Expert Insights from Medi-Span

As news about COVID-19 changes every day and the world awaits the distant promise of a vaccine, healthcare workers are now focused on the daily realities of treating the disease. This is, like everything else about the pandemic, an informational moving target. Every day there are new ideas, new evidence, old possibilities are disproved, and clinicians and researchers in trenches share the benefit of their experiences.

The recently held National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) Annual Meeting provided an upbeat picture of community pharmacies trying to meet continuing pricing pressures by focusing on value-based services.

Developments in healthcare technology and informatics have played an important role in the advancement of the field of pharmacy and the role of pharmacists.

Results released last month from the 2019 J.D. Power U.S. Pharmacy Satisfaction Study showed that patients enjoy visiting brick-and-mortar pharmacies and find a great deal of satisfaction from talking with their pharmacist. More specifically, nearly 90% of patients surveyed in the annual report said they communicate with the pharmacist and staff in-person.

The recently held National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) Annual Meeting provided an upbeat picture of community pharmacies trying to meet continuing pricing pressures by focusing on value-based services.

There have been millions invested in healthcare technology over the past 10 years focused primarily on improving the administrative efficiency of our healthcare system and providing greater access...

Even in the midst of healthcare’s single-minded focus on coping with the COVID-19 pandemic, pharmacies have continued to make progress toward full USP 800 compliance. That’s impressive, but now is the time to push through.

By many accounts, 2020 was the worst year yet of the opioid epidemic. The need for opioid stewardship is more important than ever.

This time last year, the compounding community was focused on pharmacy remodels or construction projects and journeying ahead towards USP compliance with the new chapters.

Long before the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. healthcare system has battled sepsis, with more than 1.7 million people in the U.S. developing it each year. As the number of cases of COVID-19 continues to rise in the US, healthcare facilities are being challenged to meet the surge in demand. By October 2020, COVID-19 had become the third leading cause of death for persons aged 45-84.

Expert epidemiologists and pharmacists discuss the current approved COVID-19 vaccines – how they were developed, tested, and recommendations on how to get vaccinated.

“This conversation reminded me that what we do impacts real lives,” said Nancy McKinstry, CEO Wolters Kluwer, as she participated in an all employee live meeting with Prof. Dr. Gertjan Kaspers, Pediatric Oncologist and Director of the Academy & Outreach of the Princess Máxima Center, Europe’s largest childhood cancer institute, and Dr. Peter Bonis, Chief Medical Officer for Clinical Effectiveness, Wolters Kluwer Health.

While the patient experience is important on all hospital units, the emergency department presents a unique challenge to achieving satisfaction goals.

A flood of research and unparalleled urgency have necessitated a best-evidence-of-the-moment approach, one where providers have direct access to emerging information distilled at head-spinning speeds to support clinical decision making. Speed balanced with rigorous expert validation and transparency will provide clinicians with accurate, actionable data.