The ASCP Research and Education Foundation Niemerow Institute's Fourth Annual Conference on the Impact of Automation in Long-Term Care Pharmacy will be held September 17-19 at the Renaissance Washington Hotel in Washington, D.C.
Focusing on data integration and on the nuts and bolts of automating pharmacy processes, the automation conference will feature case studies addressing automated technologies in pharmacies, long-term care facilities, and alternate sites, along with data integration between the pharmacy and the consultant pharmacist and the pharmacy and the long-term care facility.
Each case study will present practical information for long-term care providers who are contemplating automation and data integration, concentrating on the decision-making process, cost justification, regulatory and administrative barriers and ways to overcome them, implementation and training strategies, and marketing advantages.
The innovative and popular Technology Theater will also be returning to the conference, providing a close-up look at the latest state-of-the-art automation technology to help conference participants capitalize on the technology revolution and identify strategies for the implementation and integration of automation, robotics, and clinical data management into their businesses.
New this year is the Software Showcase, which will give conference participants the chance to receive hands-on experience using health care information tools specifically designed to enhance the scope and productivity of all aspects of their long-term care pharmacy practices.
Nationally recognized electronic information expert Bill Felkey will again be available to demonstrate pharmacy and health care resources available on the Internet, new developments in on-line and linked network information sources, newly revised software products, and applications for establishing a patient database.
Felkey will also discuss Internet applications for drug-related problem screening and resolution, patient education, outcomes monitoring, and case management.
Conference participants may earn continuing pharmaceutical education credit. For registration information, contact Sandra Fulton at 703-739-1316, ext. 144, or sfulton@ascp.com.
The ASCP Research and Education Foundation is coordinating the development of an interdisciplinary pharmacy clerkship in assisted living and eldercare. The clerkship is being developed in cooperation with the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy and Sunrise Assisted Living; the project is being funded by an educational grant from The Merck Company Foundation.
Through the pilot clerkship, scheduled to start next month, doctor of pharmacy students will be exposed to eldercare in assisted living, develop and practice clinical skills in this environment, become familiar with the health care needs of the elderly, and participate on an interdisciplinary team with graduate and undergraduate nursing students for the provision of care.
The pilot project will provide a model to guide other schools of pharmacy in establishing similar clerkship programs. Participants in the pilot program will collect baseline resident assessment and medication data and assess the outcomes of pharmacy interventions. Pharmacy and nursing students will participate in resident health assessments, and pharmacy students will prepare pharmaceutical care plans for residents at high risk for drug-related problems under the direction of pharmacy preceptor Madeline Feinberg, PharmD. For more information, contact Janice Feinberg at 703-739-1316, ext. 128.
The Joint Commission of Pharmacy Practitioners, of which ASCP is a member, has expressed unanimous support of the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) proposed inclusion of pharmacists on the labeling of over-the-counter drug products.
FDA has proposed adding the phrase, "Ask your doctor or pharmacist..." to the labeled guidance on these products. In a recent letter to FDA Lead Deputy Commissioner Michael A. Friedman, member organizations of JCPP said that "referencing the pharmacist on the OTC label would be a major step toward assuring that the label's content is made more user-friendly and that consumers are better able to understand how to properly use these medications."