Community chain pharmacists' perceptions of increased technicians' involvement in the immunization process.

Background: Over the past 2 decades, pharmacists have positioned immunization services as an important aspect of their expanding role in patient care.

Objectives: To examine how community chain pharmacists view time spent on immunization, available in-store resources and barriers, and pharmacy technician involvement in the context of their views about the achievement of key National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC) Standards of Adult Immunization Practice in their workplace.

Methods: A representative, nationwide survey was administered electronically to chain community pharmacists over a 4-week period.

Shared clinical decision making on vaccines: Nothing has really changed for pharmacists.

Recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has begun utilizing a new recommendation known as "Shared Clinical Decision-Making." This recommendation from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls upon health care providers, including pharmacists, to have more engaged conversations with patients regarding their vaccine needs. This commentary is designed to provide pharmacists with clarifications on the intent behind this terminology, and dispel myths that have frequently been attributed to the category of recommendation.

Pharmacy's Call for Authorities to Aggressively Enforce Laws Addressing Price Gouging.

Early reports of potential treatment for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) have raised concerns related to pharmaceutical distribution. Despite the lack of high-quality evidence, the mere hope of effectiveness of potential treatments, such as hydroxychloroquine, has led to surges in demand for these products, and many pharmacists are already informally reporting shortages through social channels. As manufacturers and wholesale distributors struggle to fulfill orders for drugs such as hydroxychloroquine, short-term price increases may seem reasonable in a free market when demand increases.

Optimizing the immunization activities of community chain pharmacists: Insights from a national survey.

Objectives: To assess (1) the practices, attitudes, and perceptions of immunizing chain community pharmacists regarding implementation of immunization services per the National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC) Standards of Adult Immunization Practice and (2) how community pharmacists view the effectiveness of corporate initiatives toward improving immunization volumes.

Design: Following extensive formative research and pilot-testing, a cross-sectional survey was administered electronically to chain community pharmacists over a 4-week period.

Setting And Participants: Respondents were chain community pharmacists engaged in year-round immunization in the United States, randomly sampled from a list of 9717 maintained by the American Pharmacists Association.

Beating non-communicable diseases in primary health care: The contribution of pharmacists and guidance from FIP to support WHO goals.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 36 million people die annually from non-communicable diseases (NCDs), representing over 60% of deaths worldwide, 15 million of which occur before the age of 70 years. Prevention and control of NCDs and their risk factors require interventions that are therapeutically cost-effective, affordable by the patient and/or health systems and feasible, based upon local resources. This commentary paper sets a basis of global evidence to advocate, nationally and internationally, for an expanded role for pharmacists in NCD management by compiling best practices and examples.

Cultural Sensitivity and Global Pharmacy Engagement in the United States.

To provide a resource for schools and colleges of pharmacy in different regions of the world that are considering sending their students and faculty members to the United States for training. A literature review (2000-2018) was conducted that involved database and Internet searches using specific keywords and terms. Information was also solicited from authors in different regions of the United States who have hosted international students and faculty members.

Cultural Sensitivity and Global Pharmacy Engagement in Asia: India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Vietnam.

Schools and colleges of pharmacy in the United States increasingly interact with those in Asian countries for various purposes such as education and research. For both those visiting and those hosting, it is important to understand and respect the culture of the other's country to enrich these interactions. This paper, the second of two manuscripts on Asian countries, focuses on India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Vietnam.

Cultural Sensitivity and Global Pharmacy Engagement in Asia: China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.

Interest in global engagement among schools and colleges of pharmacy in the United States and Asian countries is growing. To develop fruitful relationships and engage in mutually enriching experiences, the cultural aspects of these countries need to be understood and respected. The aim of this paper is to facilitate culturally sensitive interactions between practitioners, faculty members, and students in the United States and those in Asian countries when they engage in health care practice and/or education.

Dissemination and implementation of the ICAMP.

