Pharmacist Involvement in a Community Paramedicine Team.

BACKGROUND: Hospital readmissions have recently gained scrutiny by health systems as a result of their high costs of care and potential for financial penalty in hospital reimbursement. Mobile-integrated health and community paramedicine (MIH-CP) programs have expanded to serve patients at high risk of hospital readmission. Pharmacists have also improved clinical outcomes for patients during in-home visits. However, pharmacists working with a MIH-CP program have not been previously described. This project utilized a novel multidisciplinary Community Paramedicine Team (CPT) consisting of a pharmacist, paramedic, and social worker to target patients with heart failure at high risk of readmission to assist with coordination of care and education. OBJECTIVES: This article describes the development of the CPT, delineation of CPT member responsibilities, and outcomes from pilot visits. METHODS: The CPT visited eligible patients in their homes to provide services. Patients with heart failure who were readmitted within 30 days were eligible for a home visit. RESULTS: A total of 6 patients were seen during the pilot, and 2 additional patients were seen after the pilot. CONCLUSION: Imbedding a pharmacist into a CPT provides a unique expansion of pharmacy services and a novel approach to address hospital readmissions.

Development of a precepting workshop for pharmacy residents.

PURPOSE: The process of developing a workshop to enhance pharmacy residents' precepting skills and confidence in serving as preceptors is described, and survey results indicating the program's effectiveness are presented. SUMMARY: In response to requests from pharmacy residents for structured precepting-specific training to augment their participation in teaching certificate programs, Indianapolis, Indiana-based Eskenazi Health launched a series of annual workshops designed to hone residents' precepting skills. First offered as a half-day program in January 2011, the workshop was expanded in 2014 to a full-day format, with pharmacists from several local residency programs invited to attend. The workshop includes didactic sessions covering a wide range of topics (e.g., the four preceptor roles, techniques for providing effective feedback, strategies for dealing with difficult situations), as well as a panel discussion during which new and experienced preceptors share insights on effective teaching and precepting challenges; continuing-education credit is available. A total of 51 postgraduate year 1 or 2 residents from nine local rotation sites attended the 2014 workshop. The results of surveys administered before and after the workshop indicated that workshop attendance was associated with significant improvement in residents' comfort level in the 24 skill areas covered in the workshop and their ability to serve as copreceptors. CONCLUSION: A workshop was developed to assist pharmacy residents in developing precepting skills. Positive feedback about the program was received from attendees.