Competency, board certification, credentialing, and specialization: who benefits? (1/75)

Pharmacists are concerned with the rapid changes in the healthcare system and what the requirements will be for a pharmacist in the near future. The emergence of board certification, credentialing, and other certification programs for pharmacists are causing significant concern among pharmacists. Pharmacists must assess certification programs and decide on the value of certification to their careers and to the patients they serve. Employers of pharmacists and those paying for healthcare and pharmacy services must also evaluate the value of pharmacists certification. Perhaps the most direct and significant benefit of pharmacist certification lies in the ability of the pharmacist to provide better and more comprehensive care to patients or selected groups of patients (eg, diabetic patients). Better and more comprehensive care provided by a pharmacist benefits the patient, other healthcare professionals, the healthcare system generally, and payers of healthcare and pharmacy services. Demonstrated competence of the pharmacist to provide pharmaceutical care is essential to achieving this benefit. Board certification of pharmacists in current board-recognized specialty areas of nutrition support pharmacy, pharmacotherapy, psychiatric pharmacy, nuclear pharmacy, and oncology pharmacy totaled 2075 board certified pharmacists in the United States as of January 1997.  (+info)

Exploring self-care and wellness: a model for pharmacist compensation by managed care organizations. (2/75)

Self-care and wellness are rapidly becoming mainstays of practice for many pharmacists. Consumer confidence and trust in pharmacists provides continuing opportunities for pharmacists to create products and services to satisfy consumer demands related to disease prevention and healthcare delivery. We outline two pharmacy wellness programs designed to meet consumer needs, and offer them as models for pharmacists. Issues related to the program and extent of involvement by pharmacists are raised, including the role of the pharmacists in behavior modification efforts; selecting areas of focus (e.g., smoking cessation); working with physicians for referrals; enlightening community business leaders and managed care organizations to the economic benefits of the program; and developing strategies for fair purchase of services to achieve program goals and provide adequate compensation in return.  (+info)

Patient consultation in a managed care setting: guiding pharmacy into the future. (3/75)

Managed care organizations are excellent environments for pharmaceutical care programs to demonstrate their impact on patient care outcomes and to decrease costs. Patient consultation is the cornerstone in implementing pharmaceutical care because it increases patient contact with the pharmacists while improving patient compliance with drug therapy (adherence). Implementation of a patient consultation program that verifies patients' understanding of their disease and therapy gives the pharmacist information necessary to monitor drug therapy. Use of strategic planning to overcome barriers, followed by the development of local standards of practice, will refocus the practice philosophy to one of improving patient outcomes. Pharmacy managers must demonstrate and document the value that patient consultation brings to the patient and the healthcare system. Then, they must integrate their counseling effort with other health education efforts of the managed care system. Pharmacists will gain the support of other disciplines by reinforcing their efforts. Together they can work to decrease the problems that are inherent with drug therapy. These goals can be accomplished with minimal expense and have the potential to produce significant savings in healthcare costs.  (+info)

Generic drug product equivalence: current status. (4/75)

This activity is designed for healthcare professionals involved in the selection of multisource drug products. GOAL: To understand the basis for approval of generic drug products by the Food and Drug Administration. OBJECTIVES: 1. Identify the criteria employed by the Food and Drug Administration to approve generic drug products. 2. Discuss controversial issues that have been raised relative to generic drug products. 3. Identify narrow therapeutic index drugs. 4. Describe the different types of bioequivalence studies that are required by the Food and Drug Administration. 5. Discuss the responsibilities underlying the selection of multisource drug products by healthcare professionals.  (+info)

Determining whether managed care formularies meet the needs of pediatric patients. (5/75)

This activity is designed for healthcare providers making formulary decisions for managed care organizations. GOAL: To help clinicians determine whether managed care formularies meet the needs of pediatric patients. OBJECTIVES: 1. List general considerations for establishing a pediatric drug formulary. 2. Understand the importance of growth and development when selecting drug therapy for pediatric patients. 3. Discuss potential difficulties with administering medications during school hours. 4. Identify specific medications within the drug classes of antibiotics, asthma medications, endocrine, and gastrointestinal agents that should be available on a pediatric drug formulary.  (+info)

Development and evaluation of a pharmacist-directed pharmacotherapy center. (6/75)

This article is designed for ambulatory pharmacy specialists, pharmacy administrators, and managed care pharmacy and/or medical directors interested in developing systems for improved drug therapy outcomes. GOAL: To describe an alternative method for the effective delivery of pharmaceutical care. OBJECTIVES: 1. Identify the barriers to delivery of pharmaceutical care in current systems. 2. Describe the steps to take to implement a referral-based pharmaceutical care service. 3. Describe the financial and patient satisfaction outcomes of a referral-based pharmacy. 4. Describe the services that can be offered by a referral-based pharmacy.  (+info)

Methods of evaluation in outcomes research. (7/75)

This activity is designed for pharmacists, physicians, physician assistants, nurses, and other healthcare team members; payers for health services; and healthcare executives. GOAL: To provide basic information on the methods used and computer software available for evaluating invariant factorial structures, such as those found in health status measurement tools. OBJECTIVES: 1. Discuss why comparison of mean scores may not be appropriate when interpreting humanistic outcomes results. 2. Identify alternative methods for evaluating data from health status measurement tools, such as the SF-36. 3. Define validity, reliability, and structure. 4. Understand the value of structural equation modeling when using health status measurement tools, such as the SF-36. 5. Describe the statistical software used to perform structural equation modeling.  (+info)

Pharmacist compensation for ambulatory patient care services. (8/75)

This activity is designed for pharmacists practicing in ambulatory, community, and managed care environments. GOAL: To discuss issues involved in the transition from product-based to patient-care-based reimbursement and compensation systems for pharmacists. OBJECTIVES: 1. Differentiate between reimbursement and compensation. 2. Describe the limitations of current third-party reimbursement and compensation systems. 3. Describe ways in which compensation for seemingly identical products and services can vary. 4. Discuss the use of Medicare's Resource-Based Value Scale and the relative value unit. 5. Define and differentiate between ICD-9-CM codes and E/M CPT codes. 6. List the three key components needed to determine an E/M CPT code for a new patient seen in the pharmacy. 7. Describe and provide examples of the SOAP method of documentation. 8. Understand why the referral process is an important step in the compensation process. 9. Discuss the importance of Form HCFA-1500 and other documentation in the compensation process.  (+info)