Medication therapy management services provided by student pharmacists.

Objectives: To evaluate the impact of student pharmacists delivering medication therapy management (MTM) services during an elective advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE).

Methods: Student pharmacists provided MTM services at community pharmacy APPE sites, documented their recommendations, and then made follow-up telephone calls to patients to determine the impact of the MTM provided. Students were surveyed about the MTM experience.

Clinical pharmacists and basic scientists: do patients and physicians need this collaboration?

The aim of this commentary is to highlight the vital and beneficial role that pharmacists and inter-professional collaborative practice play in patient care from the economic, humanistic, efficacy, and safety perspectives. Pharmacists, particularly those with an in-depth knowledge of the basic pharmaceutical sciences, recognize the need to collaborate with other healthcare professions and understand the importance of combining all of the components of their education into a well-rounded, comprehensive clinical practice. Indeed, there is ample evidence in the literature that pharmacists equipped with a solid foundation in basic pharmaceutical science, coupled with clinical knowledge and skills can, more effectively, contribute to pharmacotherapy and patient care, particularly in a collaborative practice setting.

Basic terminology in obtaining reimbursement for pharmacists' cognitive services.

Purpose: A basic overview and definitions of commonly used billing and reimbursement terminology that pharmacists will need to know to obtain reimbursement for cognitive services are provided.

Summary: Currently, the profession of pharmacy has been gathering momentum in its efforts to seek and obtain reimbursement for cognitive services. However, there have been major barriers in seeking reimbursement, including the lack of understanding by third-party payers of the pharmacist's role in patient care and the pharmacist's in-depth knowledge of pharmacotherapy, the lack of appropriate billing codes for pharmacists' services, and the lack of detailed knowledge and understanding by pharmacy practitioners of nondistributive reimbursement mechanisms, processes, and terminology.