Impact of Gram-Negative Rod Bacteremia Rapid Diagnostic Testing and Real-Time Clinical Pharmacist Intervention.

The optimal method for implementing rapid diagnostic testing (RDT) into clinical practice has not been determined for gram-negative rod (GNR) bacteremia. At our institution, RDT was implemented in conjunction with real-time notification of results to decentralized clinical pharmacists. To determine the impact of RDT result notification plus real-time clinical pharmacist review on the management of GNR bacteremia.

Pharmacy Leaders' Reflections on Leadership and Legacy.

Objective: To explore the experiences, contributions, and perceived legacy of individuals recognized as leaders in the pharmacy profession and compare these by gender and generational category.

Methods: A total of 54 leaders were interviewed about their journey to leadership and the legacy they leave to the profession. Interviews were transcribed, de-identified, and qualitatively analyzed using an inductive, modified constant comparison approach for open and axial coding.

Psychological safety and accountability in longitudinal integrated clerkships: a dual institution qualitative study.

Background: Psychological safety and accountability are frameworks to describe relationships in the workplace. Psychological safety is a shared belief by members of a team that it is safe to take interpersonal risks. Accountability refers to being challenged and expected to meet expectations and goals.

Viral dissemination and immune activation modulate antiretroviral drug levels in lymph nodes of SIV-infected rhesus macaques.

Introduction And Methods: To understand the relationship between immunovirological factors and antiretroviral (ARV) drug levels in lymph nodes (LN) in HIV therapy, we analyzed drug levels in twenty-one SIV-infected rhesus macaques subcutaneously treated with daily tenofovir (TFV) and emtricitabine (FTC) for three months.

Results: The intracellular active drug-metabolite (IADM) levels (TFV-dp and FTC-tp) in lymph node mononuclear cells (LNMC) were significantly lower than in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) (P≤0.005).

The Perceived Usability of Virtual Visits Among Black Adults' Receiving Oncology Care: A Qualitative Analysis.

Background: With the COVID-19 pandemic came rapid uptake in virtual oncology care. During this, sociodemographic inequities in access to virtual visits (VVs) have become apparent. To better understand these issues, we conducted a qualitative study to describe the perceived usability and acceptability of VVs among Black adults diagnosed with cancer.

Development and Feasibility of a Primary Care Provider Training Intervention to Improve Atrial Fibrillation Management.

The disparities in atrial fibrillation (AF) care are partially attributed to inadequate access to providers with specialized training in AF. Primary care providers (PCPs) are often the sole providers of AF care in under-resourced regions. As such, we sought to create a virtual education intervention for PCPs and to evaluate its impact on the use of stroke risk reduction strategies in patients with AF.

Examining differences in opioid deaths by race in North Carolina following the STOP Act, 2010-2019.

Introduction: North Carolina's 2017 STOP Act implemented several measures to address the increasing opioid overdose death rate. However, due to racial differences prescription opioid use and treatment service access, the STOP Act may exhibit differential impacts by race. This study examined the impact of the STOP Act on opioid overdose deaths by race.

Comparison of Colchicine Monotherapy Versus Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Monotherapy or Combination Therapy for the Prevention of Recurrent Pericarditis in Patients With Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction and/or Coronary Artery Disease.

Guidelines recommend nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) or aspirin for 2-4 weeks with colchicine for 3 months for the treatment of acute pericarditis. In patients with HFrEF and/or CAD, the adverse effect profile of NSAIDs pose concern. While previous studies evaluated colchicine as adjunctive therapy, colchicine monotherapy has never been assessed.

Are Physician Assistants Able to Correctly Identify Prescribing Errors? A Cross-Sectional Study.

Purpose: (1) To describe how often physician assistant (PA) students correctly identify prescribing errors and (2) examine between-cohort differences on ability to correctly identify prescribing errors.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 2 cohorts of PA students at one institution. Students were presented with 3 hypothetical prescriptions, 2 of which contained a prescribing error.

Design, Implementation, and Outcomes of an Interprofessional Mobile Web Application for Preceptors for Challenging Issues.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to develop and assess an easily accessible interprofessional mobile web application to assist preceptors with challenging teaching and learning situations.

Methods: Phase 1 was a modified Delphi process of 48 advanced practice nursing, dentistry, medicine, and pharmacy preceptors to determine the content of the application. Phase 2 consisted of 12 preceptors from the 4 disciplines piloting a prototype to refine the tool using design-thinking principles.

Impact of Hurricane Matthew on a Cohort of Adolescents With Asthma in North Carolina.

Objective: The aim of this study was to look at a cohort of adolescents who were already enrolled in a randomized controlled trial to see (1) how demographics were associated with hurricane impact, and (2) how hurricane impact was associated with reported asthma quality of life.

Methods: One hundred fifty-one adolescents ages 11-17 and their parents enrolled in a randomized controlled trial at 2 sites in southeastern North Carolina completed questions about asthma quality of life, demographics, and the impact of Hurricane Matthew.

Results: The most common effects of Hurricane Matthew were that the family's home was damaged or flooded (32.

Transfer learning to leverage larger datasets for improved prediction of protein stability changes.

Amino acid mutations that lower a protein's thermodynamic stability are implicated in numerous diseases, and engineered proteins with enhanced stability are important in research and medicine. Computational methods for predicting how mutations perturb protein stability are therefore of great interest. Despite recent advancements in protein design using deep learning, prediction of stability changes has remained challenging, in part due to a lack of large, high-quality training datasets for model development.

