scholarly journals Community pharmacy–based H. pylori screening for patients with uninvestigated dyspepsia

2020 ◽  
Vol 153 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Papastergiou ◽  
Michelle Donnelly ◽  
Terence Yuen ◽  
Wilson Li ◽  
Bart van den Bemt

Background: Helicobacter pylori is identified by the World Health Organization as a major risk factor of gastritis, peptic ulcer disease and gastric carcinomas. As point-of-care screening technology becomes more widely available, pharmacists are ideally suited to use this tool to screen patients with H. pylori infection. Purpose: The objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of implementing point-of-care screening technology for H. pylori into community pharmacy practice and to assess the number of patients who are positively identified as a result of testing. Methods: Three pharmacies in Toronto, Ontario, offered H. pylori screening as part of their clinical programs. Pharmacists enrolled patients with symptoms of dyspepsia and/or receiving acid suppressant therapy for >6 weeks. Decision to screen was based on the Canadian Helicobacter Study Group Consensus (CHSG). Patients were screened using the Rapid Response H. pylori test. Results: Seventy-one patients were recruited, with a mean age of 46.3 years. Patients were ethnically diverse, with a significant proportion (59.2%) identified as being born outside of North America, including Asia (26.8%), Africa (9.9%), the Middle East (7%), Europe (9.9%) and South and Central America (5.6%). Overall, the detection rate of H. pylori infection was 21%. North Americans had the lowest incidence of an undiagnosed H. pylori infection (6.9%). Europeans (28.6%), Middle Easterners (20%) and Asians (21.1%) had a moderate incidence, followed by the highest prevalence in those of African descent (71.4%). Conclusion: These results highlight the readiness of community pharmacists to adopt H. pylori screening into practice and to leverage this novel technology to positively identify and treat undiagnosed H. pylori infection. Can Pharm J (Ott) 2020;153:xx-xx.

2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 629-635 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily A. Steltenpohl ◽  
Brandon K. Barry ◽  
Kim C. Coley ◽  
Melissa S. McGivney ◽  
Julie L. Olenak ◽  
...  

Background Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA)-waived tests allow for quick, accurate, and noninvasive laboratory testing. Community pharmacists utilize CLIA-waived tests to provide clinical services such as point-of-care (POC) testing to help manage chronic disease and acute illness. Objective To identify key themes in the successful delivery of POC testing services by community pharmacists in Pennsylvania. Results An initial search identified 51 Pennsylvania pharmacies with a CLIA waiver. Of these, five independent pharmacies met inclusion criteria, three of which completed interviews. The remaining 38 chain pharmacies were represented by three interviews. In total, five key themes were identified as essential to POC testing services: (1) utilize state resources and professional connections to navigate federal and state regulations, (2) establish relationships with physician partners (3) offer tests that are meaningful to patients and their physicians, (4) evaluate financial impact, workflow adaptations, and marketing approaches when implementing POC testing services, and (5) focus on individualized attention and convenience of community pharmacy-based POC testing to improve patient satisfaction. Conclusion Successful POC testing services in community pharmacy practice rely on utilizing resources, partnering with known physicians, selecting meaningful tests for patients, and analyzing finances, workflow, and marketing to provide individualized attention and convenient care.


2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 356-359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald G. Klepser ◽  
Michael E. Klepser ◽  
Jaclyn K. Smith ◽  
Allison M. Dering-Anderson ◽  
Maggie Nelson ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Nazri Nordin ◽  
Mohamed Azmi Ahmad Hassali, ◽  
Azmi Sarriff

  Objective: The aims of this review were to observe extended services performed in the community pharmacy settings, perceptions among community pharmacists (CPs), general practitioners (GPs), and customers of these extended services and barriers toward its performance.Methods: A literature search was conducted, using Google Scholar as database, searching for full access texts. The inclusive texts fulfilled the inclusion criteria.Results: A total of 22 texts had been systematically reviewed, noting a wide range of extended services performed in community pharmacy settings. Medication counseling or review and promoting health educations were noted as the most extended services performed. It is also noted that CPs indicated that these extended services could establish working relationship with other health-care professionals. However, it is noted that among the barriers toward extended services were lack of knowledge, skills, and time to perform.Conclusion: As a conclusion, the community pharmacy practice is evolving, transforming into more patient-oriented even though there are some negative perceptions among the customers and GPs toward these extended services. Barriers to the performance of these extended services should be intervened.  


