Elevating Exposure of Pharmacy Services and Medication Management (2024)

Abstract

Keywords: pharmacy, pharmacist, medication management, patient safety

The complexity of medication management systems is widely researched. Bates and colleagues concluded that “Adverse events were identified in nearly 1 in 4 admissions, and approximately one-fourth of the events were preventable. These findings underscore the importance of patient safety and the need for continuous improvement.”1 The Joint Commission also cites medication as 1 of the top 10 causes of hospital sentinel events. According to the Joint Commission of Pharmacy Practitioners (JCPP), “Pharmacists have unique training and expertise in the appropriate use of medications and provide a wide array of patient care services in many different practice settings. These services reduce adverse drug events, improve patient safety, and optimize medication use and health outcomes.”2 As essential members of the healthcare team, pharmacists provide medication expertise, education, and training to achieve optimal patient outcomes. Therefore, this special issue of the HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine is dedicated specifically to safe medication management and pharmacy services across the healthcare spectrum.

Our vision for the issue was to feature the progress of pharmacists who are practicing at the top of their license in non-traditional spaces, clinical research, and medication use safety. During the COVID-19 pandemic, pharmacists’ skills were utilized to optimize medication management strategies and extend the reach of healthcare professionals directly to patients through COVID-19 testing and immunization.

In 2022 and 2023, medication management publications post-COVID-19 pandemic have reported an increase in healthcare-associated infections and the need to decrease preventable adverse events, especially adverse drug events, in hospitalized patients.1,3 Consequently, articles in this issue feature pharmacy medication management research, including the evaluation of an oral step-down therapy for gram-negative bacteremia and a comparison of the effectiveness of buprenorphine and baclofen for acute opioid withdrawal. A quality improvement article presents operationalizing a medication safety assessment for a large health system that is easily adaptable to most hospitals. Additionally, several case reports highlight interesting examples of specialty pharmacy practice.

Featured in this issue of the HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine is an emphasis on the need for professional medical and health academic programs to promote interprofessional education/collaboration (IPE/IPC) among members of the healthcare teams. Models that use shared clinical decision-making to improve communication among the healthcare team and to address social determinants of health that may be impacting a patient’s care are important, not only to educate the future generation of healthcare providers but also to benefit patients navigating the healthcare system. The pharmacy profession has a rich history of all backgrounds coming together to move the field forward. Some perspectives are shared in the editorial article “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Profession of Pharmacy: The Perspective of Three Pharmacy Leaders.” Additionally, we are proud of our diverse pool of editorial board members, guest editors, and reviewers.

The pharmacy special issue would not have been possible without the vision and effort of the editor-in-chief, Bruce Deighton, the editorial board, and the managing editor, Graig Donini. We would like to thank the guest editors for their time and effort spent critiquing manuscripts and prioritizing content to make this issue possible:

• Abigail Antigua, PharmD, MHA, BCCCP, FCCM

• L Hayley Burgess, PharmD, MBA, BCPP, CPPS, GLBSS

• Kimberli Burgner, PharmD, MS, CACP

• Sondra Davis, PharmD, MBA, BCPS, CPPS

• Gina Gayed, PharmD, BCPS, CPPS

• Joan Kramer, PharmD, BCPS, DPLA

• Jocasta Olp, PharmD, MBA

• Carley Warren, PharmD, BCPS, CPPS

The diverse content in this issue required an outstanding effort from pharmacist experts nationwide. We wish to thank the many pharmacists and other healthcare experts who provided reviews that resulted in the high-quality articles published in the special issue:

• Chinelo Achebe, RPh

• Abigail Antigua, PharmD, MHA, BCCCP, FCCM

• Ayesha A Araya, PharmD, BCPS

• Drew Armstrong, PharmD

• Napatkamon Ayutyanont, PhD

• Senge Balimba, PharmD

• Michael J Bernhardt, MD

• Amarjot K Biring, PharmD, RPh, MPH, BS

• L Hayley Burgess, PharmD, MBA, BCPP, CPPS, GLBSS

• Kimberli Burgner, PharmD, MS, CACP

• Jill M Butterfield-Cowper, PharmD, BCID

• Maritza Calderon, RPh

• Stacy Carson, PharmD, BCPS, FISMP

• Patrice Caudle, PharmD

• Fay Chan, PharmD

• Ralonda Davis, PharmD, CHC

• Lydia Diep, PharmD

• Ashley Dunwoody, PharmD, BCMTMS, MAEd

• Michael G Flynn, PhD

• Sarah Fogg, PharmD, BCPS

• Sarah Gaffney, PharmD, MBA, BCPS

• Gina Gayed, PharmD, BCPS, CPPS

• Nickie D Greer, PharmD, BCPS, BCIDP

• Bruce Gould, MD

• Ashley Hall, PharmD, RPh

• Caleb Hammons, PharmD

• Nannette Hoffman, MD

• Rachel Hogan, DO

• Coral Iserhienrhien, PharmD

• Heather Johnson, PharmD, MS, BCCP, BCCCP

• Lawanda Johnson, PharmD

• Anish Jose, PharmD, MBA, BCPS

• Rahul Kashyap, MD

• Mary Alice Keller, PhD

• Irene Kwon, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP

• Jassoni Martin, PharmD

• Natalie Martinez, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP

• Joseph McCoy, PharmD, BCCP

• Helen E McKnight, PharmD, MBA, BCSCP

• Matthew Melia, PharmD, BCPS

• Ijang Menyonga, PharmD, BCPS

• Ramesh Nathan, MD

• James Njau, PharmD, RPh, BCPS

• Jocasta Olp, PharmD, MBA

• Alicia Perry, PharmD, CPPS

• Andrew Pham, PharmD

• Samantha Pickens, PharmD, MBA, CPh

• Norman Pillsbury, PharmD, BCPS

• Meenakshi Ravindran Ramanathan, PharmD, BCPS

• Katie Reynolds, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP, BCIDP

• Amy Richardson, PharmD

• Stephen Richardson, MD

• Andrew Rubio, PharmD, BCIDP, AAHIVP

• Jessica Schillig, PharmD

• Pinak A Shaw, MD

• Carmen A Silver, PharmD, BCACP, CDCES

• Sarah Smith, PharmD, BCPS

• Andrew Stivers, PharmD

• Taylor Teshon, PharmD

• Andrew Thompson, PharmD, BCPS, BCIDP, CPPS

• Nolan Toups, PharmD, BCPS

• Kaisa van der Kooi, MD

• Carley Warren, PharmD, BCPS, CPPS

• Jami C Young, PharmD, AAHIVP, BCPS, CPh

We wish to thank the editorial team for polishing the content to ensure a professional outcome:

• Jan Haley, MLS

• Mary Alice Keller, PhD

• Ashton Stahl

• Michael G Flynn, PhD

• Brynna Farris

• Lindsay Million, MLIS

• Lindsay Pate, MLIS

• Elanor Pickens, MLIS

We hope readers will enjoy this pharmacy special issue and we thank everyone involved for helping our dream of a pharmacy medication management issue become a reality.

Funding Statement

This research was supported (in whole or in part) by HCA Healthcare and/or an HCA Healthcare-affiliated entity.

Footnotes

References