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The Pharmacist’s News Source
pharmacypracticenews.com
Volume 38 • Number 2 • February 2011
Printer-friendly versions available online
McMahon Publishing
Tough Love Approach in this issue Front Seeks Better Pyxis Use Up Capsules By Anesthesiologists By the numbers at SCCM Annual Congress
[Editor’s note: see clarification notice for this article on page 38.] Anaheim, Calif.—Medicine is often all about outcomes; whatever management strategy yields the greatest impact on a patient’s health usually is embraced, even if a few eggs are broken in the process. But at St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center, a 650-bed, Level II trauma hospital in Paterson, N.J., the pharmacy department’s policy of fining anesthesiologists $100 for each medication discrepancy arising from the improper use of automated dispensing cabinets (ADCs) is testing that end-justifies-the-means argument to its limit. The $100 fine is levied for each discrepancy that goes unresolved for more than 72 hours. Hospital administrators also are notified, and in one more turn of the screw, a Drug Enforce-
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see PYXIS INFRACTIONS, page 38
Critical Care Congress
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Practice Pearls How to ban smoking in the workplace.
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Clinical
Cardiology Controversy still stirring over use of beta-blockers in noncardiac surgery.
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Practice Pearls More tips from ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting.
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Operations & Mgmt
Education Empowering students to become better pharmacists.
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Leadership in Action
VTE Prophylaxis Still a Mixed Bag Most patients treated, but only a few get guidelines-recommended regimens San Diego—Prophylaxis against venous thromboembolism (VTE) is inappropriate in the vast majority of critical care patients, despite readily available guidelines for VTE prevention from the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), researchers said at the 2011 annual meeting of the Society of Critical Care Medicine. In the VTE START (Venous Thromboembolism Study to Assess the Rate of Thromboprophylaxis) trial, the largest evaluation of VTE prophylaxis in critical care patients to date, only 12.5% of nearly
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see VTE PROPHYLAXIS, page 18
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Digging deeper into Accountability Leadership.
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Technology
Patient Transition Between Cancer Care Settings Lacking Medication reconciliation, postdischarge follow-up among pitfalls cited in new ACCC practice survey
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any h ospitals als and on co l og ogy group practices ces are failing to effectively manage cancer patients’ transition from inpatient hospital care to the outpatient setting, according to a new report by the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC). Practices are falling short in their efforts to adequately coordinate medical services, maintain complete medical records and nd obtain essential case information during the complex process. According to the report, about half of the oncology groups surveyed designate staff to manage postdischarge transitions, yet few have implemented specific transition policies or checklists. At hospitals, oncology-specific transi-
tion policies are largely nonexistent; few monitor readmissions or follow up discharged patients. And despite having computerized prescriber order entry (CPOE) systems, most oncology groups perform fewer than half of the 11 medication
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see TRANSITION, page 8
Part 2 in a Series: ASHP Pearls
Automation A savvy solution for enhancing drug delivery.
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Educational Reviews
Management of Acute Coronary Syndromes see page
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Sessions Offer Pharmacists Wide Array of Practical Tips Anaheim, Calif.—Our continuing coverage of the multisession pearls presentations held during the ASHP Midyear Meeting includes a caution about chemotherapy interactions, tips on automating international normalized ratio ordering, and a rationale for keeping succinylcholine as the drug of choice for rapid sequence intubation.
Certain Oral Chemotherapy Agents Pose Drug Interaction Risks A subset of oral tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) has the potential for significant drug interactions with some commonly used medications, according to a
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see TKI INTERACTION, page 20
The Book Page The APhA Complete Review for Pharmacy American Pharmacists Association
See page
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New Product CutisPharma launches new prescription mouthwash kits for compounding. See page
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