APRIL 2024

Updates You Don't Want Your Team to Miss

Be Ready for Questions About Spring COVID-19 Boosters

The CDC now recommends that patients age 65 or older who already received a 2023-2024 COVID-19 vaccine should get an additional dose. These evolving recommendations will generate questions for clinicians and patients. Our Letter articles unpack the basis for CDC’s new recommendation in older adults and includes patient education points about the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination. We also provide practical pearls, such as ensuring that it has been at least four months since a prior COVID-19 vaccination. Additionally, we clarify the recommended approach for adults under age 65, and our resource, COVID-19 Vaccines, provides a comparison of products, doses, storage, and more.

Read More: Pharmacist’s Letter; Hospital Pharmacist’s Letter; Pharmacy Technician’s Letter; Hospital Pharmacy Technician’s Letter; Prescriber Insights: APRN; Prescriber Insights: MD; Prescriber Insights: PA

Community Topic: Weigh Med Options for Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Generalized anxiety disorder is one of the more commonly encountered mental health conditions in primary care, but it’s often under-recognized and under treated. Our Letter articles review a stepwise approach to management of generalized anxiety disorder, including first-line medications as well as add-on or alternative options. In addition, we identify natural therapies that may be considered and review medications that may exacerbate anxiety. Our resource, Pharmacotherapy of Anxiety, provides guidance about management of other anxiety disorders, such as panic disorder or social anxiety disorder.

Read More: Pharmacist’s Letter; Pharmacist’s Letter Canada; Pharmacy Technician’s Letter; Pharmacy Technician’s Letter Canada; Hospital Pharmacy Technician’s Letter, Prescriber Insights: APRN; Prescriber Insights: MD; Prescriber Insights: PA

Hospital Pharmacy: Stop Tranexamic Acid Errors in Their Tracks

Deadly errors occur can when tranexamic acid is mistakenly given intrathecally instead of a local anesthetic, such as bupivacaine. Our Letter articles highlight ISMP’s new targeted best practice to prevent wrong-route errors with tranexamic acid and reasons why these errors are occurring. We provide practical solutions including storage and labeling guidance to protect patients from harm.

Read More: Hospital Pharmacist’s Letter; Hospital Pharmacy Technician’s Letter

NatMed Update

What’s New with Creatine?

With warmer temperatures and summer approaching workout regimens are amping up. Creatine is one of the top selling supplements on Amazon. In our NatMed article, we review the evidence and discuss our latest creatine update. We found that the most supportive evidence on its use is for athletic performance and muscle strength. We discuss the benefits with different sports and also advise providers on preferred types and dosages.

What’s New with Creatine?

With warmer temperatures and summer approaching workout regimens are amping up. Creatine is one of the top selling supplements on Amazon. In our NatMed article, we review the evidence and discuss our latest creatine update. We found that the most supportive evidence on its use is for athletic performance and muscle strength. We discuss the benefits with different sports and also advise providers on preferred types and dosages.

Pharmacy Law & Regulatory Update

New Pharmacy Bills: Stay in Compliance with Bula

Last month, Bula added over 111 bills affecting the practice of pharmacy, with significant numbers originating from states such as Illinois, Minnesota, Louisiana, and Missouri. Bula diligently monitors the evolving landscape of pharmacy laws, complex regulations, and sub-regulations within its platform, all crucial to the industry, including pharmacy bills and proposed rules. 

Here’s a sample section of a bill currently being tracked within the Bula platform for the state of Illinois. Each bill includes a simple summary, a clear view of the events taking place, versions, laws impacted, and links to potentially impacted FAQs.

Screenshot 2024-04-17 105937

How You Can Monitor Reports in the Bills and Proposed Rules Database:

  • Search legislative and regulatory updates in all of your jurisdictions.
  • Customize a search query specific to your needs.
  • Search by keyword, jurisdiction, law type, timeframe, or topics.
  • Schedule this report to be sent to you on your desired schedule.
  • Download the report as an Excel Workbook file.
  • Create as many search queries, reports, and alerts as you wish. 

Learn how Bula can streamline your pharmacy compliance efforts. 


