Caitlin K. Frail

Entrustable Professional Activities for Pharmacy Practice

The profession of pharmacy is facing a shifting health system context that holds both opportunity and risk. If the profession of pharmacy is to advance, pharmacists must be recognized as a consistent member of the health care team in all clinical settings, contributing at the fullest extent of licensure and education. One part of achieving this broad goal is to implement a new way of defining and assessing pharmacy practice skills, such as entrustable professional activities (EPA). Assessment of professional tasks and practice activities with EPAs has been successfully implemented in medical education for assessing trainee preparation for practice. This EPA model is being applied to pharmacy education to develop an assessment framework across the advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) curriculum. The APPE course directors, practice faculty members, and the Office of Experiential Education collaboratively defined a set of universal EPAs critical for pharmacists in any practice setting and would be assessed in all practice experience types.

Predictors of Medication-Related Problems Among Medicaid Patients Participating in a Pharmacist-Provided Telephonic Medication Therapy Management Program

To identify predictors of medication‐related problems (MRPs) among Medicaid patients participating in a telephonic medication therapy management (MTM) program.

Pharmacists' experiences with a telephonic medication therapy management program for home health care patients.

OBJECTIVE This study was designed to better understand perceived barriers and facilitators to providing medication therapy management (MTM) services by pharmacists who recently provided telephonic MTM services to home health care patients. These services were provided as part of a randomized, controlled trial (RCT) to develop suggested quality improvement strategies for future service design. DESIGN This was a qualitative study. A semi-structured individual interview format was used to elicit responses. SETTING Interviews were conducted by phone with participants. PARTICIPANTS All pharmacists who recently provided telephonic MTM services as a part of an RCT participated in this study. INTERVENTIONS Pharmacists were asked questions regarding their perceptions of the services, training opportunities, patient perceptions of the services, interactions with physicians, and suggestions for improvement. General demographic information was collected for each pharmacist and summarized using descriptive statistics. Interview data were analyzed using inductive qualitative methods to reveal key themes related to facilitators and barriers of MTM services in home health care patients. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The main outcome measures were major themes identified from pharmacist interviews pertaining to barriers, facilitators, and quality improvement strategies for telephonic MTM delivery. RESULTS A total of four pharmacists (i.e., 100% of those who participated in the prior RCT) were interviewed. Several themes emerged from the analysis, including: communication and relationships, coordinating care and patient self-management, logistics, professional fulfillment, service delivery and content, and training opportunities. CONCLUSIONS This study provides possible strategies to overcome barriers and facilitate service provision for future telephonic MTM services.

Patients’ Experiences Using a Brief Screening Tool for Medication-Related Problems in a Community Pharmacy Setting A Qualitative Study

Objectives: The objective of this study was to explore patient perceptions and the practical implication of using a brief 9-item scale to screen for medication-related problems in community pharmacies. Methods: Semistructured, audio-recorded, telephonic interviews were conducted with 40 patients who completed the scale and reviewed its results with their pharmacist. Audio recordings were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using qualitative methods to identify themes. Results: Patients generally reported the scale was simple to complete and could be used easily in other community pharmacies. Participants shared they had increased understanding of their medications and confidence that their medication therapy was appropriate. Several patients reported having actual medication-related problems identified and resolved through the use of the scale. Patients also reported improved relationships with pharmacists and heightened belief in the value provided by pharmacists. Conclusions: This screening tool may have value in increasing patients’ understanding of and confidence in their medications, enhancing pharmacist–patient relationships, and identifying problems requiring additional interventions.

Supporting quality in experiential education through enhanced faculty engagement

INTRODUCTION There are ongoing assessment and improvement activities related to strategies to improve the quality of education in the complex and resource-intensive area of experiential education (EE). One undescribed approach for design and delivery of EE programs for schools and colleges, with reliance on volunteer preceptors, is to utilize clinical practice faculty in formal partnerships with EE leadership to enhance curriculum and assessment. COMMENTARY AND IMPLICATIONS Clinical practice faculty, who possess practice setting expertise, can serve as course directors for advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) rotations. In this role, they can collaborate with EE faculty and staff to create more course-specific expectations, learning objectives, and criteria for APPE rotation experiences. This model could increase consistency for students and preceptors, using an approach that is analogous to content experts serving as course directors in didactic curriculum. This commentary explores the potential of this strategy to increase quality and consistency in EE.