia hospital pharmacy in connection with stolen narcotics with an estimated street value close to $1.4 million.

David Webster, associate director of pharmacy operations, University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC), explains URMC’s decision to transition to in-sourced IV compounding.

Between 2010 and 2013, a significant decline in medical errors at U.S. hospitals reduced hospital-acquired conditions, saving an estimated 50,000 lives and billions of dollars.