• Pain Point: There will be more focus on appropriate medication use in adults over 65 with the Beers Criteria update from the American Geriatrics Society. Medications on the “Beers List” are potentially risky or associated with poor outcomes in older adults and are often the target of payer alerts or quality measures.
• Solution Our Pharmacist’s Letter, Hospital Pharmacist’s Letter, Pharmacist’s Letter Canada, Prescriber’s Letter, Pharmacy Technician’s Letter, and Pharmacy Technician’s Letter Canada articles highlight the latest changes to the Beers Criteria, including medications that should usually be avoided or used with caution in older patients as well as drug interactions that may require closer monitoring or a medication change in this particular patient population. We discuss strategies to individualize care based on shared decision-making, as these guidelines serve as a “yellow warning light” to use caution with some medications, NOT a “red stop light” to always avoid them. Our resource, Potentially Harmful Drugs: Beers List, goes beyond the Beers Criteria with considerations to help weigh medication risks and benefits including suggested therapeutic alternatives. 

• Pain Point: A recent FDA warning will highlight misuse, addiction, and other risks of stimulants and caution against sharing these prescriptions. Up to 80% of people who misuse stimulants get the medications from family or friends, and up to 20% of patients misuse their own prescription.
• Solution: Our Pharmacist’s Letter, Pharmacist’s Letter Canada, Prescriber’s Letter, Pharmacy Technician’s Letter, Hospital Pharmacy Technician’s Letter, and Pharmacy Technician’s Letter Canada articles provide approaches to support the safe use of stimulants. We discuss which products may have lower misuse potential than others, what options are preferred in patients at high risk for misuse, and what red flags may suggest a problem. We provide answers to other big questions about stimulants, such as whether higher than maximum labeled doses are ever okay and what duration of therapy is appropriate. Our resource, Comparison of ADHD Meds, will help guide switches between products, especially with ongoing shortages.

• Pain Point: Patients taking transplant medications are at high risk of medication errors. Transitioning in and out of the hospital adds more opportunities for error, especially when patients are admitted to a non-transplant hospital due to less familiarity with these medications.
• Solution: Our Hospital Pharmacist's Letter article helps guide hospital pharmacists who may care for a patient admitted on common transplant medications, such as tacrolimus or mycophenolate. We highlight common pitfalls and add practical tips, including for changing dosage forms, converting doses, and preventing drug interactions. Our resource, Transplant Medication Transitions of Care Checklist, provides and in-depth list to guide clinicians.

• Pain Point: More patients are requesting their prescriptions to be mailed or delivered. Shipping or delivering medications may help improve convenience, access, and adherence, but it comes with its own set of potential mishaps.
• Solution: Our Pharmacy Technician’s Letter and Pharmacy Technician’s Letter Canada articles give practical tips for how your pharmacy technicians can ensure prescriptions arrive correctly and on time. We pinpoint key areas in which errors often occur while shipping or delivering prescriptions and provide solutions your technicians can use to minimize these mix-ups. For instance, we discuss what information to confirm prior to sending, how to prevent wrong-patient errors, and how to maintain the cold chain if delivering refrigerated meds. Pharmacy technicians can unpack our resource, Delivering and Mailing Prescriptions, for advice on workflow, regulatory considerations, and more. 

This month’s Hot Topic on-demand webinar features an expert panel discussion and clinical guidance on CV risks with testosterone replacement therapy. Listen in as speakers, Steven E. Nissen, MD, MACC, Chief Academic Officer, Heart and Vascular Institute, Lewis and Patricia Dickey Chair in Cardiovascular Medicine, Professor of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Lerner School of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, and other panelists discuss and answer common clinical questions. Watch the webinar.