Incidence of prescription errors in patients discharged from the emergency department.

Purpose: The Emergency Department (ED) is known for its high rates of medication errors secondary to many characteristics such as unfamiliar patients, lack of continuity of care, increasing patient volumes, reliance on verbal orders, and fewer safety mechanisms. The purpose of this study was to quantify and characterize the medication errors that occur in patients discharged from the ED.

Methods: Prescriptions for patients discharged from the adult ED at an academic medical center from 2015 to 2018 were reviewed.

Correction to: Understanding and using AlloSure donor derived cell-free DNA.

An erratum to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12551-020-00763-9 .

Key articles and guidelines for the emergency medicine clinical pharmacist: 2011-2018 update.

Purpose: To summarize recently published research reports and practice guidelines on emergency medicine (EM)-related pharmacotherapy.

Summary: Our author group was composed of 14 EM pharmacists, who used a systematic process to determine main sections and topics for the update as well as pertinent literature for inclusion. Main sections and topics were determined using a modified Delphi method, author and peer reviewer groups were formed, and articles were selected based on a comprehensive literature review and several criteria for each author-reviewer pair.

Emergency Department Management of Recent-Onset Atrial Fibrillation.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common tachyarrhythmia managed in the emergency department (ED). Visits to the ED for a presentation of AF have been increasing in recent years, with an admission rate that exceeds 60% in the United States and contributes substantially to health care costs. Recent-onset AF-defined as symptom onset less than 48 hr-is a common ED presentation for which rate control or acute electrical or pharmacological cardioversion may be appropriate treatment modalities depending on patient-specific circumstances.

Understanding and using AlloSure donor derived cell-free DNA.

Renal transplant is a lifesaving and cost-effective intervention for patients with End Stage Renal Failure. Yet it is often regarded as replacement therapy rather than a cure given the overall failure rate over time. With a shortage of organs, this global issue has been further compounded by increased incidences of obesity, hypertension and diabetes, such that the disease burden and need for transplantation continues to increase.

Incorporation of a mock drug information telephone call exercise in a health-systems pharmacy laboratory.

Background And Purpose: Hospital pharmacists routinely receive and answer drug information questions via telephone while performing order verification. This report describes the development, implementation, and evaluation of a mock learning experience for student performance of these tasks in a health-systems pharmacy laboratory course.

Educational Activity And Setting: An active learning skills-based exercise involving students receiving and answering a standardized drug information question via telephone during an order verification activity, referred to as a cold-call exercise, was developed and implemented.

Leader Academy: A layered approach to learning leadership.

Background And Purpose: Leader Academy (LA) is a co-curricular experience for students that builds communication skills, fosters leadership skills, and offers opportunities in professional development. The program couples leadership development during the first year of the curriculum with activities conducted in a team-based learning course.

Educational Activity And Setting: An emotional intelligence (EI) assessment was administered to students during their first year.

Refining your approach to hypothyroidism treatment.

Thyroid hormone supplementation can be complicated by a number of factors. These tips can help to ensure that you provide the best treatment possible.

The Report of the 2018-2019 Professional Affairs Standing Committee: The Role of Educators in Pharmacy Practice Transformation.

The 2018-2019 Professional Affairs Committee examined the potential roles and needs of clinical educators (faculty and preceptors) in leading transformation in pharmacy practice. The committee was charged to (1) discuss the potential roles and responsibilities of faculty and preceptors leading transformation and enhanced patient care services in pharmacy practice; (2) describe factors, including clinician well-being and resilience, which may influence faculty and preceptor involvement in practice transformation and the enhancement of patient care services; and (3) recommend how the efforts and successes of faculty and preceptors involved in pharmacy practice transformation can be replicated and recognized as well as identify the types of continuing professional development (CPD) that should be available to enable the influence and implementation of patient care services. This report provides a framework for addressing the committee charges by examining the roles of advocacy, collaboration, continuing professional development, and clinician resilience and well-being.

Weight-based versus non-weight-based diltiazem dosing in the setting of atrial fibrillation with rapid ventricular response.

Purpose: There is conflicting evidence to support the superiority of weight-based (WB) dosing of intravenous (IV) diltiazem over non-weight-based (NWB) dosing strategies in the management of atrial fibrillation (AFib) with rapid ventricular response (RVR).

Methods: A retrospective review evaluated patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) in AFib with RVR and receiving IV diltiazem from 2015 to 2018. Those receiving a NWB dose were compared with those receiving a WB dose based on actual body weight (ABW).

Assessment of a Faculty and Preceptor Development Intervention to Foster Self-Awareness and Self-Confidence.

To conduct and evaluate the outcomes of a pharmacy faculty and preceptor development program to foster self-awareness and self-confidence. A faculty and preceptor development intervention was implemented in a multi-campus college of pharmacy to promote and assess for improvements in self-awareness and self-confidence. Faculty members and preceptors were surveyed regarding their self-perceptions and confidence at baseline and following an intervention in which they completed the Birkman Method self-assessment and participated in a training program with an active-learning component.

