Drug Topics - April 28, 2008 - (Page 5) 5 Of Interest to Pharmacists Education on the Web well,” with the heavy demand on their time. He admitted, on the other hand, that there may be pharmacists in busy outpatient settings without a lot of interaction with patients in terms of clinical intervention who may not notice any change at all. L ooking for a primer on pharmacogenetics? Among the resources online are the following: • The American College of Clinical Pharmacology has “The Future of Medicine, Pharmacogenomics,” www.accp1.org. • The American Medical Association has “Pharmacogenomics and Personalized Medicine,” ama. learn.com. The direct-to-consumer variable One factor that’s still unknown, said McLeod, is the direct-to-consumer genetic testing already being marketed. There are anecdotes in North Carolina, where he is, of patients approaching pharmacists with such genetic tests and asking for interpretations. “And that is certainly something that most pharmacists are not yet equipped to do,” he acknowledged. A number of researchers indicate at this early date it’s difficult for anyone to tell an individual exactly what many of these gene links mean. Collins said, “These genome-wide association studies, for the most part, are going to give you modest odds ratios and therefore their predictive ability of currently healthy people is of somewhat uncertain value.” THE AUTHOR is a writer based in the Washington, D.C., area. will help make this drug a lot more manageable,” said McLeod. Opportunity for pharmacists Indeed, said McLeod, pharmacogenetics offers an opportunity for pharmacists to enhance their roles and become the “go-to” persons in the way they are for drug interactions, kidney and liver functions, and other factors. There may be a point in time for “our physician colleagues to realize the skills of pharmacy, because, frankly, most of them don’t understand drugs very Cardinal Health offers strategies to improve patient safety Sandra Levy T he healthcare industry can be improved to achieve lower costs and safer care for patients. So said Terry Clark, chairman/CEO of Cardinal Health, during a recent National Press Club Newsmaker Media Briefing. Clark said quality improvements can be achieved by the following three drivers of change: 1. Creating innovations that improve quality without raising the cost of care. “Smart infusion systems such as Cardinal’s Alaris system control and monitor IV infusions, alerting clinicians in real time if a dosage exceeds preset minimum or maximum levels. Data generated by the pumps are also critical in improving safety practices,” said Clark. 2. Using information to provide safer care. “Using an electronic infection surveillance service has proven to repeatedly produce a 20% reduction in hospital infections within the first two years with a 300% return on investment within one year of implementation,” explained Clark. “Through sophisticated mining of the hospitals’ lab data, the system can analyze patients with an infection in near real time to determine if a hospital-acquired infection likely exists. Infection control resources can be immediately dispatched so that one or two infections don’t become a more severe outbreak. If all hospitals had more robust infection data management systems, we could potentially eliminate 400,000 infections per year and save $4 billion annually. Yet less than 10% of hospitals are using this technology for real-time monitoring of infection data." Clark said personal electronic health records can put valuable patient information at providers' fingertips, improving their ability to deliver the right care the first time. Health records allow consumers to keep their health information all in one place and take a more active role in managing their own care while developing an increased awareness of the costs associated with it. 3.Implementing integrated processes to eliminate error and waste. “Bar-code verification provides the last line of defense against medication errors.” said Clark. “Yet fewer than 15% of hospitals use this technology. Conservative estimates show bar-code medication administration decreases errors by at least 60%.” http://www.accp1.org http://ama.learn.com http://ama.learn.com
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Drug Topics - April 28, 2008 Drug Topics - April 28, 2008 Contents Comparing Treatments for Effectiveness Gaining Support in Washington Pharmacogenetics: Pharmacists Should Own It, Not Fear It Cardinal Health Offers Strategies to Improve Patient Safety Latest News Roundup Drug Topics - April 28, 2008 Drug Topics - April 28, 2008 - Contents (Page 1) Drug Topics - April 28, 2008 - Contents (Page 2) Drug Topics - April 28, 2008 - Comparing Treatments for Effectiveness Gaining Support in Washington (Page 3) Drug Topics - April 28, 2008 - Pharmacogenetics: Pharmacists Should Own It, Not Fear It (Page 4) Drug Topics - April 28, 2008 - Cardinal Health Offers Strategies to Improve Patient Safety (Page 5) Drug Topics - April 28, 2008 - Latest News Roundup (Page 6) Drug Topics - April 28, 2008 - Latest News Roundup (Page 7)
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