AJHP's September 15 Issue Focuses on Pharmacist's Prescribing Activities

PRESS RELEASE

9/9/2016

The September 15, 2016, theme issue of AJHP highlights pharmacists’ prescribing activities. The special issue of the official scholarly publication of ASHP provides a comprehensive review of effective models in which pharmacists have the authority to prescribe medications and explores efforts to expand pharmacists’ scope of practice.

“Adoption of an interdependent prescribing model — in the context of team-based care — that employs pharmacists vetted through comprehensive organizational credentialing and privileging processes should be the norm,” said ASHP CEO Paul W. Abramowitz, Pharm.D., Sc.D. (Hon.), FASHP. “By fully utilizing the expertise of the pharmacist, we would expect patient outcomes to be improved, costs decreased, and the creation of new care models to expand patients’ access to healthcare services.”

Pharmacists can initiate, modify, and discontinue drug therapy through collaborative practice agreements in most states and U.S. territories. An increasing number of states, such as California and Oregon, have given pharmacists the authority to independently prescribe certain classes of drugs.

“Pharmacists receive more education and training on the science and therapeutic use of drugs than any other healthcare profession,” notes AJHP Editor in Chief Daniel J. Cobaugh, Pharm.D., DABAT, FAACT. “In many situations, pharmacists are the most qualified to make decisions regarding prescribing, monitoring, and modifying drug therapy.”

AJHP’s issue on pharmacists’ prescribing activities, which is now available to view

online ahead of print

, covers a variety of practice settings and topics, including the following:

• Drug therapy management in a pharmacist-run, stroke-prevention clinic
• Pharmacist-managed culture review service for patients discharged from the emergency department
• Clinical pharmacist prescribing activity in the Veterans Health Administration
• Collaborative practice model for management of pain in patients with cancer
• Pharmacist prescribing practices in a clinical pharmacy cardiac risk service
• Qualitative interviews regarding pharmacist prescribing in the community setting
• Lessons learned in updating and improving a state collaborative practice act

AJHP theme issues address highly visible and complex healthcare issues as well as innovative approaches to patient care. Distinguished and respected pharmacists will serve as guest editors of some of the theme issues, and readers are welcome to suggest topics for future issues. Upcoming issues will focus on precision medicine (December 1, 2016) and innovative approaches to pharmacy residency education (March 2017).