Insights from a National Survey on Controlled Substance Diversion Practices in U.S. Hospital Pharmacies: Opportunities for Enhanced Surveillance and Compliance.

This study explored controlled substance (CS) diversion surveillance practices within hospital pharmacies across the United States. A survey with questions based on published CS diversion risk points was conducted in May 2024. A total of 66 participants from 31 states responded, with 54.

Enhancing Outcomes in Opioid Use Disorder Treatment: An Economic Evaluation of Improving Medication Adherence for Buprenorphine Through Blister-Packaging.

Background: The opioid epidemic has severely impacted the US over the last 15 years. Buprenorphine is a partial opioid agonist indicated for the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD) and is recognized as an effective treatment when taken as prescribed. However, adherence rates have been low in real-world settings.

Improving Adherence and Reducing Health Care Costs Through Blister-Packaging: An Economic Model for a Commercially Insured Health Plan.

Purpose: To model the potential clinical and economic impact of blister-packaging medications for chronic conditions on medication adherence and healthcare costs in a commercially insured population.

Methods: A health economic model was developed to evaluate the potential impact of blister-packaging chronic medications for a commercially insured population. The chronic medication classes assessed were renin-angiotensin-system (RAS) antagonists, statins, non-insulin oral antidiabetics, and direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs).

Enhancing Operational Efficiency and Service Delivery through a Robotic Dispensing System: A Case Study from a Retail Pharmacy in Brazil.

Drug dispensing in retail pharmacies typically involves several manual tasks that often lead to inefficiencies and errors. This is the first published quality improvement study in Latin America, specifically in Brazil, investigating the operational impacts of implementing a robotic dispensing system in a retail pharmacy. Through observational techniques, we measured the time required for the following pharmacy workflows before and after implementing the robotic dispensing system: customer service, receiving stock, stocking inventory, separation, invoicing, and packaging of online orders for delivery.

Estimating the economic impact of blister-packaging on medication adherence and health care costs for a Medicare Advantage health plan.

Background: Medication nonadherence is a persistent challenge in the United States, leading to increased health care resource utilization (HCRU) and health care costs and worsened health outcomes. Medicare Star Ratings is a program developed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to evaluate Medicare health plan quality and performance. Three of the Medicare Part D Star Ratings quality measures assess medication adherence, showing the importance CMS places on improving medication adherence in older adults.

Appraising the clinical, operational, and economic impacts of automated medication dispensing cabinets in perioperative and surgical settings: A systematic literature review.

Background: Initiation of pharmacy automation and automated dispensing cabinets (ADCs) in hospitals has been shown to improve clinical, operational, and economical outcomes. Implementation of ADCs in surgical areas has lagged behind that of traditional inpatient hospitals settings.

Objectives: To assess the documented impact of ADCs in ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), perioperative, and surgical care areas.

Impact of automated dispensing solutions in long-term care facilities and closed-door pharmacies: A mixed methods study of medication management.

Background: Financial, operational, and clinical workflow impacts of deploying an automated dispensing cabinet (ADC) in long-term care (LTC) facilities based on actual observations have not been documented in peer-reviewed literature.

Objectives: To evaluate the impact of a closed-door pharmacy (CDP) implementing an ADC with unique secure, removable, and transportable locked pockets in an unstudied setting (LTC facilities) for management of first and emergency dose medications.

Practice Description: This study was conducted in 1 CDP and 2 LTC facilities.

Assessing the Clinical, Economic, and Health Resource Utilization Impacts of Prefilled Syringes Versus Conventional Medication Administration Methods: Results From a Systematic Literature Review.

Objective: The objective of this systematic review was to assess the clinical, economic, and health resource utilization outcomes associated with the use of prefilled syringes in medication administration compared with traditional preparation methods.

Data Sources: We conducted a systematic literature review to evaluate outcomes such as medication errors, wastage, time savings, and contamination in prefilled syringes. Our search encompassed multiple databases, including PubMed and Embase, for studies published between January 1, 2017, and November 1, 2022.