Britnee Innocent, Amre A Elmaoued, Kevin Cowart, Raechel T White
{"title":"Dulaglutide use to improve binge eating behaviors in a person with type 2 diabetes and obesity.","authors":"Britnee Innocent, Amre A Elmaoued, Kevin Cowart, Raechel T White","doi":"10.1093/ajhp/zxaf088","DOIUrl":"10.1093/ajhp/zxaf088","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>Binge eating disorder (BED) is a psychological disorder that poses several functional consequences for those affected. Management of BED centers around psychological and pharmacological treatment modalities, which have been associated with variable efficacy and the potential for severe adverse effects. Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs), approved by the Food and Drug Administration for conditions such as diabetes and weight management, are an emerging therapy of interest in BED.</p><p><strong>Summary: </strong>In this case report, we describe use of dulaglutide for treatment of a patient with BED, obesity, and type 2 diabetes mellitus. The patient's baseline binge eating scale (BES) score, glycated hemoglobin level, body mass index (BMI), and weight were obtained. Following these baseline assessments, dulaglutide 0.75 mg once weekly was initiated to optimize management of the patient's type 2 diabetes. Follow-up measurements were obtained 6 weeks after initiation, at which time reductions in the patient's BES score, BMI, weight, and BED symptoms were observed. Moreover, dulaglutide was well tolerated without adverse drug events.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This case report describes the use of dulaglutide in the management of mild BED in the setting of comorbid type 2 diabetes and obesity. Further research is necessary to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of GLP-1 RAs in the management of BED and to determine the optimal duration and dose.</p>","PeriodicalId":7577,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy","volume":" ","pages":"886-890"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-08-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143963088","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Charlotte Forshay, John Mellett, Chan Truong, Julie Kennerly-Shah, Trisha A Jordan, Amanda Hafford
{"title":"Rebuilding the clinical and operational acute care pharmacist productivity model: Leveraging electronic health record data and analytics at an academic medical center.","authors":"Charlotte Forshay, John Mellett, Chan Truong, Julie Kennerly-Shah, Trisha A Jordan, Amanda Hafford","doi":"10.1093/ajhp/zxae408","DOIUrl":"10.1093/ajhp/zxae408","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>Acute care pharmacy practice continues to evolve, and useful pharmacist productivity models should reflect contemporary practice. The purpose of this project was to rebuild an acute care pharmacist productivity model to accurately capture and categorize the variable workload of acute care generalists and specialists using electronic health record (EHR) data reports and analytic capabilities.</p><p><strong>Summary: </strong>The acute care pharmacist productivity model was rebuilt with 5 variable workload drivers, including order verification, medication preparation verification (product check), clinical scoring, pharmacist-documented progress notes, and pharmacy intensity score-weighted patient admissions and patient days. Reports from the EHR database were used to capture all workload drivers. For each variable workload driver, more granular categories included in the reports were assigned time standards based on the work's complexity. Work output data, represented as units of service, were mapped by the user's job title (ie, generalist or specialist) and by the inpatient department.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The rebuilt pharmacist productivity model leverages EHR data and standard documentation of patient care activities to capture workload and reflect clinical practice. The EHR-generated reports enabled construction of a comprehensive and sustainable productivity model for acute care pharmacists without the need for additional manual documentation for productivity purposes.</p>","PeriodicalId":7577,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy","volume":" ","pages":"906-914"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-08-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142891396","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Adham M Mohamed, Ashley K Holmes, Jeannette Ploetz, Kimberly N Day
