Integrating Pharmacists into Health Information Exchanges Pharmacists play an important role in coordination of medication management especially during points of transitional care. The Pharmacy HIT Collaborative developed an education paper to provide best practices to help prepare pharmacists to electronically exchange health information. Adoption and widespread use of Health Information Exchanges (HIE) will improve patient safety by ensuring that health information is available to all health care professionals at the point of care and facilitate coordination of care among physicians, pharmacists, and other health care providers. The intent of this paper is to prepare pharmacists to be able to receive and submit clinical information through electronic data exchange with current processes in the delivery of care for all patients. This document can be accessed on the Pharmacy HIT Collaborative's web site at http://www.pharmacyhit.org/pdfs/workshop-documents/WG3-Post-2014-02.pdf.
Documenting Comprehensive Medication Management in Team-Based Models Using SNOMED CT Codes Pharmacists are an integral member of patient centered team-based models of care especially in managing their patient’s medications. This paper will provide guidance to pharmacists who provide medication therapy management (MTM) services in team-based models on how to use Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine Clinical Terms Codes (SNOMED CT) to document their care and manage their practices. In order to illustrate the functionality of SNOMED CT codes, this guidance paper uses one team-based model of care, the Patient- Centered Primary Care Collaborative (PCPCC) model of the medical home, as the foundation for this discussion. This guide will be useful to pharmacists who practice comprehensive medication management (CMM) in medical homes or in other team-based practices such as community-based teams, accountable care organizations (ACO) or as a part of any integrated care teams. This document can be accessed on the Pharmacy HIT Collaborative's web site at http://www.pharmacyhit.org/pdfs/workshop-documents/WG2-Post-2014-03.pdf.
Workflow of Pharmacist Clinical Documentation Process in Pharmacy Practice Settings Workflow is not a new concept to Pharmacists as it relates to dispensing prescriptions. Clinical workflow takes an entirely different path than electronically receiving and dispensing medications. The intent of this paper is to help pharmacy system vendors understand the flow of clinical data by defining the clinical documentation workflow of pharmacists in pharmacy practice settings. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the usefulness of the process flow and how health information technology (HIT) can affect the pharmacist’s patient care process. Pharmacists are encouraged to work with their system vendor to build functionality into their system to collect, document, and exchange clinical information using electronic structured document standards. This document can be accessed on the Pharmacy HIT Collaborative's web site at http://www.pharmacyhit.org/pdfs/workshop-documents/WG3-Post-2014-03.pdf.
Put Your Ideals Into Practice: Doctors Without Borders Recruitment Information Session is 7:00 pm on Thursday October 14, 2014 at Mercy Corps Action Center in Portland, Oregon. For more information and to register click here. Posted 9/22/2014 *Everyday, Doctors Without Borders/MSF aid workers from around the world provide assistance to people whose survival is threatened by violence, neglect, or catastrophe - treating those most in need regardless of political, religious, or economic interest. Whether an emergency involves armed conflicts or epidemics, malnutrition or natural disasters, MSF is committed to bringing quality medical care to people caught in crisis.
The Immunization Action Coalition (IAC) has recently released its July 2014 issue of Needle Tips, for healthcare professionals who administer vaccines. Also available is Vaccinate Adults, a shortened version of Needle Tips, modified for those who work only with adult patients. Both are now available for downloading, printing, and reading. Posted 7/21/2014 *Here are links directly to the PDFs of the publications: Needle Tips and Vaccinate Adults. *These publications contain ready-to-print educational materials for healthcare professionals and their patients, vaccine news highlights, and IAC’s popular “Ask the Experts” Q&A column with answers by CDC experts Andrew Kroger, MD, MPH, and Donna Weaver, RN, MN. *Needle Tips and Vaccinate Adults are available exclusively online. Current and past issues of Needle Tips are available at www.immunize.org/nt and Vaccinate Adults at www.immunize.org/va. *To receive immediate email notification when new issues are released, subscribe at www.immunize.org/subscribe. On this page, you can also subscribe to IAC’s free weekly email news service, IAC Express, which keeps you up to date on immunization news between issues of IAC’s periodicals.
The Oregon Health Authority has just published report entitled ‘Drug Overdose Deaths Hospitalizations, Abuse & Dependency Among Oregonians’ that provides an interesting summary of challenges Oregonians and health professionals face in the safe and effective use of medications. Much of the data is generated through PDMP and it will be interesting to see how the data and the studies recommendations are utilized going forward. - Published on 5/30/2014 Oregon Health Authority, Center for Prevention & Health Promotion, Injury & Violence Prevention Section
The 8th DEA National Prescription Drug Take-Back Event - posted 4/17/2014 *The National Prescription Drug Take-Back is on April 26th from 10am-2pm. Local law enforcement agencies and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will be working together to hold the 8th Drug Take-Back Day. This event will allow citizens to dispose of unwanted, expired or unused prescription drugs (only pills or patches are accepted). The service is free and anonymous, with no questions asked. The last national event held in October 2013 established 4,114 collection sites and received 324 tons of prescription drugs from the community. *This initiative addresses both public safety and public health issues. Unused prescription drugs provide an opportunity for diversion, misuse and abuse. Medications in the home are a leading cause of accidental poisonings. Inappropriate disposal of medications in the home may disrupt our water sources or may be diverted. Therefore, proper removal of medications from the home may help to prevent accidental overdoses and abuse of prescription drugs. This National Take-Back event provides a mechanism for patients to safely dispose of medications. *The Collection Site Locator can be used to identify a location participating in the Take-Back Event in your area. Get more information athttp://1.usa.gov/P9EzM2
Call for JAPhA Editorial Advisory Board volunteers - posted 11/22/2013 The publisher and editors of the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association invite interested APhA members from pharmacy practice, research, education, industry, and related fields to apply for 10 available positions on the JAPhA Editorial Advisory Board (EAB). The term of service is 3 years, beginning at APhA2014 in Orlando, FL (March 28-31). Responsibilities of EAB members are to: * Act as a core group of peer reviewers for submitted manuscripts. * Serve as consultants to the editors about proposed changes or new directions in journal content and format or in the processes (e.g., peer review) and policies associated with journal production * Participate on ad hoc subcommittees to examine specific questions and suggest solutions. * Prepare informal critiques of each issue and suggest areas needing improvement. Interested individuals should send a cover letter and current curriculum vitae by December 16, 2013, to JAPhA Editor-in-Chief Andy Stergachis, PhD, BPharm, at [email protected]. For more information, contact the editor at 206-221-0703.
The Immunization Action Coalition (IAC) has recently released its February 2013 issue of Needle Tips, for healthcare professionals who administer vaccines. Also available is Vaccinate Adults, a shortened version of Needle Tips, modified for those who work only with adult patients - posted 3/21/2013
DMAP Pharmaceutical Services Program Update - posted 1/6/2012
Oregon Medicaid Criteria - effective 1/1/12 The Oregon Pharmacy Call Center uses this information when reviewing prior authorization requests for fee-for-service prescriptions. Refer to this document to find out which drugs require prior authorization.