Essential Elements for Core Required Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences.

ince 2004, concerns and calls for greater quality assurance in experiential education have been published. The Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) "Standards 2016" provide limited differentiation across the four required practice experiences, and, as such, schools interpret them differently. Both schools and accreditation site visit teams would benefit from a common set of guidance for the required Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPEs), so that they can ensure consistency and quality in student experiences across practice sites.

Trends in and Predictors of Carbapenem Consumption across North American Hospitals: Results from a Multicenter Survey by the MAD-ID Research Network.

We sought to define trends in and predictors of carbapenem consumption across community, teaching, and university-affiliated hospitals in the United States and Canada. We conducted a retrospective multicenter survey of carbapenem and broad-spectrum noncarbapenem beta-lactam consumption between January 2011 and December 2013. Consumption was tabulated as defined daily doses (DDD) or as days of therapy (DOT) per 1,000 patient days (PD).

Use of economic predictions to make formulary decisions.

Purpose: The accuracy of cost savings and reimbursement predictions for medications added to an academic medical center formulary was assessed.

Methods: Formulary changes over a 5-year period were reviewed by the investigators. Medications were included if the medication was added to formulary and the monograph included cost savings or reimbursement data that indicated a positive net margin.

Text Messaging as a Teaching Tool in a Family Medicine Clerkship Rotation.

Introduction: Today's learners use multiple forms of social communication, such as text messaging, that offer a promising teaching tool for medical education. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a diabetes care curriculum delivered through text messages for third-year medical students on a rural family medicine clerkship.

Methods: A pilot study of 119 participants were compared in a parallel group randomized controlled trial evaluating medical student learning and satisfaction with text messages throughout rotation compared to an email with the same content in their first week of rotation.

Systematic Review of Real-World Studies Evaluating Characteristics Associated With or Programs Designed to Facilitate Outpatient Management of Deep Vein Thrombosis.

Select patients with acute deep vein thrombosis (DVT) can be managed as outpatients. We sought to conduct a systematic review of real-world studies describing either (1) the clinical characteristics associated with outpatient DVT treatment in all-comers or (2) emergency department (ED) programs designed to facilitate outpatient DVT treatment. MEDLINE and SCOPUS were searched (January 1, 2012, to May 1, 2018) to identify citations meeting the aforementioned criteria.

External validation of three risk stratification rules in patients presenting with pulmonary embolism and cancer.

Numerous risk stratification rules exist to predict post-pulmonary embolism (PE) mortality; however, few were designed for use in cancer patients. In the EPIPHANY registry, adapted versions of common rules (the Hestia criteria, Pulmonary Embolism Severity Index [PESI], and simplified PESI [sPESI]) displayed high sensitivity for prognosticating mortality in PE patients with cancer. These adapted rules have yet to be externally validated.

Isavuconazole pharmacokinetics in a patient with cystic fibrosis following bilateral orthotopic lung transplantation.

Previous studies of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) treated with azole antifungals have shown altered pharmacokinetics relative to healthy patients. Data regarding the pharmacokinetic profile of isavuconazole in patients with CF undergoing lung transplantation are currently not available. Serum trough concentrations assessed in a single CF patient following transplant revealed significantly lower values relative to available literature.

Clinical experience with ceftazidime/avibactam for treatment of antibiotic-resistant organisms other than Klebsiella pneumoniae.

Background: Ceftazidime/avibactam is a newly approved β-lactam/β-lactamase inhibitor combination with activity against antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative organisms, including many carbapenem-resistant strains. Although this agent may offer a promising treatment option for serious infections with limited alternatives available, clinical experience with ceftazidime/avibactam in treatment of infections caused by multidrug-resistant Gram-negative organisms other than Klebsiella pneumoniae is limited.

Methods: A retrospective case series was performed to evaluate patients treated with ceftazidime/avibactam for infections caused by organisms other than K.

Agreement between coding schemas used to identify bleeding-related hospitalizations in claims analyses of nonvalvular atrial fibrillation patients.

Background: Schemas to identify bleeding-related hospitalizations in claims data differ in billing codes used and coding positions allowed. We assessed agreement across bleeding-related hospitalization coding schemas for claims analyses of nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) patients on oral anticoagulation (OAC).

Hypothesis: We hypothesized that prior coding schemas used to identify bleeding-related hospitalizations in claim database studies would provide varying levels of agreement in incidence rates.

Clinical prediction rules for mortality in patients with pulmonary embolism and cancer to guide outpatient management: a meta-analysis.

Unlabelled: Essentials Clinical prediction rules (CPRs) can stratify patients with pulmonary embolism (PE) and cancer. A meta-analysis was done to assess prognostic accuracy in CPRs for mortality in these patients. Eight studies evaluating ten CPRs were included in this study.