Objectives: To determine if a pharmacist assisted psychiatric clinic would improve adherence to medications and quality of life over 6 months. The primary study endpoints were the change from baseline in Medication Adherence Rating Scale (MARS), Brief Evaluation of Medication Influences and Beliefs (BEMIB), World Health Organization Quality of Life BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) scales as well as hospitali...

OBJECTIVE To determine if a pharmacist assisted psychiatric clinic would improve adherence to medications and quality of life over 6 months. The primary study endpoints were the change from baseline in Medication Adherence Rating Scale (MARS), Brief Evaluation of Medication Influences and Beliefs (BEMIB), World Health Organization Quality of Life - BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) scales as well as hospitali...

OBJECTIVES This study builds upon current studies of atrial fibrillation (AF) and health outcomes by examining more comprehensively the humanistic burden of illness (quality of life, activity impairment, and healthcare resource utilization) among adult patients with AF, using a large, nationally representative sample and matched controls. METHODS Data were analyzed from the Internet-based 200...

BACKGROUND Among schizophrenia patients relapsed on an oral antipsychotic (AP), this study compared the impact of switching to atypical AP long-acting injectable therapy (LAT) versus continuing oral APs on hospitalization and emergency room (ER) visit recurrence. METHODS Electronic records from the Premier Hospital Database (2006-2010) were analyzed. Adult patients receiving oral APs during a...

OBJECTIVE To determine the risk factors for ER visits due to asthma exacerbations in patients monitored at a referral center. METHODS Prospective cohort study of 253 outpatients (children and adults) with asthma who were monitored for 12 months at the Referral Center of the Program for the Control of Asthma and Allergic Rhinitis in the city of Feira de Santana, Brazil. RESULTS Exacerbations...

PURPOSE The Innovent Oncology Program aims to improve the value of cancer care delivered to patients. McKesson Specialty Health and Texas Oncology (TXO) collaborated with Aetna to launch a pilot program. The study objectives were to evaluate the impact of Innovent on Level I Pathway compliance, implement the Patient Support Services program, and measure the rate and costs associated with chemot...

In this paper, we study the effect of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) exposure on Emergency Room (ER) visits in Chile. Our identification strategy exploits daily PM 2.5 variation within a hospital-month-year combination. Unlike previous papers, our data allow us to impact high levels pollution while controlling for avoidance behavior. We find that one standard deviation increase increases resp...

BACKGROUND Different inhalation devices are characterized by different techniques of use. The untrained switching of device in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma patients may be associated with inadequate inhalation technique and, consequently, could lead to a reduction in adherence to treatment and limit control of the disease. The aim of this analysis was to estimate the ...