A lot in a little: Assessment of skills laboratory course structures and faculty workloads.

Introduction: Pharmacy skills development is essential to pharmacy programs to ensure "practice-ready" graduates. The objective was to describe the landscape of skills laboratory (lab) courses and faculty workload across United States schools and colleges of pharmacy (S/COP).

Methods: The American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Laboratory Instructors Special Interest Group disseminated an anonymous questionnaire to collect faculty demographics, skills lab format, faculty workload, and job satisfaction.

Dental Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Patient Perceptions of Barriers to Dental Care, COVID-19 Safety Precautions, and Administration of the COVID-19 Vaccine at the Dental Office.

Background: The Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC) Dental Health Center sought to learn how COVID-19 affected dental care attainment and patient perceptions of appropriate safety measures, as well as their acceptance of the dental office as a site for COVID-19 vaccinations.

Methods: A cross-sectional online survey of dental patients was performed to inquire about barriers to care, safety precautions, including COVID-19 testing, and the acceptability of vaccination for COVID-19 in the dental office. All adult patients of the MAHEC Dental Health Center with an email address on file and a clinic visit in the past year were randomized for inclusion.

Central Nervous System-Active Prescriptions in Older Veterans: Trends in Prevalence, Prescribers, and High-risk Populations.

Background: Little is known about the prevalence or chronicity of prescriptions of central nervous system-active (CNS-active) medications in older Veterans.

Objective: We sought to describe (1) the prevalence and trends in prescription of CNS-active medications in older Veterans over time; (2) variation in prescriptions across high-risk groups; and (3) where the prescription originated (VA or Medicare Part D).

Design: Retrospective cohort study from 2015 to 2019.

The impact of pharmacy benefit managers on community pharmacy: A scoping review.

Introduction: The introduction of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) within the United States healthcare system occurred with the aim to decrease costs and increase quality. News media and legislation have painted a picture of decreased pharmacy competition and potential negative impacts on patients and their access to affordable medications.

Objective: The objective of this scoping review was to evaluate the current research literature examining the impact of PBMs on the finances of community pharmacies.

Reduced dosing versus full dosing valganciclovir for prophylaxis of cytomegalovirus in high-risk abdominal transplant recipients.

Background: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a common infection in abdominal transplant recipients (ATR). Prevention of CMV in the highest risk population (CMV IgG donor+/recipient-) is critical as CMV is associated with negative outcomes. Guideline recommended prophylactic valganciclovir dosing is 900 mg daily for 6 months in this population.

A Quality Improvement Innovation for Reproductive Health Planning in the Time of COVID.

Objectives: To see if an outreach approach with telehealth is feasible and acceptable to patients to talk about their reproductive health; and as a secondary outcome, capture data on time spent on the visit and what kind of information was discussed.

Methods: A registry was created from three family physicians' panels of all adult patients with anticipated ability to become pregnant ages 18-45 who had not had a documented reproductive health discussion in the previous 6 months. Using that registry, outreach was performed to schedule a telehealth visit to discuss their reproductive health with their primary care provider.

American Indian/Alaska Native men are less likely to receive prostate-specific antigen testing and digital rectal exams from primary care providers than White men: a secondary analysis of the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey from 2012-2018.

Purpose: (1) Identify the proportion of primary care visits in which American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) men receive a prostate-specific antigen test (PSAT)and/or a digital rectal exam (DRE), (2) describe characteristics of primary care visits in which AI/AN receive PSA and/or DRE, and (3) identify whether AI/AN receive PSA and/or DRE less often than non-Hispanic White (nHW) men.

Methods: This was a secondary analysis of the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) during 2013-2016 and 2018 and the NAMCS Community Health Center (CHC) datasets from 2012-2015. Weighted bivariate and multivariable tests analyzed the data to account for the complex survey design.

Associations With Virtual Visit Use Among Patients Receiving Radiation Therapy.

Purpose: The objective of this study was to test for patient characteristics associated with virtual versus office visits among radiation oncology patients.

Methods And Materials: Using the electronic health record, we extracted encounter data and corresponding patient information for the 6 months before and 6 months of COVID-19-enabled virtual visits (October 1, 2019, to March 22, 2020 vs March 23, 2020, to September 1, 2020) at a National Cancer Institute-Designated Cancer Center. Encounters during COVID-19 were categorized as in-person or virtual visits.

Postgraduate education to expand access to dental care: A roadmap to community dental program development.

Evidence indicates an increasing shortage of dentists in communities across the United States with potentially significant implications for oral health, as well as overall health and well-being. One strategy to increase access to dental care in rural and underserved communities is community-based postgraduate dental training. However, developing new dental programs requires navigating complex accreditation, financial and community governance, among other, barriers.

Yes-associated protein nuclear translocation promotes anabolic activity in human articular chondrocytes.

Objective: Yes-associated protein (YAP) has been widely studied as a mechanotransducer in many cell types, but its function in cartilage is controversial. The aim of this study was to identify the effect of YAP phosphorylation and nuclear translocation on the chondrocyte response to stimuli relevant to osteoarthritis (OA).

Design: Cultured normal human articular chondrocytes from 81 donors were treated with increased osmolarity media as an in vitro model of mechanical stimulation, fibronectin fragments (FN-f) or IL-1β as catabolic stimuli, and IGF-1 as an anabolic stimulus.