bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Perceptions of Preparedness for Interprofessional Practice: A Survey of Health Professional Students at Three Universities
Authors: Sevin Alexa M. , Pruchnicki Maria C. , Ulbrich Timothy R. , Adkins Sarah E. , Maguire Michelle A. , Green Christopher G. , Brown Nicole V. 
Published: January 2018

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate health professions students’ understanding of their own and others’ roles on interprofessional (IP) teams, assess students’ perceptions of their preparedness to practice in an IP team, and determine differences by type of learning institution and participation in interprofessional education (IPE).
Methods: Medical, nursing, and pharmacy students at three Ohio universities with unique IP learning models were surveyed. Descriptive statistics, analysis of variance (ANOVA), chi-square, and two sample t- tests were used to compare measures of knowledge, IPE participation, and preparedness.
Results: Of the 981 invited students, 273 completed the survey (27.8% response). Overall, 70.7% of participants felt prepared to work on an IP team. Those who reported participation in IPE were more likely to feel prepared to practice on an IP team compared to those who did not (76.8% [149/194] vs. 55.3% [42/76], p=0.0005). Participation in IPE did not significantly affect knowledge scores (participators 79.6% vs. non-participators 81.0%, p=0.1731). Those who had higher profession-specific knowledge scores were more likely to feel prepared to work with that specific profession.
Conclusions: Participation in IPE activities in the representative institutions was high, as was knowledge of professional roles. Both participation in IPE and increased knowledge of roles were associated with increased student-assessed preparedness. Advancement of skills and behaviors including knowledge of roles and other competencies may all be important. Pharmacy in particular should prioritize IPE as a means to elucidate our role on the patient care team.

Type: Original Research
Knowing Your Pharmacist's Name
Authors: Dragic Lisa , Pham Vivan , Wertheimer Albert 
Published: January 2018

Pharmacists are the most accessible health care providers to the general public. Pharmacists are experts in helping patients get the most out of today’s complicated medications. Pharmacists ensure safe and effective use of medications. The American Pharmacists Association pitched a campaign, “Know your medicine, know your pharmacist.” Before one can know their medicine, one must know their pharmacist. This study was conducted to see whether older or younger and male verse female patients knew their pharmacist’s name better in the Philadelphia area, as a pilot study.

Type: Commentary
Integration of Rural Community Pharmacies into a Rural Family Medicine Practice-Based Research Network: A Descriptive Analysis
Authors: Hagemeier Nicholas E. , Blevins Sarah R. , Hagen Kyle S. , Sorah Emily L. , Shah Richa S. , Ferris Kelly M. 
Published: January 2018

Purpose: Practice-based research networks (PBRN) seek to shorten the gap between research and application in primary patient care settings. Inclusion of community pharmacies in primary care PBRNs is relatively unexplored. Such a PBRN model could improve care coordination and community-based research, especially in rural and underserved areas. The objectives of this study were to: 1) evaluate rural Appalachian community pharmacy key informants’ perceptions of PBRNs and practice-based research; 2) explore key informants’ perceptions of perceived applicability of practice-based research domains; and 3) explore pharmacy key informant interest in PBRN participation.
Methods: The sample consisted of community pharmacies within city limits of all Appalachian Research Network (AppNET) PBRN communities in South Central Appalachia. A descriptive, cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study was conducted from November 2013 to February 2014. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to examine associations between key informant and practice characteristics, and PBRN interest and perceptions.
Findings: A 47.8% response rate was obtained. Most key informants (88%) were very or somewhat interested in participating in AppNET. Enrichment of patient care (82.8%), improved relationships with providers in the community (75.9%), and professional development opportunities (69.0%) were perceived by more than two-thirds of respondents to be very beneficial outcomes of PBRN participation. Respondents ranked time constraints (63%) and workflow disruptions (20%) as the biggest barriers to PBRN participation.
Conclusion: Key informants in rural Appalachian community pharmacies indicated interest in PBRN participation. Integration of community pharmacies into existing rural PBRNs could advance community level care coordination and promote improved health outcomes in rural and underserved areas.

Type: Original Research
Potential Rx-to-OTC Switch Drug Candidates
Authors: Phan Victor , Wertheimer Albert 
Published: January 2018

The purpose of this study was to gain insight in what Rx legend drugs pharmacists think have a good enough safety profile to sell as OTC and, if any, what OTC drugs pharmacists think should be legend only. This study was performed as a non-directional survey asking the 2 following questions: “What are some prescription only medications that you think would be okay to sell as nonprescription (over-the-counter and behind the counter)” and following that “If any, what are some OTC/BTC medications that you think should be prescription only?” Pharmacists who were surveyed were those in the Philadelphia area within convenient traveling distance or whose contact information was available or accessible. There were three modes of collecting data. The first method was traveling to pharmacies in person and giving the pharmacist a physical survey to complete. The second method was the creation of a survey monkey, identical to the physical survey, which was sent electronically via email, text, or Facebook. The third method was telephoning pharmacies and conducting the survey over the phone. Demographics of respondents’ age range, education, area of work, and gender were collected. All methods were done as similarly as possible; with the same greeting and wording of questions, etc. Data analysis was done based on noticeable trends of answers and tallying frequencies of responses. In all, 101 pharmacists were contacted. The most common suggestion for Rx-to-OTC switch was oral contraceptives.

