American journal of health-system pharmacy : AJHP : official journal of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists
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Am J Health Syst Pharm · Mar 2021
Increasing rural patient access using clinical pharmacy specialist providers: Successful practice integration within the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Access to care is a critical issue facing healthcare and affects patients living in rural and underserved areas more significantly. This led the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to launch a project that leveraged the expertise of the clinical pharmacy specialist (CPS) provider, embedding 180 CPS providers into primary care, mental health, and pain management across the nation. ⋯ VA funding of rural health initiatives adding CPS providers to primary care, mental health, and pain teams has resulted in positive measures of comprehensive medication management, interdisciplinary team satisfaction, facility leadership acceptance, and multiple positive outcomes.
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Am J Health Syst Pharm · Mar 2021
Advancing ambulatory pharmacy practice through a crisis: Objectives and strategies used in an ambulatory care action team's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The objectives and strategies used by an ambulatory care action team operating within a large health system's pharmacy incident command structure during the initial response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic are discussed. ⋯ Building a strong communication infrastructure and a pharmacy ambulatory action team were essential to respond to a crisis and continue ambulatory clinical pharmacy services expansion.
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Am J Health Syst Pharm · Mar 2021
Leveraging pharmacists to maintain and extend buprenorphine supply for opioid use disorder amid COVID-19 pandemic.
Strategies for deploying clinical pharmacists to increase access to buprenorphine in inpatient, outpatient and transitional care, and community practice settings are described. ⋯ Leveraging pharmacists to extend access to MOUD, particularly buprenorphine, remains an underutilized strategy that should be implemented, particularly during the concurrent COVID-19 global pandemic.