Top-Read Health-System Articles of 2016 You Can't Miss

2017 is just around the corner and to celebrate, Pharmacy Times thought we would take a look back at some of our top read stories of the past year.

This list includes some of our top read health systems articles of the year:

10. Health-systems Pharmacists: Ethical Challenges to Consider

Health-system pharmacists will inevitably face growing ethical challenges as a result of their evolving role in patient care. The Pharmacy Forecast 2016-2020, published by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) Foundation, analyzes pharmacy trends and provides strategies for health systems to grow and keep pace with the evolving scope of their practice. Read more about ethical dilemmas. Click "continue reading" below for the next top article.

9. Antimicrobial Stewardship: Is Judicious Use in the Hospital the Answer to Resistance?

The CDC has reported that 20% to 50% of all antibiotics prescribed in US acute care hospitals are either unnecessary or inappropriate, resulting in avoidable adverse effects, bacterial resistance, and an increased incidence of Clostridium difficile infection. Learn more about antimicrobial stewardship here. Click below for the next top article.

8. A Case Report in Melanoma: What Would You Recommend?

Melanoma is responsible for approximately 1% of all skin cancers but is associated with the highest rate of deaths among patients with skin cancer. Surgical resection remains the main treatment for early cutaneous melanoma; however, excised melanomas that have high-risk features and lymph node involvement are associated with an increased risk of recurrent disease. Learn more about melanoma. Click "continue reading" below for the next top article.

7. Neuropathic Pain: Answers for Patients

Neuropathic pain is a chronic nerve pain that can significantly impair a patient’s functioning and quality of life. Neuropathic pain results from damaged nerves that have been affected by tissue injury due to trauma or disease. Learn more about this condition here.Click "continue reading" below for the next top article.

6. A Case Report in Congestive Heart Failure: What Treatment Would You Recommend?

WC is a 67-year-old man with hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and coronary artery disease, and had triple bypass surgery 17 years ago. The medical team would like assistance in optimizing the medication regimen for WC’s new diagnosis. What would you recommend? Click "continue reading" below for the next top article.

5. USP <800>: Key Changes, Challenges, and Additions to USP <797>

Hazardous drug contamination is an issue of vital importance for specialty pharmacists. Abundant evidence has shown links between the handling of hazardous drugs (HDs) and increased risks for cancer, teratogenicity, and reproductive problems. Read more about what changes are on the horizon. Click "continue reading" below for the next top article.

4. Palliative Care: The Role of the Pharmacist

Palliative care is defined as “an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problem associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems—physical, psychosocial, and spiritual.” Read more about palliative care.​ Click "continue reading" below for the next top article.

3. Emerging Infectious Diseases Present New Opportunities for Pharmacists

Antimicrobial resistance is at crisis levels. It has been well reported that the CDC determined, in 2013, that 23,000 people die of antibiotic-resistant infections in the United States every year, and this number does not include the 14,000 deaths from Clostridium difficile infection annually. The upward trend in antibacterial resistance is alarming and has caught the attention of the White House. Read more about opportunities in infectious diseases. Click "continue reading" below for the next top article.

2. Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter-2 Inhibitors for Treating Type 2 Diabetes

Diabetes is a complex disease affecting 29.1 million individuals in the United States. It contributes to a multitude of complications, such as heart disease, eye damage, kidney failure, and lower-limb amputations. Read more about sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors. Click "continue reading" below for the next top article.

1. Novel Oral Anticoagulants: What You Need to Know

Anticoagulants are used frequently to treat and prevent thromboembolism. Historically, vitamin K antagonists (VKAs; eg, warfarin) have been the standard of care and only oral option. Medications that do not require frequent monitoring and have less inter- and intrapatient variability could offer great potential. Novel oral anticoagulants (NOACs) are relatively new medications that offer many of these potential benefits. Read more about these medications.