Type: Student Project
Opening A New Independent Pharmacy 101
Authors: Elabed Azam , Wertheimer Albert , Ibrahim Sabri 
Published: January 2018

Opening an independent pharmacy is a process that involves multiple components. The rationale of this project is to discuss different issues that must be investigated prior to opening a new independency pharmacy. This includes the location, structure of the corporation, start-up cost, picking a wholesaler, fulfilling state board requirements and Philadelphia requirements, having a valid license, making professional relationships, and knowing basic marketing research. Methods used include using the knowledge and expertise from an independent pharmacy owner, visiting pharmacies, and interviewing neighbors for basic marketing research. Many aspects of opening an independent pharmacy differ significantly from a retail pharmacy, as there are various issues within the pharmacy and outside the pharmacy that must be extensively researched prior to opening in order to be successful.

Type: Student Project
Critical Thinking Development in Pharmacy Education: A Meta-Analysis
Authors: Peeters Michael J , Zitko Kimberly L , Vaidya Varun A 
Published: January 2018

Objective: The investigators aimed to summarize prior studies of critical thinking development among pharmacy students, using the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST), Health Sciences Reasoning Test (HSRT), and Defining Issues Test (DIT).
Methods: Independently, two investigators (KLZ, MJP) systematically searched available literature using PubMed, Google Scholar, ERIC, PsychInfo, as well as pharmacy education conference abstracts in American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education. Their search terms were ‘pharmacy’, and [‘critical thinking’, ‘HSRT’, ‘CCTST’, and ‘DIT’]. Studies included were those that investigated pharmacy students, used one of the tests (CCTST, HSRT, DIT), and used a longitudinal design with test administration at two or more time-points for the same subjects (i.e., development). On review, the CCTST and HSRT seem more foundational to analytical/critical thinking, while the DIT appears to measure moral/complex thinking. Summarizing used meta-analysis with Cohen’s d and random-effects modelling.
Results: Five studies involved thinking development with 10 separate cohorts for meta-analysis (8 cohorts for CCTST, 2 for DIT, and 0 for HSRT). At 5 institutions, 407 and 1148 students were included (CCTST and DIT, respectively). For the CCTST, the overall effect was 0.33 (0.19-0.47 95%CI) with some heterogeneity among study cohorts (I2=52%). For the DIT, the overall effect was -0.23 (-0.83-0.37 95%CI) with considerable heterogeneity between study cohorts (I2=95%). For the CCTST and DIT, some studies showed effect-sizes greater than 0.5. Meta-analysis of the HSRT could not be conducted (i.e., 0 studies found).
Implications: While measuring different aspects of “critical thinking”, the CCTST and DIT showed responsiveness to change and appear to be promising measures of cognitive development. These tests should be used in further well-designed research studies that explore strategies for improving cognitive development in pharmacy education.
Conflict of Interest
We declare no conflicts of interest or financial interests that the we or members of our immediate families have in any product or service discussed in the manuscript, including grants (pending or received), employment, gifts, stock holdings or options, honoraria, consultancies, expert testimony, patents and royalties.

Type: Original Research
Delivering a Pilot Smoking Cessation Program through the Patient Portal of an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) at a Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH)
Authors: Singrey Amanda M , Casper Kristin A , Brown Nicole V , Mehta Bella H 
Published: January 2018

Pharmacists are providing clinical services in nontraditional practice settings including the patient-centered medical home (PCMH). PCMHs strive to improve patient outcomes in a number of ways, including through innovative use of health information technology (HIT) and by encouraging patients to take an active role in their health care. This paper describes a pharmacist-directed smoking cessation program at a PCMH that utilizes HIT to engage patients in the smoking cessation process and lessons learned from implementation of the program to guide other pharmacists considering implementing a similar program. Secure messaging through the patient portal of the electronic medical record (EMR) can be an effective way to deliver a smoking cessation program for appropriately selected patients and aligns with PCMH standards as the program uses HIT to engage patients in self-management.

