Pediatric Practice Redesign with Group Well Child Care Visits: A Multi-Site Study.

Objectives: Multiple barriers exist to delivering efficient, effective well child care, especially in low-income, immigrant communities. Practice redesign strategies, including group well child care, have shown promise in improving care delivery and healthcare outcomes. To assess the feasibility of a group well child care program at multiple urban, academic practices caring for underserved, mostly immigrant children, and to evaluate health outcomes and process measures compared to traditional care.

End of life simulation to improve interprofessional competencies: A mixed methods study.

Background: The Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education "Standards 2016" require that pharmacy student education include training in the management of patients "across the lifespan" (Standard 12). Standards 2016 also require that students are practice-ready to participate as a contributing member of an interprofessional (IP) team (Standard 11). Didactic and experiential education in palliative or end-of-life (EOL) care is limited.

Evaluation of a Pharmacist-Led Intervention to Improve Statin Use in Persons with Diabetes.

Background: The Statin Use in Persons with Diabetes (SUPD) measure, developed and endorsed by the Pharmacy Quality Alliance and National Quality Forum, has been adopted by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services as part of the star rating measure set. It was added as a display measure in 2015 and, as of 2019, has become a star measure. Clinical pharmacy specialists (CPS) embedded in the patient-centered medical home (PCMH) are well positioned to review and recommend statin therapy for patients with diabetes in order to improve patient care and health plan performance.

Orientating nonpharmacist faculty members to pharmacy practice.

Objective: To design, implement, and evaluate a faculty development program intended to orient nonpharmacist faculty members to pharmacy practice.

Design: A multifaceted program was implemented in 2012 that included 4 shadowing experiences in which faculty members visited acute care, ambulatory care, hospital, and community pharmacy settings under the guidance of licensed preceptors. Itineraries for each visit were based on objective lists of anticipated practice experiences that define the role of the pharmacist in each setting.

The feasibility and safety of same-day discharge after robotic-assisted hysterectomy alone or with other procedures for benign and malignant indications.

Objective: This study aimed to report the feasibility and safety of same-day discharge after robotic-assisted hysterectomy.

Methods: Same-day discharge after robotic-assisted hysterectomy was initiated 07/2010. All cases from then through 12/2012 were captured for quality assessment monitoring.

A month in an acute palliative care unit: clinical interventions and financial outcomes.

Background: Few cancer centers have developed acute palliative care units (APCUs). The purpose of this study is to highlight clinical interventions and financial outcomes during a typical 1-month period on an APCU.

Methods: We evaluated consecutive patients admitted to our APCU from February 1 to 28, 2009, regarding demographic information, sources of and reasons for admissions, resuscitation status, clinical interventions, disposition, and reimbursement data.

Subcutaneous olanzapine for hyperactive or mixed delirium in patients with advanced cancer: a preliminary study.

Context: Oral olanzapine is effective in controlling agitation in patients with delirium, but often, parenteral administration is necessary. Intramuscular (IM) olanzapine is approved for managing agitation in schizophrenia, but this route is inappropriate for terminally ill patients.

Objectives: The purpose of this pilot study was to determine the safety and tolerability of subcutaneous (SC) olanzapine in the management of hyperactive or mixed delirium in patients with advanced cancer.

Summary of the causative and treatment factors of diarrhea and the use of a diarrhea assessment and treatment tool to improve patient outcomes.

This article is a review of the causative factors and pharmacologic treatments of diarrhea. This information was incorporated into a Diarrhea Assessment and Treatment Tool (DATT) to guide clinicians on comprehensive diarrhea assessment and current treatment recommendations. The tool was utilized at a university-affiliated oncology institution by a clinical nurse specialist on 26 patients as a performance improvement project.

Methadone initiation and rotation in the outpatient setting for patients with cancer pain.

Background: Methadone is an effective and inexpensive opioid for cancer pain treatment. It has been reported as difficult to use in the outpatient setting because of its variable relative potency and long half-life. The purpose of this study was to determine the outcome of methadone initiation or rotation for cancer pain treatment in outpatient settings.

Use of palliative sedation for intractable symptoms in the palliative care unit of a comprehensive cancer center.

Background: There is wide variation in the frequency of reported use of palliative sedation (PS) to control intractable and refractory symptoms in terminally ill patients. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency and outcomes of PS use and examine patterns of practice after establishment of a policy for the administration of midazolam for PS in our palliative care unit (PCU).

Materials And Methods: This retrospective study reviewed PCU admissions for 2004 and 2005 and pharmacy records to identify patients who received chlorpromazine, lorazepam, or midazolam for PS in the PCU.