Drug Topics - February 2009 - (Page 22)

Issues & Trends Fact Niche pharmacies serve special populations Pediatric and geriatric pharmacists becoming more visible. Heide Aungst, Senior Editor 6.8 million children A Network SEE INDEX PAGE 8 Issues & Trends For more info on this topic, see www.drugtopics.com ‘Diabesity’ driving the need for pediatric pharmacies In the age of “diabesity” — a word referring to two epidemics confronting children today: diabetes and obesity – PPAG works to educate pharmacists about the medication needs of children with those diseases. “When you have a kid that looks more like an adult (in terms of the disease process) but still has the physiology of a child, what do you do with that? How do you deal with W W W.D R U GTO P I C S .C O M 22 DRUG TOPICS Februar y 2009 COURTESY GETTY IMAGES / RUBBERBALL PRODUCTIONS / MIKE KEMP my Hannig RPh, doesn’t always get to meet the people whose prescriptions she ﬁlls. They run right past her. After all, the wooden train and the stuffed animals are at the back of Kids ’N Cures Pharmacy in Boardman, Ohio. Hannig is one of a handful of pharmacists providing specialized services in pediatric community pharmacies throughout the country. Serving the other end of the demographic market are pharmacists like Becky Culbertson, RPh, of 50-Plus Pharmacy in Kansas City, Mo., which is one of the few pharmacies dedicated to serving seniors. Specialty, or niche community pharmacies, though still few in number, are reaching out to meet the growing needs of two populations with special needs — children and senior citizens. Both types of pharmacies involve a signiﬁcant amount of compounding to make formulas that meet the needs of the vulnerable populations they serve. Both also have notfor-proﬁt associations working for the professionals in their specialties. But there’s one big difference: You can get certiﬁed in geriatric pharmacy, but not in pediatric pharmacy. With a wave of aging baby boomers advancing on the horizon, the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists started the Commission for Certiﬁcation in Geriatric Pharmacy in 1997. Since then, 1,800 pharmacists have taken the exam and been certiﬁed. Many work for nursing homes, which according to legal mandates, must have a pharmacist review patients’ prescriptions every 30 days. To serve pediatric pharmacists, the Memphis-based Pediatric Pharmacy Advocacy Group (PPAG) started in 1978 to serve pharmacists at children’s hospitals, according to its executive director Matthew Helms. Today the group has about 700 members. Helms estimates all but “ﬁve or six” work for hospitals. Helms explains that while there are few communitybased pediatric pharmacies nationwide — the group currently doesn’t track the exact number — he notes that there is a growing need for two key reasons: to provide continuity of care when a patient returns home after a hospital stay and because of the increase in diabetes and obesity. http://www.drugtopics.com http://WWW.DRUGTOPICS.COM

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Drug Topics - February 2009

Drug Topics - February 2009 Contents Health-System Edition Group Attempts to Resurrect Pain Care Act HSE Business Management HSE Clinical Letters Up Front Up Front in Depth Community Practice Niche Pharmacies Serve Special Populations Special Report Oral Oncology Drugs New Drugs Update 2008 Approvals OTC New Products Viewpoint

Drug Topics - February 2009

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