2017 ◽  
Vol 51 (12) ◽  
pp. 1069-1076 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark A. Munger ◽  
Michael Walsh ◽  
Jon Godin ◽  
Michael Feehan

Background: The US population continues to expand providing the need for primary health care services. Community pharmacies integrated with medicine may provide greater access while providing high quality care. Objective: To gauge pharmacists’ demand for primary health care services delivered through community pharmacies. Methods: An online survey was administered to determine community pharmacists’ preferences for varying primary care services that could be offered in the community pharmacy setting. A Discrete Choice Experiment was employed to show pharmacists competing scenarios with varied primary care service offerings in the community pharmacy setting. Attributes evaluated were operation hours, service provider, medical records, service logistics, physical examinations, point-of-care diagnostic testing, preventative care, and drug prescribing. Respondents chose the scenario most likely to induce switching employment from base pharmacy to one providing advanced services. Results: The optimal service delivery model from 291 community pharmacists comprised: inclusion of patient prescriptions and health information into the patient’s medical record; provision of point of care testing and vital sign, including blood pressure, heart rate and breathing rate, and blood sugar and cholesterol measurement; and pharmacists prescribing (under physician oversight). Pharmacists were 4 times more likely to switch employment from their current pharmacy to their choice for advanced pharmacy services. Pharmacist demand was highest among those with a PharmD, less experience, working >40 hours per week, and in rural areas. Conclusions: This study provides empirical support for the model of pharmacists playing a greater role in the provision of primary care health services through community pharmacy settings.


Author(s):  
Doaa Saleh ◽  
Rana Abu Farha ◽  
Tareq Mukattash ◽  
Muna Barakat ◽  
Eman Alefishat

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization issued a practical approach and Global Action Plan to control the threatening emerging antibacterial resistance. One of the main basis of this plan is the Antimicrobial Stewardship Program (ASPs). This study aimed to evaluate community pharmacists’ awareness and perception towards antimicrobial resistance and ASPs in Jordan. Thus, a qualitative study was conducted through in-depth interviews with twenty community pharmacists. Convienience sampling was used in the study. Qualitative analysis of the data yielded four themes and eleven sub-themes. All the respondents showed good understanding about the causes of antimicrobial resistance. The most important causes reported by them was the non-restricted prescription of antimicrobials. Most of the pharmacists believed that they are competent to provide ASPs, however, they believed that there are several barriers against the implementation of ASPs in community pharmacies in Jordan. Barriers demonstrated by the pharmacists, including organizational obstacles, resources obstacles, and personal obstacles. As a conclusion, this study revealed several barriers against the implementation of ASPs in community pharmacies in Jordan. Incorporating ASPs in the community pharmacy settings requires proper pharmacist training, several academic disciplines team efforts, and good pharmacy practice of antimicrobial guidelines.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ausama Jaccob ◽  
Sheima Kadhim ◽  
Amal Hassan ◽  
Ali Mohsin ◽  
Salah Muslim

Background: With the recent widespread use of over- the- counter drugs, there has been a noticeable increase in the occurrence of gastrointestinal discomfort and peptic ulcer disease. However, peptic ulcer is a highly complex disorder resulting from an imbalance between gstricdestructive and protective factors. Objectives: To identifyrisk factors of peptic ulcer disease. Methods: This study was organized at Al-Basra teaching hospital and Al Sader teaching hospital in Basrah city, Iraq. Medical records and questionnaires filled by patients undergoing diagnostic and therapeutic upper gastrointestinal endoscopies following their gastric discomfort complaints. Information related to patients, disease history and medication history during six months prior to endoscopy procedures was collected. Results: A total of 476 patients were identified, including 246 (51.7%) patients with endoscopically diagnosed peptic ulcers and 230 (48.3%) patients without peptic ulcers. The population was predominately male and there were significant differences between age groups.Smoking correlated with a high relative risk;however, alcohol drinking had no significant role as a causative factor. The most extensively used drugs by patients who complained of peptic ulcers are NSAIDs, iron supplements, corticosteroids, and antiplatelet agents. A small number of patients weretreated for hypertension and diabetes, which were correlated with peptic ulcer risks. The presence of H-pylori infections was significantly associated with peptic ulcer diagnosis. Conclusion: The risk of peptic ulcer disease appeared to increase with chronic medication use and smoking, which aggravatethe contributing risk by H-pylori infections.


