ROSS W. HOLLAND, PH.D., ED.D., M.A., FPS, FSHP, FASCP, FAIPM, MACPP, is Dean, Australian College of Pharmacy Practice, Canberra, Australia. CHRISTINE M. NIMMO, PH.D., is Director, Educational Resources, American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, Bethesda, MD. Abstract: A systems view of the amalgamation of existing pharmacy practice models is proposed. Pharmacy’s evolution is traceable as a...

BACKGROUND Health care professionals, trainees, and patients use the Internet extensively. Editable Web sites may contain inaccurate, incomplete, and/or outdated information that may mislead the public's perception of the topic. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the editable, online descriptions of clinical pharmacy and pharmacist and attempt to improve their accuracy. METHODS The authors identified ke...

BACKGROUND Syndromic surveillance system has great advantages in promoting the early detection of epidemics and reducing the necessities of disease confirmation, and it is especially effective for surveillance in resource poor settings. However, most current syndromic surveillance systems are established in developed countries, and there are very few reports on the development of an electronic ...

The push for hospitals to implement health information technology (HIT) systems, driven in part by Medicare and Medicaid incentives (and penalties), has affected pharmacy systems. It will continue to do so, as the defi nition of “meaningful use” is expanded to incorporate more required tasks related to medications. Everyone who works in a hospital pharmacy will be affected by how the federal go...

BACKGROUND Retrospective research requires longitudinal data, and repositories derived from electronic health records (EHR) can be sources of such data. With Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act meaningful use provisions, many institutions are expected to adopt EHRs, but may be left with large amounts of financial and historical clinical data, which can di...

he mandate of managed care organizations (MCOs) is to provide quality health care while responsibly managing health care costs. Managed care has brought significant change to the way health care services are provided, most notably by integrating many care components and linking them financially and clinically. It has also produced changes in how health care providers and patients participate in...

BACKGROUND Clinicians often encounter information about drug-drug interactions (DDIs) during clinical practice. This information is found within product information (hardcopy and electronic) and various electronic systems. Prescribers may receive medication-related communications in practice that are distributed by facsimile (fax), mail, or telephone from pharmacies and pharmacy benefit manager...

This study evaluated hospital involvement in pharmacy education. Databases from four U.S. National Clinical Pharmacy Services Studies and the American Hospital Association permitted detailed trend analysis. The study population included acute care general medical surgical hospitals: 1989 n = 1174, 1992 n = 1597, 1995 n = 1102, 1998 n = 950. Clinical pharmacy services offered in 50 percent or mo...

INTRODUCTION Information technology (IT) plays a pivotal role in improving patient safety, but can also cause new problems for patient safety. This study analyzed the nature and consequences of a large sample of IT-related medication incidents, as reported by healthcare professionals in community pharmacies and hospitals. METHODS The medication incidents submitted to the Dutch central medicat...