APRIL 2023
Answer FAQs About Insulin for Type 2 Diabetes
Pain Point: Insulin is in the spotlight due to manufacturers, insurers, and states announcing co-pay caps and lower prices. These changes will lead to questions about how to use insulin for patients with type 2 diabetes.
Solution: Our Pharmacist's Letter, Pharmacist’s Letter Canada, Hospital Pharmacist’s Letter, and Prescriber’s Letter articles answer frequently asked questions about insulin, such as when insulin should be started and how to initiate and titrate doses. We provide recommendations on how other diabetes medications should be adjusted when insulin is added and discuss the risks and benefits of using certain diabetes medications together. Our Diabetes Resource Hub includes guidance on switching insulins and monitoring effectiveness. And our resource, Tips to Improve Insulin Safety, outlines strategies to prevent errors.
Community Pharmacy: Help Ensure Ear Meds Aren’t Put in the Eyes
Pain Point: There are recent reports of ear drops being accidentally instilled into the eyes, leading to severe burning, swelling, and eye pain after use. Mix-ups aren’t surprising, since many ear and eye medications have similar-looking names and packaging.
Solution: Our Pharmacist’s Letter, Pharmacy Technician’s Letter, Pharmacist’s Letter Canada, Pharmacy Technician’s Letter Canada, and Hospital Pharmacy Technician’s Letter articles highlight strategies to decrease the risk of errors, including how to store ear or eye medications in the pharmacy along with what to watch for during Rx order-entry, filling, and patient pickup. We provide guidance that readers can share with patients about storing these medications at home as well as what steps to take if ear medications are accidentally put in the eyes. Our resource, The Ins and Outs of Eye and Ear Meds, outlines additional ways to keep patients safe.
Hospital Pharmacy: Reduce Med Errors at Care Transitions
Pain Point: Most patients have at least one medication error at care transitions. Patient safety at these points can depend on the effort of the healthcare team, which includes pharmacy technicians in several ways.
Solution: Our Hospital Pharmacy Technician’s Letter article provides a range of practical tips for reducing the risk of medication errors at care transitions. These can be useful for medical history teams, technicians who work with meds-to-beds programs, technicians who deliver medications to patients, technicians who field phone calls, etc. We touch on common errors that tend to happen at admission or at discharge. Readers can use our resources, Mastering Medication Lists and Histories and Transitions of Care Checklist, to find additional ways to limit medication errors and ensure patients are getting their intended regimen.
Pain Point: Bruce Willis’ recent diagnosis is generating some buzz about whether any supplements can help treat or prevent dementia.
Solution: Our Natural Medicines article provides a quick review of some of the most commonly asked about natural medicines used for dementia. We provide information on ginkgo and its use in dementia. And we advise patients to be mindful that ginkgo products are often adulterated with cheaper ingredients like rutin and quercetin, which don’t offer the same benefits as ginkgo. Prevagen, a commonly used supplement, is also covered.
Pain Point: Bruce Willis’ recent diagnosis is generating some buzz about whether any supplements can help treat or prevent dementia.
Solution: Our Natural Medicines article provides a quick review of some of the most commonly asked about natural medicines used for dementia. We provide information on ginkgo and its use in dementia. And we advise patients to be mindful that ginkgo products are often adulterated with cheaper ingredients like rutin and quercetin, which don’t offer the same benefits as ginkgo. Prevagen, a commonly used supplement, is also covered.
As required by accrediting bodies like The Joint Commission, pharmacies need to ensure that staff pharmacists stay competent in key clinical areas. RxAdvanced provides training content and assessment quizzes that offer CE credit to help your pharmacists deepen their knowledge while allowing them to apply the latest research, guidelines, and standards to their practice.
RxAdvanced Centralizes Competency Assessment Online
With RxAdvanced, administrators can assign a specific CE program to their pharmacists and get all the courses, quizzes, clinical resources, and reporting tools they need to ensure competency.
RxAdvanced includes access to the following programs via the CE/CME & Training Organizer:
Developed by board-certified clinical pharmacists, RxAdvanced is a training program that helps your pharmacists deepen their knowledge. With RxAdvanced, pharmacists are empowered to take the lead in applying the latest research, guidelines, and standards to their practice through concise, affordable, high-quality CE programs.
Don't forget to ask about our group discount!
Anticoagulation Management
Promotes safe, evidence-based anticoagulation management for your pharmacists to meet national standards, including The Joint Commission for acute care settings.
Antimicrobial Stewardship
Helps your pharmacists take the lead in preventing and treating infections to meet national standards, including The Joint Commission for acute care settings.
Opioid Stewardship
Provides a framework for your pharmacists to promote practical applications of pain management standards and meet The Joint Commission requirements in acute care settings.
Sterile Compounding
Ensures your pharmacists stay competent and practice safely to meet USP <797> requirements and processes to maintain sterility when compounding.
Hazardous Drugs
Helps your pharmacists stay competent and practice safely by handling drugs in ways that minimize exposure and ensure safety to meet USP <800> requirements.
Leadership & Communication
Reinforces the soft skills that matter most for smooth operation of the pharmacy, especially as pharmacists interact with other members of the healthcare team and patients.
Guide to Natural Medicines
Helps pharmacists make the best recommendations for safe, effective use of natural medicines and supplements for common conditions.
Guide to Cannabis
Outlines data and efficacy study results to help pharmacists provide evidence-based guidance to patients and colleagues.
Have you listened to our podcast, Medication Talk? In this podcast series, we discuss current topics impacting medication therapy and patient care.
Earn CE credit through Pharmacist’s Letter. Log in to your Pharmacist’s Letter account and look for the title of this podcast in the list of available CE courses.
Recent podcasts include:
Hot Topic Webinar: Non-Statins for LDL Lowering
This month’s Hot Topic on-demand webinar features an expert panel discussion and clinical guidance on non-statins for LDL lowering. Listen as Steven E. Nissen, MD, MACC, Chief Academic Officer, Heart and Vascular Institute, Cleveland Clinic, and other panelists discuss and answer common clinical questions. Watch the webinar.
Explore CriticalPoint's Virtual Training 2023 Schedule
Build competence and in-demand compounding skills with CriticalPoint's upcoming 2023 virtual trainings. Learn more and view the training schedule here.
Recent Trends in Pharmacy Law
This month, we are highlighting two top-trending topics in pharmacy law that were identified by our policy analysts. “Gender-affirming care for minors” and “HIV prophylaxis prescribing/dispensing by pharmacists” both appeared at the top of legislative search inquiries.
Bula subscribers can easily find answers to questions by accessing our legal database for a full list of the state-specific laws and regulations that cover these topics and many more. Our policy analysts track state and federal laws, bills, regulations, and policies, and notify clients with actionable intelligence of any changes that could potentially impact them.
Keep up with the latest legislative and regulatory information in an accurate, timely, and meaningful manner with Bula.