Pharmacist Opioid Dispensing Confidence in an Evolving Practice Landscape.

Pharmacists are increasingly called upon to make dispensing decisions when presented with prescriptions for opioids. Risk mitigation strategies have been implemented to assist pharmacists in making these decisions, but they have also increased the complexity of decision-making. The primary objective of this study was to describe change in pharmacist comfort levels with opioid prescription dispensing over the previous year. This was a cross-sectional, multi-state, 16-item survey disseminated to the general membership of 2 state-level professional pharmacy organizations in November 2018. Of 274 pharmacists who opened the questionnaire, 195 (n = 195) completed at least 80% of the survey and were included. Three-fourths (74.6%) of the respondents noted community/retail as their practice site. When asked about change in comfort with dispensing opioids, 19.6% reported an increase in comfort level, 42.5% reported a decrease in comfort level, and 38.0% reported no change. When asked about information that may increase comfort in dispensing opioids, respondents noted diagnosis, morphine milligram equivalent, prior treatments, past medical history, drug monitoring program verification, and previous treatment trials with opioids. Comfort with dispensing opioids decreased over a 12-month period among pharmacists surveyed. Improved communication between prescriber and pharmacist, as well as enhanced access to patient health information, is critical to reduce barriers to care for patients.

A Multi-Site Qualitative Study Examining Pharmacy Student Perspectives on the Opioid Crisis.

Objective. To determine pharmacy students' perspectives regarding opioid use, the opioid crisis, and pharmacy education related to both topics.Methods. Students from each professional year at eight participating schools and colleges of pharmacy were invited to participate in focus groups and answer questions about their experiences with the opioid crisis. Faculty and/or staff moderated the focus groups and audio-recorded responses. Recordings were deidentified, transcribed, and analyzed.Results. One hundred fifty students participated in one of 29 focus groups conducted. Responses were categorized according to themes using consensual qualitative research (CQR) methodology. Sources impacting student views on the crisis included school, personal and work experience, and media. Perspective changes since starting school included increased knowledge and awareness and decreased bias/stigma.Conclusion. Conducting focus groups on the opioid crisis provided pharmacy schools with information on what student pharmacists are learning about the crisis, practices they see, and their recommendations to address the crisis. Pharmacy schools can better prepare students to combat the opioid crisis by providing them with training in opioid counseling, use of naloxone, and how to have difficult conversations with patients.

Design and Validation of Patient-Centered Communication Tools (PaCT) to Measure Students' Communication Skills.

Objective. To develop a comprehensive instrument specific to student pharmacist-patient communication skills, and to determine face, content, construct, concurrent, and predictive validity and reliability of the instrument. Methods. A multi-step approach was used to create and validate an instrument, including the use of external experts for face and content validity, students for construct validity, comparisons to other rubrics for concurrent validity, comparisons to other coursework for predictive validity, and extensive reliability and inter-rater reliability testing with trained faculty assessors. Results. Patient-centered Communication Tools (PaCT) achieved face and content validity and performed well with multiple correlation tests with significant findings for reliability testing and when compared to an alternate rubric. Conclusion. PaCT is a useful instrument for assessing student pharmacist communication skills with patients.

Student use of health literacy tools to improve patient understanding and medication adherence.

OBJECTIVE: Evaluate curricular changes related to health literacy and determine impact on independent-living senior residents as part of an introductory pharmacy practice experience for third-year student pharmacists. DESIGN: Students were randomly assigned a resident whom they visited multiple times to conduct assessments and provide various services using three methods: Ask Me 3™ Four Habits Model, and Teach-back. SETTING: The study was conducted at independent-living apartments within a 24-mile radius from the St. Louis College of Pharmacy, St. Louis, Missouri. PATIENTS, PARTICIPANTS: Participants (n = 147 to 173, across all three years) were volunteer, elderly residents, living at a facility that collaborated with the research. INTERVENTIONS: Within one academic year, students collected medical and medication histories, conducted household safety checks, performed screening assessments, assessed adherence, and provided general recommendations to a resident. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Outcomes included resident satisfaction, student satisfaction, and correlations between student use of health literacy tools and resident satisfaction. RESULTS: Exit surveys indicated resident overall satisfaction with the program, increased understanding of health-related information, increased confidence in asking health care professionals questions about their health, and greater commitment to medication adherence as a result of the experience. Students were highly satisfied with the program. Analyses reveal some correlations between a previously determined performance level of student communication and resident satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: Students' use of health literacy communication tools during encounters with independent-living senior residents can result in greater patient understanding and empowerment, which may in turn help improve medication adherence.

