Pharmacist-facilitated enrollment in medication assistance programs in a private ambulatory care clinic.

Purpose: Efforts to reduce patients' out-of-pocket expenses for prescription drugs by incorporating pharmaceutical manufacturer assistance programs (PMAPs) into a private ambulatory care facility's pharmaceutical services are described.

Summary: From March 2001 through March 2002, the clinic's pharmacist prospectively evaluated patients for PMAP enrollment. The pharmacist completed the pharmaceutical manufacturer's application forms for patients identified as candidates for PMAP assistance and helped them obtain documentation.

Improving aspirin prophylaxis in a primary care diabetic population.

Study Objective: To evaluate and improve adherence to American Diabetes Association guidelines for prophylactic aspirin therapy in ambulatory patients with diabetes using a pharmacy-directed intervention.

Design: Unblinded, single intervention.

Setting: Rural, primary care clinic.