A Pharmacist's Impact on 30-Day Readmission Rates When Compared to the Current Standard of Care Within a Patient-Centered Medical Home: A Pilot Study.

Objective: To evaluate the effect transition of care follow-up and counseling performed by a pharmacist, within a physician's practice, can have on 30-day hospital readmissions among Medicare patients when compared to the current standard of care

Methods: A pharmacist telephonically contacted patients ≥65 years with Medicare insurance following hospital discharge to perform medication reconciliation, review discharge instructions, and schedule a follow-up appointment (n = 34). At this follow-up appointment, the pharmacist reviewed the patient's electronic medical record (EMR) and communicated recommendations to the physician. The current standard of care, which does not involve a pharmacist, at a similar local physician practice was used as a comparative group (n = 45) RESULTS: The difference in 30-day readmission rates did not reach statistical significance (P = .

Validation of a survey tool assessing effectiveness of an educational intervention on the caring behaviors and referral activities of community pharmacists for migraineurs.

Background: Community pharmacists are in an ideal position to ameliorate migraineur under-consulting, under-diagnosis, and under-treatment. Contemporary education/training on developing therapeutic alliances with patients and in advanced pharmacotherapy may further motivate pharmacists to impact the care of migraineurs.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to assess pharmacists' perceptions of a migraine training program and their self-assessment of subsequent impact on patient care and to develop and assess a tool evaluating the impact of the training program from the patients' perspectives: (1) for patients diagnosed with migraines - identify perceptions of care by pharmacists who have undergone specialty training in migraine vs.

Impact of the fracture risk assessment on patient and physician behavior in osteoporosis prevention.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of a pharmacist-directed osteoporosis screening program utilizing the fracture risk assessment (FRAX) tool on patient and physician behavior.

Methods: Postmenopausal women 45 to 65 years with Achilles T score <-1.0 not receiving bisphosphonate therapy were randomly assigned to a control or intervention group.

Development and integration of pharmacist clinical services into the patient-centered medical home.

Objectives: To describe the development of pharmacist clinical services within a primary care physician practice using a standardized business plan, the extent of clinical pharmacy service integration into the patient-centered medical home (PCMH), and the clinical changes in the pharmacist's patient cohort.

Setting: A two-physician primary care/occupational care practice in Pittsburgh, PA, from May 2007 to December 2011.

Practice Description: Pharmacist-led clinic receives physician referrals for medication management, adherence, and disease management services.

Factors related to pharmacists' care of migraineurs.

Background: Migraine is a common, disabling, and underdiagnosed condition. Pharmacists are in an excellent position to help improve migraineur outcomes. The Pharmacists Care of Migraineurs Scale (PCMS) may be useful for documenting migraineur care and in the design and targeting of interventions aimed at improving care.

Parish nurse-initiated interdisciplinary mobile health care delivery project.

Parish nurses and a school of pharmacy faculty collaborated on a mobile health project to bring screening and preventive services to low-income neighborhoods. Outcome measures indicated that older women were most likely to use these services. This project fostered a positive, trusting client-provider relationship that formed the basis of clients' motivation to make lifestyle changes.

A required course in the development, implementation, and evaluation of clinical pharmacy services.

Objective: To develop, implement, and assess a required pharmacy practice course to prepare pharmacy students to develop, implement, and evaluate clinical pharmacy services using a business plan model.

Design: Course content centered around the process of business planning and pharmacoeconomic evaluations. Selected business planning topics included literature evaluation, mission statement development, market evaluation, policy and procedure development, and marketing strategy.

Development and construct validation of the pharmacists' care of migraineurs scale.

Objectives: To develop the pharmacists' care of migraineurs scale (PCMS) and to evaluate its psychometric properties.

Background: Migraine is often managed suboptimally in primary care. Migraineurs frequently come into contact with community pharmacists, who have the opportunity to make a positive impact on migraineur treatment outcomes.

Impact of pharmacist interventions on seeking of medical care by migraineurs.

Objectives: To determine the impact of a pharmacist-led educational intervention on the seeking of medical care from physicians by patients with migraine and identify barriers to migraine care and lapsing from this care.

Design: Prospective, multigroup, quasiexperimental.

Setting: Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, November 2004 through June 2005.

Factors influencing migraineur-consulting behavior in a university population.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to identify factors that contribute to treatment-seeking behavior in migraineurs in a large employer population. Specifically, the impact of psychographic variables, such as social support, attitudes toward medication, locus of control, and migraine-associated disability, are considered concomitantly with demographic and disease severity variables.

Background: Migraine remains an underconsulted condition.