Type: Original Research
Access to Breathing Medications in an Uninsured and Underinsured Patient Population
Authors: Singrey Amanda M , Pruchnicki Maria C. , Seifert Jennifer , Peng Juan , Young Gregory , Casper Kristin A. 
Published: January 2018

The purpose of this study was to explore access to breathing medications in an uninsured and underinsured patient population and identify needs for additional medication access resources. Quantitative data were collected from a dispensing report, financial database, and medical records review of patients who filled prescription medications at a charitable pharmacy in Ohio between December 11, 2014 and March 11, 2015, and qualitative data were collected from five semi-structured interviews with patients regarding breathing medication access. A total of 181 patients filled a breathing medication during the study period, which is nearly a quarter of the pharmacy’s patient population. The majority of patients were African American or Caucasian, and almost half were uninsured. Ultimately, the pharmacy had to purchase nearly half of breathing medications provided despite utilizing several medication access routes. Thus, access remains a significant challenge. Efforts are needed to ensure that vulnerable populations can consistently access breathing medications.

Type: Clinical Experience
Sunlit Uplands: The Genius of the NICE Reference Case
Authors: Langley Paul C 
Published: January 2018

The NICE reference case has received widespread acceptance in health technology assessment. The lifetime cost-per-QALY model and constructed claims for product impact have been widely emulated in country-specific guidelines for formulary submission as well as in publications in the leading health technology journals. Unfortunately, from the perspective of the standards of normal science, adherence to the reference case standard means that the claims made are typically non-evaluable. They have to be taken at face value. They may suggest potential evaluable hypotheses for clinical and cost-effectiveness claims, but there is no requirement in the reference case for claims to be put in an evaluable form and for manufacturers to suggest possible protocols for product impact assessment. This is not an acceptable situation. Absent the standards for falsification and replication, which are at the core of the scientific method, we have no idea whether the claims accepted by NICE are right or even if they are wrong. If we accept the reference case paradigm should we conclude that the sunlit uplands of formulary decisions based on non-evaluable simulated claims for cost-effectiveness has been reached? Have we rejected natural selection in favor of intelligent design?
Conflict of Interest
None
Type: Commentary
Great Expectations: Cost-Utility Models as Decision Criteria
Authors: Langley Paul C 
Published: January 2018

One of the more puzzling features of published claims for cost-effectiveness is the popularity of claims presented in terms of quality adjusted life years (QALYs). Despite the popularity of QALYs as the ‘gold standard’ outcome measures among academic audiences, professional groups and a number of single payer health care systems, there is no evidence to suggest that cost-per-QALY based claims have ever been assessed, either through experimentation or observation, to support formulary decisions. In part this stems from the fact that cost-per-QALY claims are typically not expressed in evaluable terms; it also stems from the fact that, despite the plethora of QALY publications, QALYs are not collected on a regular basis by any health care system as part of administrative claims or electronic medical records. In the US QALYs have typically been ignored by health care decision makers. Given this, the continuing popularity of utility-based measures for studies published in the leading pharmacoeconomics journals is difficult to understand. One possible explanation is that those promoting QALY claims are locked into a relativist position that defends the publication of nontestable product claims. A position that is reinforced by recommendations from ‘peer organizations’ such as the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) in their promotion of their Format for Formulary Submission standards which support the role of lifetime cost-per-QALY modeled imaginary worlds or thought experiments. Another explanation is that QALYs have been taken at face value with little though given to how they might be implemented to support both initial formulary decisions as well as ongoing disease area therapeutic class reviews. The purpose of this review is to put the case that the continued emphasis on cost-per-QALY claims has no practical benefit in formulary decision making.

Type: Commentary
Physician Acceptance of Pharmacist Recommendations about Medication Prescribing Errors in Iraqi Hospitals
Authors: AL-JUMAILI ALI AZEEZ ALI , Jabri Aminah M. , Al-Rekabi Mohammed D. , Abbood Sarah K. , Hussein Ahmed H. 
Published: January 2018

The objectives of this study were to measure the incidence and types of medication prescribing errors (MPEs) in Iraqi hospitals, to calculate for the first time the percentage of physician agreement with pharmacist medication regimen review (MRR) recommendations regarding MPEs, and to identify the factors influencing the physician agreement rate with these recommendations. Methods: Fourteen pharmacists (10 females and 4 males) reviewed each hand-written physician order for 1506 patients who were admitted to two public hospitals in Al-Najaf, Iraq during August 2015. The pharmacists identified medication prescribing errors using the Medscape WebMD, LCC phone application as a reference. The pharmacists contacted the physicians (2 females and 34 males) in-person to address MPEs that were identified. Results: The pharmacists identified 78 physician orders containing 99 MPEs with an incidence of 6.57 percent of all the physician orders reviewed. The patients with MPEs were taking 4.8 medications on average. The MPEs included drug-drug interactions (65.7%), incorrect doses (16.2%), unnecessary medications (8.1%), contra-indications (7.1%), incorrect drug duration (2%), and untreated conditions (1%). The physicians implemented 37 (37.4%) pharmacist recommendations. Three factors were significantly related to physician acceptance of pharmacist recommendations. These were physician specialty, pharmacist gender, and patient gender. Pediatricians were less likely (OR= 0.1) to accept pharmacist recommendations compared to internal medicine physicians. Male pharmacists received more positive responses from physicians (OR=7.11) than female pharmacists. Lastly, the recommendations were significantly more likely to be accepted (OR= 3.72) when the patients were females. Conclusions: The incidence of MPEs is higher in Iraqi hospitalized patients than in the U.S. and U.K, but lower than in Brazil, Ethiopia, India, and Croatia. Drug-drug interactions were the most common type of MPEs in hospitals. Physician specialty and pharmacist gender and patient gender significantly influenced physician agreement with the pharmacist comments. Only one-third of the pharmacist recommendations were implemented. Phone drug applications would be helpful for daily hospital pharmacy practice. More pharmacist-physician collaboration is needed to address MPEs. Pharmacist-led MRR can identify and address MPEs to improve patient safety.