1992 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 119-124
Author(s):  
Edward D. Sumner ◽  
Ronald P. Durand ◽  
Carol J. Lancaster ◽  
George E. Dickinson

Objective: To determine pharmacists' perceptions of the influence of older patients on community pharmacy practice. Data Sources: A mailing list obtained from the South Carolina Board of Pharmacy provided names of community pharmacists by practice setting and gender. Design: A questionnaire was mailed in July 1990 to a random sample of community pharmacists in South Carolina. The questionnaire contained 41 Likert-type opinion statements. Demographic questions relating to practice type and location, pharmacists' educational experiences, and position were included. Data Synthesis: The opinion statements were examined by grouping respondents on the basis of demographic information. Analysis of variance or Student's t-test was used to look for differences among survey responses among various groups of pharmacists. Scheffe's test was used to compare means when the groups were significantly different. The a priori level of significance was 0.05. Critical values were adjusted by the number of statements considered to preserve the error rate at five percent (Bonferroni procedure). Conclusions: The strongest indicator of the impact of the elderly population on community pharmacy is pharmacists' perceived need for more continuing education in geriatrics and gerontology. Economic problems, physician overprescribing, and patient compliance were ranked as the three most difficult aspects of geriatric pharmacy. This study reinforces the need to incorporate geriatric/gerontology education into every pharmacy curriculum.


2007 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 1039-1046 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Simon Bell ◽  
Minna Väänänen ◽  
Harri Ovaskainen ◽  
Ulla Närhi ◽  
Marja S Airaksinen

OBJECTIVE: To describe the provision of patient care in community pharmacies in Finland. FINDINGS: The network of 799 community pharmacies across Finland dispensed 42.1 million prescriptions in 2005. Medication counseling has been mandated by law since 1983 and only pharmacists are permitted to provide therapeutic advice in pharmacies. Measurable improvements in the rates of pharmacists' medication counseling have been observed since 2000. Long-term national pharmacy practice initiatives commenced with the World Health Organization EuroPharm Forum's Questions to Ask About Your Medicines campaign from 1993 to 1996. This was followed by the larger Customized Information for the Benefit of Community Pharmacy Patients project. Since the late 1990s, Finnish pharmacies have actively participated in ongoing national public health programs, initially in the areas of asthma and diabetes, and more recently in the treatment and prevention of heart disease. Automated dose dispensing and electronic prescribing are in the process of wider uptake and implementation. A nationwide multidisciplinary project to improve the use of drugs in older people has recently been announced and research in this area is underway. DISCUSSION: Research has focused on improving the quality of patient care as a strategic priority in community pharmacies. The development of community pharmacy services in Finland has been characterized by strong collaboration among the professional associations, university departments of social pharmacy, continuing education centers, and practicing pharmacists. CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of new patient care services has required long-term, systematic, and well coordinated actions at the local and national levels. Future services will seek to promote the quality use of medications and to ensure that rising costs do not limit uniform access to drugs by all Finnish residents.


Pharmacy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 114
Author(s):  
Alaa Burghle ◽  
Rikke Nørgaard Hansen ◽  
Lotte Stig Nørgaard ◽  
Ulla Hedegaard ◽  
Susanne Bendixen ◽  
...  

The community pharmacy has a number of attributes that makes it an excellent setting for research and development projects, as it is a highly accessible part of the healthcare system and is staffed by highly trained health care professionals. The big turnover in patients in the community pharmacy makes it possible to reach a great number of patients and collect a lot of data in a relatively short time. However, conducting nation-wide research and development projects can be a rather time-consuming process for the individual community pharmacy, and can thus require collaboration with other community pharmacies and researchers. This will help ensure strong results and better implementation. Thus, the Danish Network for Community Pharmacy Practice for Research and Development (NUAP) was established in Denmark by a number of highly committed community pharmacies and researchers. NUAP consists of 102 member pharmacy owners in addition to a number of researchers. The aim of the network is to strengthen pharmacy practice and pharmacy practice research in Denmark by providing a forum where community pharmacy practitioners and researchers meet and work together. The network is led by a steering committee elected by the members in the network.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy McPherson ◽  
Patrick Fontane

Leaders in the profession of pharmacy have articulated a vision of pharmacists as providers of patient-centered care (PCC) services and the Doctor of Pharmacy was established as the required practice degree to achieve this vision. Pharmacist-provided PCC services have been shown to reduce medication costs and improve patient compliance with therapies. While community pharmacists are capable of, and are ideally placed for, providing PCC services, in fact they devote most of their time to prescription dispensing rather than direct patient care. As professionals, community pharmacists are charged with protecting society by providing expert services to help consumers manage risks associated with drug therapies. Historically pharmacists fulfilled this responsibility by accurately dispensing prescription medications, verifying doses, and allergy checking. This limited view of pharmacy practice is insufficient in light of the modern view of pharmacists as providers of PCC. The consumers' view of community pharmacy as a profession represents a barrier to transforming the basis of community pharmacy from product distribution to providing PCC services. Community pharmacists are conferred with social authority to dictate the manner in which their professional services are provided. Pharmacists can therefore facilitate the transition to PCC as the primary function of community pharmacy by exercising their social authority to engage consumers in their roles in the new patient-pharmacist relationship. Each pharmacist must decide to provide PCC services. Suggestions for initiating PCC services in community pharmacy are offered.   Type: Idea Paper


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