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Product Spotlight

The CE/CME & Training Organizer is Now Available for Your Prescribers

We now offer complimentary access to the CE/CME & Training Organizer to our physician, APRN, RN, and PA group subscribers. When you make a group purchase for Prescriber Insights, your physicians, PAs, and APRNs stay up to date on new drug therapy changes and medication recommendations with advice on how to apply new changes into their practice. And when you add NetCE All Access, your physicians, PAs, APRNs, and RNs get everything that’s needed to conveniently meet state licensing and/or certification requirements in a reliable way.  

Prescriber Insights + NetCE All Access includes:

  • 1,700+ CE/CME Hours for APRNs and RNs
  • 1,000+ CE/CME Hours for Physicians and PAs
  • Complete Coverage of HIPPA, OSHA, & MATE Training
  • Live CE/CME & State Mandates on One Platform
  • Learning Management Portal

And now that we’re including the CE/CME organizer, you can give your clinical staff hours back by eliminating the need for tedious tracking and reporting – allowing them time to confidently focus on patient care with the peace of mind knowing their CE/CME requirements are taken care of.

Support your physicians, APRNs, RNs, and PAs with our streamlined solution for all of their CE/CME and training needs. 

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Is Your Pharmacy Experiencing a Pharmacy Technician Shortage?

One of the most effective ways to help recruit and retain pharmacy technicians is to have training programs that foster career development opportunities. PTU Elite provides a robust suite of advanced training programs that allows pharmacies to expand the role of their technicians while also offering them career advancement support. Programs include:

Support your pharmacy technicians at every stage of their career with PTU Elite.

Virtual Trainings You Don't Want to Miss

Ensure Your Pharmacy Staff is Keeping Up with Required USP Compounding Education

CriticalPoint offers affordable group options for virtual training classes that are focused on sterile and non-sterile compounding, handling hazardous drugs, designated person best practices, and inspector training. Offered monthly, our flexible schedule allows your staff to pick the date that works best for their schedule.  

Check Out Our Upcoming Virtual Training Classes: 

Best Practices for Environmental Monitoring

Participants can earn up to 17.5 hours of ACPE-accredited CE, composed of 3 hours of live credit, 8.5 hours of on-demand webinars, and 6 hours of interactive CE. 

Best Practices for Handling Hazardous Drugs

Participants can earn up to 13 hours of ACPE-accredited CE, including 2 live credits, 6 hours of on-demand webinars, and 5 hours of interactive CE. 

Best Practices for Nonhazardous Sterile Compounding

Participants can earn up to 24.75 hours of ACPE-accredited CE, composed of 3 live credits, 13.75 hours of on-demand webinars, and 8 hours of interactive CE.

Best Practices for Sterile and Hazardous Drugs Compounding

Participants can earn up to 37.75 hours of ACPE-accredited CE, composed of 5 live credits, 19.75 hours of on-demand webinars, and 13 hours of interactive CE.

Designated Person Administrative Best Practices

Participants can earn up to 26.5 hours of ACPE-accredited CE, composed of 9.5 live credit, 8 hours of on-demand webinars, and 9 hours of interactive CE.

Nonhazardous Sterile Compounding and Designated Person Administrative Best Practices

Participants can earn up to 48.25 hours of ACPE-accredited CE, composed of 9.5 live credit, 21.75 hours of on-demand webinars, and 17 hours of interactive CE.

Sterile Compounding Inspector Certification

Participants can earn certification by completing 58 hours of ACPE-accredited CE, composed of 5 live credits, 20 hours of on-demand webinars, and 33 hours of interactive CE.

Sterile Compounding Inspector Refresher Training

Participants can earn up to 23 hours of ACPE-accredited CE, composed of 5 live credits, 3 hours of on-demand webinars, and 15 hours of interactive CE. 

Enhance your pharmacy team's skills for USP compliance and patient safety today.

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Clinical Resources

Medication Talk, Pharmacy Podcast

As a Pharmacist’s Letter subscriber, you and your staff can get CE credit for listening to our podcasts.  

Check out this month’s podcast, Diabetes Treatment Updates, and listen in as our expert panel discusses management of type 2 diabetes, including overcoming hurdles with metformin, GLP-1 agonists, and SGLT2 inhibitors.   

keyboard, coffee, and phone with podcast displayed on screen

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