{"title":"Training of postgraduate year 2 critical care pharmacists in care of the obstetric patient.","authors":"Adham M Mohamed, Ashley K Holmes, Jeannette Ploetz, Kimberly N Day","doi":"10.1093/ajhp/zxaf027","DOIUrl":"10.1093/ajhp/zxaf027","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>The purpose of this study was to characterize the current state of training in the care of critically ill obstetric patients for postgraduate year 2 (PGY2) critical care pharmacy residents across the US. Additionally, we sought to compare the level of comfort in caring for these patients between those who received training during their residency and those who did not.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This was a descriptive analysis of the training provided to PGY2 critical care pharmacy residents. Two surveys were sent to residency program directors (RPDs) and to current residents and recent graduates of PGY2 critical care pharmacy training programs.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 44 RPDs responded to the survey. Of the respondents, 9.1% indicated that their program has an obstetrics rotation while 65.9% of programs include case reviews or topic discussions. Forty-two current residents and recent graduates of PGY2 critical care pharmacy training programs responded to the survey. Of those who responded, 23.8% indicated that they had a formal rotation experience. The median comfort level in care of critically ill obstetric patients was significantly higher for pharmacists who had received training vs those who had not (P < 0.001).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>These survey results highlight an opportunity for more thorough training in care of critically ill obstetric patients for PGY2 critical care pharmacy residents. This training is associated with increased comfort level in caring for these complex patients.</p>","PeriodicalId":7577,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy","volume":" ","pages":"891-897"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2025-08-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143254348","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Preston Taylor, Benjamin D Kulwicki, Lindy M Farwig, Rachel Cynova, Maureen Cannon, Yueyue Hu
{"title":"Centralization of prior authorization services at a community health system's infusion clinics.","authors":"Preston Taylor, Benjamin D Kulwicki, Lindy M Farwig, Rachel Cynova, Maureen Cannon, Yueyue Hu","doi":"10.1093/ajhp/zxaf007","DOIUrl":"10.1093/ajhp/zxaf007","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>The centralization of prior authorization services to prevent denials and improve reimbursement measures at 2 community hospital-based infusion clinics is described.</p><p><strong>Summary: </strong>Current process gaps at 2 hospital-based infusion clinics within the health system were leading to a significant denial burden and high out-of-pocket expenses to patients. As a result, authorization and benefit verification processes were centralized by deploying financial coordinators (FCs) at the beginning of fiscal year 2023. A retrospective cohort data review of participating payer claims from adult patients treated at the infusion clinics compared the pre- and postcentralization financial impact. The primary endpoint was the change in the number and cost of denials related to FC workflow. Secondary endpoints included the change in the number and cost of all initial denials, denial type, and success of local denial recovery efforts. Denials related to FC workflow decreased by 68% in the postcentralization period, with a cost reduction of approximately $1.4 million. Total initial denials decreased by 50%, resulting in a cost savings of $3.8 million. Among the top 10 most common denials, 4 were deemed related to FC workflow and declined dramatically after centralization. Local denial recovery efforts resulted in an organizational savings of $0.2 million and a patient savings of $0.19 million.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Centralization of prior authorization services via utilization of FCs significantly reduced the number and cost of preventable denials and positively impacted denial recovery efforts.</p>","PeriodicalId":7577,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy","volume":" ","pages":"e710-e715"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143062867","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Considerations in educating patients receiving oral anticoagulation: Quality over quantity.","authors":"William E Dager, Anne E Rose, Kelly M Rudd","doi":"10.1093/ajhp/zxaf024","DOIUrl":"10.1093/ajhp/zxaf024","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":7577,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy","volume":" ","pages":"e723-e731"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143699339","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nicholas P Gazda, Tyler A Vest, Grayson K Peek, Suzanne J Francart, Stephen F Eckel
{"title":"Bridging the continuity: Practice-enhancing publications about the ambulatory care medication-use process in 2023.","authors":"Nicholas P Gazda, Tyler A Vest, Grayson K Peek, Suzanne J Francart, Stephen F Eckel","doi":"10.1093/ajhp/zxaf012","DOIUrl":"10.1093/ajhp/zxaf012","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>This article identifies, summarizes, and prioritizes published literature on the ambulatory care medication-use process (ACMUP) from 2023 that can describe ambulatory pharmacy practice. The medication-use process is the foundational system that provides the framework for safe medication utilization within the healthcare environment. The ACMUP is defined in this article as having the following components: transitions of care, prescribing, access, dispensing, adherence, and evaluating. Articles evaluating at least one step of the ACMUP were assessed for their usefulness toward practice improvement.