Health System

The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) recently warned about alphanumeric symbol mixups, particularly in handwritten scripts, which have led to medical errors.

Electronic prescribing was supposed to be the savior of pharmacy. Things haven’t quite worked out that way.

Costly treatments are expected to drive unprecedented growth in U.S. drug spending over the next two years. Some analysts say that’s not good news for consumers or most pharmacists.

Patients must be taught what their meds mean and why they're taking them. That's a job for the pharmacist.

A direct response to the devastating fungal meningitis outbreak linked to NECC, the Drug Quality and Security Act gives FDA needed regulatory power to oversee compounders.

Pharmacies that want to keep their 340B Medicaid contracts had better police themselves for compliance irregularities and prepare for increased audits and oversight.

In a study of patients at high risk for stroke, patients without periprocedural warfarin who were bridged with low-molecular weight heparin showed a >10-fold increased odds of ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) in the 48 hours after ablation for atrial fibrillation, compared with those on uninterrupted warfarin.

FDA approved eslicarbazepine acetate on November 8, 2013 as an adjunctive treatment of partial-onset seizures in adults.

Provider status, access to patient health information, more inclusion on the healthcare team, and recognition as patient-care professionals - progress in the pharmacy profession is taking place. Will you take the ball and run with it?

A pharmacist must have a valid license issued by the board of the state in which he wishes to practice. New pharmacy graduates need to investigate individual state pharmacy board requirements.

Some healthcare professionals have to make “professional discretion” decisions based on the patient’s subjective opinion. Pharmacists need to be objective about subjective pain that patients express.

The creation of patient-specific compounds is one of the most constructive ways pharmacists can help provide meaningful pain management and address concerns with opiate use.

Every time pharmacists consult a patient about a prescription they need to address the safety of its use and proper disposal.

E-prescribing was supposed to reduce prescription errors by eliminating the problem of illegible Rxs. The result? Nowadays prescriptions are easier to read - and just as full of errors.

Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus who received metformin and then added insulin were at higher risk of all-cause mortality than those who added a sulfonylurea, according to a report published June 11 in JAMA.

If a pharmacist has to hide what he is doing, then maybe he shouldn't be practicing pharmacy.

You can own your own pharmacy, and it can give you a fulfilling life. But you gotta play the angles.

New Rx, generics, and OTC for pharmacists

Shrinking budgets and drug shortages are two of the biggest challenges faced by hospital pharmacy directors, according to a new report.

From reader Bill Tarr comes the second article in Drug Topics' new series, Pathways through Pharmacy. While the first signs of his professional direction may have come as something of a surprise, he rose to the challenge and found that it gave him a vehicle for the good life.

California is considering changes to state law designed to make the labels on prescription drug containers easier to understand.

Physician Assistants. Nurse Practitioners. Nurse Clinicians. Nurse Anesthetists. Need we say more?

Antimicrobial stewardship teams that include infectious disease (ID) pharmacists and physicians in hospital settings can encourage more judicious use of antibiotics, resulting in lower mortality and cost savings, according to a report published online for the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy.

Current healthcare reform initiatives emphasize high quality, safe, and cost-effective care, and greater accountability for those who seek to provide it. The ability of key stakeholders along the care continuum to work collaboratively will be critical to achievement of these goals. In response to these priorities, the Hospital and Health-System Pharmacy Practice Model Initiative (PPMI) highlights a future-oriented model that supports and recognizes the impact of pharmacists, in particular, as providers of direct patient care.

Cannabis extracts show strong potential for treatment of various medical conditions. The same cannot be said about smoked marijuana. Here are a few of the reasons.

In a nonacademic healthcare system, an advanced clinical pharmacy services program, created and led by an internal medicine-trained clinical pharmacy specialist, made a positive impact on hospitalized patients through a number of drug intervention recommendations.

The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) is providing quality improvement strategies for pharmacy practice settings across the continuum of care.

Pharmacists can play a significant role in advocating for the screening and treatment of this disease state. They are in a unique position to improve patient outcomes in late-life depression.

A Pennsylvania hospital pharmacist has been arraigned on charges she stole nearly 5,000 oxycodone pills by replacing them with Tylenol, according to a published report.