Patient Care Services | Practice Issues | Patient Safety | Public Health | Quality Initiatives

Patient Care Services - Disease State Management
 

APhA and the APhA Foundation are partnering with the American Diabetes Association to help you educate your patients about diabetes.

• Diabetes Risk Test (also available in Spanish) - Do you think your patient is at risk for diabetes?
• Living with Type 2 Diabetes Program - A 12-month program consisting of diet, exercise, and community tools to help patients manage their diabetes. Also available in Spanish.
• View additional resources for health care professionals from our partners at the American Diabetes Association.

Patient Education Brochures
Brochures and information targeted for educating patients about their medications and the role of the pharmacist

The National Council for Patient Information and Education
One of the original patient safety coalitions, NCPIE has been working to advance the safe, appropriate use of medicines through enhanced communication since 1982.

Medication Use Safety Training (MUST) for Seniors™ Program
A national education awareness campaign for older adults and caregivers

Practice Issues
 

Documents on Professionalism

Code of Ethics
Oath of the Pharmacist

Practice Guidance Documents

Principles of Practice for Pharmaceutical Care
Pharmacy Practice Activity Classification (pdf)
Pharmacy Profession Consensus Definition of Medication Therapy Management (pdf)
Core Elements of an MTM Service (pdf)
Medication Therapy Management Services: A Critical Review (Executive Summary Report from The Lewin Group) (pdf)
 

Improving the quality of your practice environment is a top priority for APhA. Members have told us that administrative third party payment burdens, additional training, more and new technology, better equipped pharmacy technicians, and additional manpower are some of the biggest challenges faced in practice. Areas of this section provide information that may assist you as you look for ways to solve these challenges in your practice.

Pharmacist Workforce Center
The Pharmacy Manpower Project sponsors the National Demand Index, a monthly report on the state-by-state demand for pharmacists.

Stepping Stone Summits: Pharmacy Technicians (pdf)
In 1992, APhA in collaboration with several other pharmacy organizations, hosted a “Stepping Stones” conference that brought together pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and technician educators to develop recommendations on how best to utilize, train, educate, and regulate the pharmacy technicians who play a vital role in the practice of pharmacy.

Patient Safety

Pharmacists have a very important role in the prevention of medication errors, from developing safe medication distribution systems to working with patients to assure optimal medication use.
 

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality offers a series of three public service announcements to encourage health care consumers to get safer care by using pill cards to track medications, understanding discharge instructions, and inviting patient advocates to appointments.

Watch a video PSA:  Keep Track of Your Medicines | Tips for Going Home from the Hospital | Bring a Health Advocate to Appointments
 

The Institute of Medicine has published several landmark reports on Patient Safety:

• Institute of Medicine (IOM) Report: Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century
• IOM Report: To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System
• APhA supports pharmacists' role - comments to IOM Med Errors Committee (pdf): APhA's Comment Letter to the IOM Committee supporting the pharmacist's role in preventing medication errors.
   

• National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention (NCC-MERP)
  APhA is a member of the National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention (NCC-MERP), a coalition dedicated to addressing the interdisciplinary causes of errors and to promote the safe use of medications. NCC MERP has published a taxonomy for classifying medication errors and recommendations for preventing errors.

• Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) - The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) publishes a variety of resources to promote medication safety
   
•  Medication Safety Self-Assessment for Community/Ambulatory Pharmacy - assess medication safety practices in your pharmacy.
   
• National Council on Patient Information and Education (NCPIE)
  NCPIE is a coalition of over 125 diverse organizations of which APhA is a member. NCPIE’s mission is to stimulate and improve communication of information on appropriate medicine use to consumers and healthcare professionals.
   

Medication errors can be reported in a voluntary, anonymous format to either of the following organizations

• ISMP Medication Errors Reporting Program: 1-800-233-7767
   
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration's MedWatch Reporting Program: 1-800-FDA-1088

• FDA's monthly video news, Patient Safety News
   

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Public Health

Pharmacy professionals have a valuable role in the nation's public health, as one of the most accessible health care providers. This section focuses on important public health-related topics.
 

Significant problems can occur when patients are unable to read and/or understand important information about taking medications properly. Assessing a patient's literacy level is an important component in providing medication therapy management services. APhA is a member of the Partnership for Clear Health Communication, a coalition that has developed resources for health care providers and patients to address health literacy issues.
 

• Pharmacist Immunization Center - Pharmacists in all 50 states are authorized to administer immunizations under collaborative practice agreements with physicians. Pharmacists in all practice settings also play an important role in educating patients about immunizations. APhA’s Pharmacist Immunization Center contains valuable, up-to-date information about providing immunization services. Visit the Center to learn more about how APhA is positioning pharmacists to excel as immunizers.
   

APhA Pharmacy Recovery Program APhA's Pharmacy Recovery Program, established in 1982, fosters the development and strengthening of state and campus level programs to assist pharmacists and student pharmacists whose competence has been compromised by the disease of chemical dependency or by other causes.

• Pharmacist Recovery Network "Pharmacists Helping Pharmacists"
   

• Coalition for Safe Community Needle Disposal - The Safe Community Needle Disposal Coalition contains information on proper needle disposal. Improper disposal of used syringes and needles in the trash presents a public health hazard to workers in the waste removal and hotel industries and individuals who may be inadvertently exposed to a used needle.

Quality Initiatives

Delivering high quality medication therapy management and distributive services is important for achieving optimal medication therapy outcomes. Outcomes measures to measure pharmacist and pharmacy performance are emerging in tandem with measures for other health care providers for the care they deliver.

• Pharmacy Quality Alliance (PQA)
  PQA was created in April 2006 to develop strategies for measuring performance at the pharmacy and pharmacist-level in order to improve patient outcomes. APhA is a Steering Committee member of PQA and contributes to PQA’s work through member representation on PQA Workgroups. View PQA-Endorsed Measures.
   
• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
  AHRQ provides tools and resources to improve healthcare quality.
   
• National Quality Forum
  The National Quality Forum endorses outcomes measures, including pharmacy-related measures.