</p><p><strong>Summary: </strong>A PubMed search was conducted in January 2024 for the publication year 2023 using targeted Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) keywords and the table of contents of selected pharmacy journals, providing a total of 2,903 articles. A thorough review identified 52 potentially practice-enhancing articles: 6 for transitions of care, 11 for prescribing, 5 for access, 6 for dispensing, 8 for adherence, and 16 articles for evaluating. Trends gleaned from the highest-impact articles are described.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>It is important to routinely review the published literature and to incorporate significant findings into daily practice. This article continues a series of articles defining and evaluating the currently published literature around the ACMUP. As healthcare continues to advance and care shifts to ambulatory settings, the ACMUP will continue to be a crucial process to evaluate.</p>","PeriodicalId":7577,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy","volume":" ","pages":"e681-e695"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143027726","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Adapting situational judgment tests to the postgraduate year 1 pharmacy residency selection process at an academic medical center.","authors":"Christina K Le, Craig A Stevens","doi":"10.1093/ajhp/zxae405","DOIUrl":"10.1093/ajhp/zxae405","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>Evaluation methods for postgraduate year 1 (PGY1) pharmacy residency positions must objectively rank candidates and assess clinical and nonclinical characteristics. Situational judgment tests (SJTs), many of which have been shown to be both consistent and validated, were used as a structure for a new assessment adapted into our selection process to predict candidates' future success in our residency program. To our knowledge, no PGY1 pharmacy residency program has published its experience adapting an SJT in a live panel environment.</p><p><strong>Summary: </strong>We formulated a modified SJT with 5 scenarios devised to judge 5 behavioral domains: communication, integrity, assertiveness, time management, and problem solving. These domains align with our organization's core values and the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) required competency areas, goals, and objectives (CAGOs) for PGY1 programs. Similarly, scenarios and responses attempted to reduce risk of bias and ensure measurement of relevant skills. These assessments were intended to expose patterns that suggested fear of authority, lack of awareness, aversion to confrontation, or carelessness. We also noted if candidates struggled to grasp and follow instructions, commit to answers, consider multiple facets of a decision, or defend their choice. This information was not assessed in other components of our current process.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Our modified SJTs and structured rubric assess candidate skills in a standardized manner. By evaluating a candidate's response and verbalized thought process in search of core values, we move away from using subjective \"fit\" and instead focus on specific characteristics we seek to nurture and develop in our future residents.</p>","PeriodicalId":7577,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy","volume":" ","pages":"e696-e703"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142891392","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Austin Wang, Zoe Ngo, Stacey J Yu, Elyse A MacDonald
{"title":"Implementing standard practices in the safe handling of gene therapy and biohazardous drugs in a health-system setting.","authors":"Austin Wang, Zoe Ngo, Stacey J Yu, Elyse A MacDonald","doi":"10.1093/ajhp/zxaf026","DOIUrl":"10.1093/ajhp/zxaf026","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>This publication outlines development of the infrastructure and standard operating procedures (SOPs) for handling of gene therapy drugs within an integrated health-system setting. These guidelines aim to fill the gap in occupational safety standardization, as current materials focus on precautions in a research laboratory setting and do not fully take into account occupational hazards for pharmacists, technicians, and other medical staff.</p><p><strong>Summary: </strong>Pharmacists in a large integrated healthcare system recognized the gap in knowledge as well as lack of standard procedures in handling gene therapy drugs in the pharmacy setting and sought to establish updated best practices. The objectives were to implement the necessary infrastructure and SOPs for the handling, compounding, and cleanup of gene therapy drugs and to update existing resources such as spill kits to reflect the new SOPs. Critical milestones included establishing a new biohazardous drug risk classification and standardizing medication labeling. These steps were necessary to ensure consistent and safe handling across the enterprise.