Type: Original Research
Designing a Free Academic Early Alert System
Authors: Welch Adam C , Greever Adam , Linne Carmen 
Published: January 2018

This manuscript describes the development and implementation of a cloud-based, academic early alert system using Google Sheets. It was written for a non-computer savvy person to be able to develop the early alert system. By creating a Master Sheet and using the syntax from the share function of Google Sheets, a unique sheet can be created for each advisor that limits information sharing of their specific advisees. By adding a Google Form to the sheet, advisor interventions can be captured that reflect interventions made as a result of the early alert sheet.
Approximately 52% of students were identified on the early alert sheet by having at least one non-passing score on an exam. There were 35-50% of faculty advisors who documented their interventions in the sheet. The template and coding used to develop this academic early alert sheet may be applied to other central documentation needs, such as professionalism early alert.
Conflict of Interest
Dr. Welch reports owning stock in Alphabet, Inc, however, was not involved in the selection of Google as the preferred platform at this institution.

Type: Note
An Overview of Comic Books as an Educational Tool and Implications for Pharmacy
Authors: Muzumdar Jagannath 
Published: January 2018

Objective: To present an overview of comic books as an educational tool and discuss the use of comic books in pharmacy education.
Literature Identification: This research is comprised of a narrative literature review and critical analysis of the information retrieved. Key words included: comic(s), graphic novels, and pharmacy education. News articles, dissertations, theses, books, and scholarly articles from peer reviewed journals were selected and reviewed for inclusion in this article.
Results: Comics have been used as a pedagogical tool to motivate students to read, help them remember the content, and make the whole learning process fun. They have been used as supplemental readings in biochemistry, physics, and business ethics. Comic books have been used in educating patients about the challenges of dialysis, promoting health, and informing consumers about diseases such as AIDS and cancer.
Conclusion: In today’s media rich environment, comic books could be a visually interactive and innovative educational tool. Pharmacy faculty could use comic books or graphic novels as stand-alone texts or as part of a larger curriculum. Comic books could help students learn pharmacy-relevant content while enjoying the reading.
Conflict of Interest
The author declares no conflicts of interest or financial interests that the authors or members of their immediate families have in any product or service discussed in the manuscript, including grants (pending or received), employment, gifts, stock holdings or options, honoraria, consultancies, expert testimony, patents and royalties

Type: Review
Use of A Comic Book to Assist Student Learning of Dimensions of Patient-Centered Care
Authors: Muzumdar Jagannath 
Published: January 2018

Objective: To evaluate the use of comic books as a supplemental reading to assist student learning of the dimensions of patient-centered care. The Innovation: A comic book titled Mom’s Cancer was used as a supplemental reading in a course that introduced 2nd year pharmacy students (in a 0-6 year program) to the social aspects of pharmacy practice. Students read the book and provide their reflections about the book and topic covered in it. Critical Analysis: A total of 100 students registered in two sections of the course provided their responses. Student responses to the comic book activity were overwhelmingly positive. More than half of the student reflections included their personal experience with the healthcare system. The comic book format helped illustrate patient experiences with chronic illness to students. The range of comic books is not enough to give a comprehensive coverage of all the topics in the pharmacy curriculum. Getting the appropriate comic book for the respective topic could be challenging. Also, the effectiveness of comics as an education tool may be limited, if readers are less likely to take information provided via this medium seriously. Next Steps: The positive responses from students highlight the point that pharmacy faculty could use comic books in their pharmacy courses. Further research is needed to determine topics that would be effectively addressed by comic books and best practices for comic book use in pharmacy curriculum.
Conflict of Interest
The author declares no conflicts of interest or financial interests that the authors or members of their immediate families have in any product or service discussed in the manuscript, including grants (pending or received), employment, gifts, stock holdings or options, honoraria, consultancies, expert testimony, patents and royalties

Type: Note