Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Commons^™

Navigating The Path To Safe Compounding In Health Systems, Thomas Pile, Craig Kimble, Alberto Coustasse

Management Faculty Research

Across the country health systems are facing increasing drug shortages that are forcing pharmacists to rely far more heavily on compounding to meet the needs of patients. Additionally, several high-profile compounding incidents have helped highlight the importance of ensuring best practices are followed during sterile and nonsterile compounding to support patient safety and high-quality care. Specifically, in 2022, 160 drug shortages were reported in pharmacies. From January 1, 2023, to March 31, 2023, 47 drug shortages were reported, 55% of which were for injectables. In response, compounding has increasingly become a solution to bridge that gap.

Gabapentin Presents High Potential For Misuse, Alberto Coustasse, Stacie Deslich, Susan W. Lanham, Brittany Riley

Management Faculty Research

The FDA Approved Gabapentin in 1993 as a non-controlled substance and it has remained a non-controlled substance at the federal level. The drug was created as an anticonvulsant and used to treat seizure disorders. The medication has also been used to treat hot flashes, neuropathic pain, pain, postoperative nausea, substance abuse issues, and vomiting. It is estimated that approximately 1% of people in the United States misuse gabapentin. This fact has compelled certain states to generate legislative initiatives designed to monitor the use and/or reclassify gabapentin. In 2019, US pharmacies dispensed 69 million prescriptions for gabapentin.

Prescribing Controlled Substances Goes Electronic, Alberto Coustasse, Craig Kimble, Ken Maxik

Management Faculty Research

With the Affordable Care Act in 2010 came interoperability and meaningful use requirements. Part of these requirements included the implementation of electronic medical records (EMRs), which was a crucial part of achieving these standards. With EMRs, prescribers began sending electronic prescriptions. EMRs can provide advanced decision support when writing prescriptions, and they include features such as auto populating the quantity prescribed, formulary information, therapeutic duplications, warnings about interactions, or other potential clinical or regulatory issues. This system results in enhanced patient care and a more streamlined dispensing process. In addition, electronic prescriptions for controlled substances (EPCS) has become more widely …

Association Of Electronic Medical Records And Opioid Prescription, Archana Suwal, Jemimah Okonjo, Stacie Deslich, Alberto Coustasse

Management Faculty Research

A Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) is an electronic database that tracks controlled substance prescriptions in a state. PDMPs can provide health authorities timely information about prescribing and patient behaviors that contribute to the epidemic and facilitate an agile and directed response. Electronic Prescribing for Controlled Substances (EPCS) aimed to eliminate paper prescriptions by allowing clinical prescribers to write prescriptions electronically, making them digital and trackable for both the prescriber and the pharmacist and has been an essential part of any health information technology system, as well as a requirement for 'meaningful use' (Blumenthal & Tavenner, 2010). However, one of …

Store, Handle, And Administer Vaccines Safely To Prevent Errors, Craig Kimble, Kenneth Maxik, Alberto Coustasse

Management Faculty Research

Insufficient training, multiple manufacturers, and noninterchangeable products increase the risk of vaccine-related errors. Increasing the complexity are the addition of boosters with different doses, personnel new to the vaccine administration process, changes in dosing, easily misidentified labeling or products, vaccines given together, and the interchanging of booster products.2,3 As a result, there is an increased need to be alert in safety efforts with vaccine administration and storage. Pharmacy staff members must work together to improve safety and prevent vaccine-related errors.

The 340b Program, Contract Pharmacies And Hospitals: An Examination Of The First 25 Years Of Their Increasingly Complex Relationship, David P. Paul Iii, Morgan Cathlene Ludado, Morgan Ruley, Hannah Sayre, Alberto Coustasse

Management Faculty Research

The 340B Drug Pricing Program, created by Congress in 1992 through the Veterans Health Care Act, has provided discounted drug prices to hospitals and other health care organizations serving a wide population of low-income patients. Some 340B programs use contract pharmacies, an arrangement whereby the hospital or health care organization signs a contract directly with a pharmacy to provide covered pharmacy services at discounted prices.

The federal 340B Drug Pricing Program has provided access to reduced price prescription drugs to over 35,000 individual healthcare facilities and sites certified by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and clinics …