Long-Term Assessment of Weight Loss Medications in a Veteran Population.

Background: Overweight and obesity are common in the veteran population. Medical management with semaglutide, orlistat, liraglutide, phentermine, phentermine/topiramate, and naltrexone/bupropion is increasingly common. This study expands on a 2021 study and evaluates medication effectiveness.

Cognitive task analysis of clinicians' drug-drug interaction management during patient care and implications for alert design.

Background: Drug-drug interactions (DDIs) are common and can result in patient harm. Electronic health records warn clinicians about DDIs via alerts, but the clinical decision support they provide is inadequate. Little is known about clinicians' real-world DDI decision-making process to inform more effective alerts.

Assessment of an education tool to improve knowledge and reduce stigma of a syringe service program (SSP) at a VA Medical Center.

Background: Drug overdose deaths are a growing epidemic in the United States owing in part to inadequate support from health care systems. In response, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) plans to implement syringe service programs (SSPs) across VHA medical centers. This SSP education project aims to positively affect health care staff perceptions regarding SSPs and reduce the stigma surrounding substance use.

Assessment of hepatitis C monitoring adherence after viral eradication in veterans with substance use to improve care and surveil reinfection.

Introduction: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) incidence rates are rising for patients with substance use and/or SUDs. Guidelines provide monitoring recommendations to ensure remission after successful treatment. The study's objective was to identify gaps in follow-up for patients with documented substance use and/or SUD through assessment of adherence to guideline-recommended HCV RNA lab 12 months post-treatment.

Strategies prescribers and pharmacists use to identify and mitigate adverse drug reactions in inpatient and outpatient care: a cognitive task analysis at a US Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Objective: To develop a descriptive model of the cognitive processes used to identify and resolve adverse drug reactions (ADRs) from the perspective of healthcare providers in order to inform future informatics efforts SETTING: Inpatient and outpatient care at a tertiary care US Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Participants: Physicians, nurse practitioners and pharmacists who report ADRs.

Outcomes: Descriptive model and emerging themes from interviews.

Care Coordination Strategies and Barriers during Medication Safety Incidents: a Qualitative, Cognitive Task Analysis.

Background: Medication errors are prevalent in healthcare institutions worldwide, often arising from difficulties in care coordination among primary care providers, specialists, and pharmacists. Greater knowledge about care coordination surrounding medication safety incidents can inform efforts to improve patient safety.

Objectives: To identify strategies that hospital and outpatient healthcare professionals (HCPs) use, and barriers encountered, when they coordinate care during a medication safety incident involving an adverse drug reaction, drug-drug interaction, or drug-renal concern.

HCV eradication in veterans with underlying mental health disorders and substance use.

Objective: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) disproportionately affects those with mental health disorders and those with substance use, and the increasing HCV transmission in the United States is driven by the opioid epidemic. However, patients with a mental health disorder, substance use, or combination of both historically have had limited access to HCV treatment. The goal of our study was to compare sustained virologic response (SVR) rates of HCV treatment with direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) between subjects with and without a mental health disorder, substance use, or combination of both.

Pharmacist-driven multidisciplinary pretreatment workup process for hepatitis C care: A novel model for same-day pretreatment workup.

Objectives: The objective is to describe and quantify the impact of a novel practice model for pharmacist involvement in care coordination and patient education in hepatitis C virus (HCV) care.

Setting: This practice model was implemented in the gastroenterology clinic at the Richard L. Roudebush Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Medication decision-making for patients with renal insufficiency in inpatient and outpatient care at a US Veterans Affairs Medical Centre: a qualitative, cognitive task analysis.

Background: Many studies identify factors that contribute to renal prescribing errors, but few examine how healthcare professionals (HCPs) detect and recover from an error or potential patient safety concern. Knowledge of this information could inform advanced error detection systems and decision support tools that help prevent prescribing errors.

Objective: To examine the cognitive strategies that HCPs used to recognise and manage medication-related problems for patients with renal insufficiency.

Improving Veteran Access to Treatment for Hepatitis C Virus Infection: Addressing social issues and treatment barriers significantly increases access to HCV care, and many veterans successfully start therapy with the help of additional support staff.

Addressing social issues and treatment barriers significantly increases access to HCV care, and many veterans successfully start therapy with the help of additional support staff.

Antimicrobial prophylaxis for external ventricular drains in pediatric neurosurgical patients.

Background: Our goal was to describe the use of antibiotics for surgical prophylaxis of external ventricular drains (EVDs) in a pediatric neurosurgical population and determine the incidence of EVD-related infections among different antimicrobial prophylaxis strategies.

Main Outcome Measures: This retrospective chart review included patients up to 18 years old who underwent EVD insertion at either of two tertiary care academic hospitals in the same health system between August 1, 2008, and July 31, 2012. Patients were included if they received at least one dose of antibiotics before EVD insertion.