Interventions to reduce waste and improve billing compliance with medications in single-dose vials.

Purpose: The purpose of this process improvement project was to implement features in the electronic health record to help reduce inappropriate drug waste and Medicare billing noncompliance for injectable drugs in single-dose vials in outpatient settings.

Methods: The pharmacy department mapped processes from order entry to dose administration and claims processing. They used the process map to identify gaps that could lead to inappropriate drug waste.

Vaccination Rates in Patients With Medical Indications for the Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Vaccine in a Family Medicine Clinic.

Background: Pneumococcal vaccination rates among high-risk patients (eg, diabetes, asthma, smoking) seen in 2 family medicine clinics are unknown.

Objectives: To assess differences in pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccination rates and reasons for nonvaccination among patients with diabetes and asthma and patients who smoke.

Methods: A chart review at 2 family medicine residency training clinics showed 425 patients with a medical indication for PPSV23 were seen between April 1, 2015, and April 30, 2015.

Assessment and use of drug information references in Utah pharmacies.

Objective: To determine which drug references Utah pharmacists use most frequently. To determine which types of drug information questions are most commonly asked, and whether Utah pharmacists have access to adequate references to respond to these questions.

Methods: A 19-question survey was created using Qualtrics, LLC (Provo, Utah) software.