GRANTS WILL HELP PHARMACY AND PATIENT CARE

The National Association of Chain DrugStores Foundation recently awarded$140,000 in grants to help fund projectsthat seek to address, identify, and developways to promote the practice of communitypharmacy and improve patientcare.

The grant program was first launchedin 2007 by the foundation to partner withpharmacy schools and related organizationsto develop projects that advancecommunity pharmacy practice and positivelyimpact patient care. Grants wereawarded to the following:

• Drake University College of Pharmacy& Health Sciences was awarded$20,000 for the "Internship Programfor Partnering Students with ChainPharmacy Entrepreneurs." This programwill partner pharmacy studentswith chain pharmacy entrepreneursdedicated to developing future pharmacyleaders, new practice models,or engaging in innovation.
• New Mexico Medical Review Associationwas awarded $50,000 for"Improving Patient Outcomes Using aMedication Therapy ManagementCollaborative Approach." The goal ofthis pilot program is to improve medicationadherence via face-to-facemedication therapy management(MTM) provided by community pharmaciststo the state's Medicare beneficiariesenrolled in Medicare Part Ddrug plans over 1 year, and to evaluatethe efficacy of MTM in this representativegroup of patients and pharmacists.
• University of California San FranciscoSchool of Pharmacy was awarded$50,000 for research provided as partof the "Northern California Collaborative(NCC) for Pharmacist CareServices." This pilot program isdesigned to demonstrate the clinicaland cost effectiveness of communitypharmacist intervention in patientcare, and develop a field manual forthe replication of this for Californiapayers of health care, insurers, pharmacists,and schools of pharmacy.
• University of Pittsburgh School ofPharmacy was awarded $20,000 foran "Analysis of Physician-IdentifiedMedication-Related Need in theCommunity: Opportunities for Pharmacist-Provided MedicationTherapy Management(MTM)." Thegoal of the study is toidentify, from the physicianperspective, unmetpatient medication-relatedneeds and howthese needs can be met by pharmacistprovision of MTM services.