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>With the increasing prevalence of gene therapy drugs, it is of paramount importance to establish best practices to ensure occupational safety. While existing regulations and literature outline basic handling guidelines for laboratory use, there is a limited amount of information in relation to pharmacy departments within healthcare groups. In establishing robust SOPs surrounding the handling, compounding, and management of gene therapy drugs, pharmacy groups can better ensure both patient and staff safety.</p>","PeriodicalId":7577,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy","volume":" ","pages":"e716-e722"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143254316","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Financial reimbursement of a pharmacist-led chronic care management program utilizing pharmacist extenders within a privately owned family medicine clinic.","authors":"Keri Mack","doi":"10.1093/ajhp/zxae383","DOIUrl":"10.1093/ajhp/zxae383","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>To evaluate the financial reimbursement of a pharmacist-led chronic care management (CCM) program utilizing student pharmacists and pharmacy residents as pharmacist extenders in a privately owned primary care practice.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A retrospective study assessing financial reimbursement of a pharmacist-led CCM program utilizing pharmacist extenders was conducted for the 12-month period from January 1 through December 31, 2022, at a privately owned family medicine practice. Return on investment (ROI) was the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes included the number of patients enrolled, number of billable patients, time spent delivering CCM (ie, \"time-on-task\"), and third-party claim reimbursement.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>During the 12-month study period, 203 patients were enrolled in the CCM program. Time-on-task was 463 hours. The number of billable patients for time-based CCM codes per month ranged from 19 to 121. Gross revenue from CCM was $55,104.64, and expenses totaled $9,482.64. Reimbursement for monthly CCM codes resulted in $44,042.31 (80%) of the gross revenue. Overall ROI was 481.1%, and ROI for monthly CCM codes alone was 364.5%. Out of the 1,046 CCM claims, 957 (92%) were paid.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Utilization of pharmacy residents and student pharmacists within the pharmacist-led CCM program resulted in a positive ROI, even in a small private practice. The ROI from monthly CCM codes alone was also positive, demonstrating sustainability of profits from the CCM program. Preceptors and schools of pharmacy should evaluate opportunities to utilize pharmacy learners to enhance sustainability of other pharmacist-led programs.</p>","PeriodicalId":7577,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy","volume":" ","pages":"e673-e680"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142806040","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Margaret S Davis, Elizabeth Autry, Tyler Bosley, Robert Kuhn
{"title":"A survey of current trends in postgraduate year 2 pediatric pharmacy residencies and growth of pediatric ambulatory care pharmacy practice.","authors":"Margaret S Davis, Elizabeth Autry, Tyler Bosley, Robert Kuhn","doi":"10.1093/ajhp/zxaf009","DOIUrl":"10.1093/ajhp/zxaf009","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>This study sought to characterize current trends in the program structure of postgraduate year 2 (PGY2) pediatric pharmacy residencies and to describe the growth of pediatric ambulatory care as a practice specialty.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A 99-question survey was designed to collect information regarding the current structure of PGY2 pediatric pharmacy residency programs. The survey was distributed electronically to PGY2 residency program directors (RPDs) and was open for 6 weeks from September to November 2023.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>75 distinct programs were eligible for participation; 43 programs (response rate, 57.3%) were included in the final analysis. Of the 43 respondents, 14 (32.6%) indicated their program was at a stand-alone children's hospital. The majority of programs (22 of 43, 51.2%) require residents to spend 7 to 9 months of their residency year on required rotations. Nineteen of 40 respondents (47.5%) indicated their residents staff in both clinical and operational areas. The most commonly reported frequency was every third weekend. Most respondents indicated requiring up to 15 presentations of varying types. A total of 41 respondents participated in the ambulatory care section of the survey; 75% of respondents (30 of 40) reported there has been growth in the number of pharmacists in pediatric ambulatory care at their institution in the last 5 years.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This study describes the current state of PGY2 pediatric pharmacy residency programs, including educational opportunities and trends in staffing and academic activity requirements. This study also adds to available literature on pediatric ambulatory care and potential opportunities for resident-led expansion.</p>","PeriodicalId":7577,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy","volume":" ","pages":"e704-e709"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143063355","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}