Health literacy: use of the Four Habits Model to improve student pharmacists' communication.

OBJECTIVE: To assess whether student pharmacists' communication skills improved using the Four Habits Model (FHM) at the St. Louis College of Pharmacy. METHODS: During the Fall of 2009 and 2010, student pharmacists in the third professional year learned and practiced the FHM. They were given feedback by faculty on three of the four Habits, used the FHM for self and peer assessment, and were formally evaluated on all four Habits during a standardized patient encounter. RESULTS: Student pharmacist performance significantly improved from baseline during both Fall 2009 and Fall 2010 in the majority of the Habits assessed. CONCLUSION: Use of the FHM in pharmacy education can improve a student pharmacists' ability to display the four Habits of communicating and developing relationships with patients. Tailoring of the FHM to pharmacy encounters will further enhance the utility of this communication framework. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Use of the FHM enhances the measurement and assessment of the relational aspects of student pharmacist-patient communication skills. Consistent use of the FHM over time is likely necessary to fully develop and retain communication skills. The overall goal is to improve patient's health literacy and appropriate medication use by improving communication and the pharmacist-patient relationship.

The ins and outs of pharmacy services at a program of all-inclusive care for the elderly.

A program of all-inclusive care for the elderly (PACE) is a medical care model currently used in 75 clinical settings across the country. The goal of the model is to allow a participant to live independently in the community as an alternative to living in a long-term care facility. To be eligible for enrollment, participants must meet the following criteria: 55 years of age or older, at a nursing-facility level of care (as determined by the state), living in the PACE service area, and can be safely cared for in the community at the time of enrollment. Once enrolled, care for the participants is provided by an interdisciplinary team (IDT) comprising several medical professionals, including pharmacists. Although not a required member of the IDT, pharmacists can be instrumental to the care of PACE participants. When available, pharmacy services can be divided into dispensing pharmacy services--providing onsite access to medications--and consultant clinical pharmacy services--providing consultant, acute, and chronic disease management, education, administration, and academic/scholarly services. With a lack of current pharmacy services at many PACE organizations and the potential for expansion of pharmacy services, pharmacists can be beneficial for both the IDT and participants in a PACE setting.

Genetic-based dosing in orthopedic patients beginning warfarin therapy.

High variability in drug response and a narrow therapeutic index complicate warfarin therapy initiation. No existing algorithm provides recommendations on refining the initial warfarin dose based on genetic variables, clinical data, and international normalized ratio (INR) values. Our goal was to develop such an algorithm. We studied 92 patients undergoing primary or revision total hip or knee replacement. From each patient we collected a blood sample, clinical variables, current medications, and preoperative and postoperative laboratory values. We genotyped for polymorphisms in the cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2C9 and vitamin K epoxide reductase (VKORC1) genes. Using stepwise regression, we developed a model for refining the warfarin dose after the third warfarin dose. The algorithm explained four fifths of the variability in therapeutic dose (R(2)(adj) of 79%). Significant (P > .05) predictors were INR value after 3 doses (47% reduction per 0.25-unit rise), first warfarin dose (+7% per 1 mg), CYP2C9*3 and CYP2C9*2 genotype (-38% and -17% per allele), estimated blood loss (interacting with INR(3)), smoking status (+20% in current smokers), and VKORC1 (-11% per copy of haplotype A). If validated, this model should provide a safer, more effective process for initiating warfarin therapy.