The current rate of immunizations for older adults does not meet the immunization goals for Healthy People 2020. Using a Social Ecological Model and Social Cognitive Theory, the purpose of this study was to disseminate and implement the Immunization Champions, Advocates and Mentors Program (ICAMP) into a variety of health care settings. This study used a single group pre-/post-test design.

Recommendations for Planning and Managing International Short-term Pharmacy Service Trips.

International pharmacy service trips by schools and colleges of pharmacy allow students to provide health care to medically underserved areas. A literature review (2000-2016) in databases and Internet searches with specific keywords or terms was performed to assess current practices to establish and maintain successful pharmacy service trips. Educational documents such as syllabi were obtained from pharmacy programs and examined.

Vaccines and Immunization Practice.

Vaccines are among most cost-effective public health strategies. Despite effective vaccines for many bacterial and viral illnesses, tens of thousands of adults and hundreds of children die each year in the United States from vaccine-preventable diseases. Underutilization of vaccines requires rethinking the approach to incorporating vaccines into practice.

Pharmacist engagement in medical home practices: report of the APhA-APPM Medical Home Workgroup.

Objectives: To identify factors that have led to successful involvement of pharmacists in patient-centered medical home (PCMH) practices, identify challenges and suggested solutions for pharmacists involved in medical home practices, and disseminate findings.

Data Sources: In July 2011, the American Pharmacists Association Academy of Pharmacy Practice & Management convened a workgroup of pharmacists currently practicing or conducting research in National Committee for Quality Assurance-accredited PCMH practices.

Data Synthesis: A set of guiding questions to explore the early engagement and important process steps of pharmacist engagement with PCMH practices was used to conduct a series of conference calls during an 8-month period.

Attitudes of matriculating first-year pharmacy students toward a mandatory, random drug-screening program.

Objective: To determine the attitudes of incoming pharmacy students toward a mandatory, random urine drug-screening program.

Methods: This was an anonymous, voluntary survey of students at the McWhorter School of Pharmacy (MSOP) using an instrument composed of 40 items. The instrument was administered during orientation week prior to the session during which the policies and procedures of MSOP's drug-screening program were to be discussed.

Experience with a drug screening program at a school of pharmacy.

Substance use and abuse among pharmacy students is a concern of pharmacy schools, boards of pharmacy, and training sites alike. Pharmacy students must complete approximately 30% of their academic coursework in experiential settings such as community pharmacies, hospitals, and other health systems as part of any accredited pharmacy school's curriculum, and these training sites are starting to require drug testing of pharmacy students as part of their contractual agreements with schools of pharmacy. The authors describe the implementation of a mandatory random urine drug screening program at their school as well as the changes that occurred owing to assessment of the program.

The nontraditional role of pharmacists after hurricane Katrina: process description and lessons learned.

In the week before Hurricane Katrina's landfall in August 2005, emergency management officials in Jefferson County (Birmingham), Alabama, began to make plans for the potential influx of evacuees from the Gulf Coast. No pharmacy component to the plan was in place at that time. The Jefferson County Department of Health (JCDH) discovered that local pharmacies and hospital emergency departments were dealing with significant requests for medication refills.

Development of a medication therapy management superbill for ambulatory care/community pharmacy practice.

Objectives: To explain the purpose of superbills, suggest strategies for incorporating superbills into pharmacy practice, and propose a model superbill for consideration by practitioners.

Practice Description: Ambulatory pharmacies in the United States.

Practice Innovation: Superbills have been used by physicians and other health care providers for many years as a way of efficiently communicating to the office staff, the patient, and even the insurer the types of services that have been provided at the point of care.

Pharmacist involvement with immunizations: a decade of professional advancement.

Objective: To review achievements in pharmacist-administered immunizations, emphasizing the period 1995 to 2004.

Data Sources: Published articles identified through PubMed (1995-2004) using the search terms pharmacist, pharmacy, and vaccine, immunization, or shots. Additional sources were identified from personal bibliographies collected by the authors during this decade, as well as the bibliographies of the retrieved articles.