The official journal of the
American Society of Consultant Pharmacists
Publisher
R. Tim Webster
Editorial Director
Robert Appel
General Manager
Billy Stroemer
Interim Pharmacy Editor
Judy Zitnik
Associate Editors
David K. Buerger
Kathleen Y. Riley
Production Manager
Patti Thompson
Editorial Assistant
Rachel Kondon
Contributing Editors
Phyllis Parks-Veal
Charles Hunt
H. Edward Davidson
Art/Design Director
Carter/Cosgrove & Company
ASCP Headquarters
1321 Duke Street
Alexandria, VA 22314-3563
703-739-1300
703-739-1500
info@ascp.com
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Mark DiLuigi and David Dierk
MedMedia
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The Consultant Pharmacist® is published monthly by the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists (ASCP). Copyright © 1997, American Society of Consultant Pharmacists, Inc. All rights reserved. Statements of fact and opinion are made on the responsibility of the authors alone and do not imply an en-dorsement by the officers or members of the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists.
Instructions for Authors
Manuscript submissions to The Consultant Pharmacist® are welcome in the following sections: Trends and Analysis, Research and Reports, Clinical Notes, Clinical Reviews, Forum, Commentary, and Helpful Ideas. Any submission may undergo peer review before a decision is reached regarding publication; papers listed in the first four sections above are routinely peer reviewed. Instructions for authors are available upon request.
Subscriptions and Change of Address
Paid subscriptions are available for $50 per year in the United States and its possessions and $80 elsewhere. Single copies, both current and back issues, are offered for sale subject to availability for $8 each. Change of address requests should be sent at least six weeks in advance to ASCP, 1321 Duke Street, Alexandria, VA 22314-3563; include the present mailing label with each request.
The Consultant Pharmacist® (ISSN 0888-5109) is a registered trademark of the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists (ASCP). Membership rates in the association are $185 annually, of which $18 is applied to the cost of the journal. Periodicals Postage Paid at Alexandria, VA and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Consultant Pharmacist®, 1321 Duke Street, Alexandria, VA 22314-3563.
Bylines
A Red-Letter Date
A few weeks from now, consultant pharmacists' collective quest for enhanced visibility and clinical responsibility will receive a major boost. On October 13, the complete findings from Phase I of ASCP's Fleetwood Project Research Initiative will be published in Archives of Internal Medicine.Most ASCP members and other readers of The Consultant Pharmacist are already aware of the basic thrust of the Phase I findings: each year in the nation's nursing homes, drug regimen review and other consultant pharmacy services translate into a 43% increase in optimal outcomes and an estimated $3.6 billion in cost savings, mainly through reduced hospitalizations.
We already know the tremendous value of our services, but the Archives article will present consultant pharmacists' ongoing success story in scientifically valid detail, and it will tell the story in the kind of dollars-and-cents pharmacoeconomic terms today's payers and policy makers demand. Publication of the Fleetwood findings in a prestigious, peer-reviewed journal will provide dramatic credibility to our message and put into consultant pharmacists' hands a powerful tool for sharing their success story with a wide variety of audiences.
That's where you come in.
Our story won't have the desired consciousness-raising impact unless we broadcast it far and wide: to health care purchasers, to nursing facility administrators and other prospective customers, to physicians, nurses, the general public-anyone with a stake in achieving high-quality, cost-effective health care.
In addition to these essential educational and public relations efforts, we need your support to complete Phases II and III of the study. Phase II is already under way. It will yield new cost and outcomes data, new tools for measuring and monitoring the impact of our services, baseline benchmarking data, and solid numbers to bolster our position at the reimbursement bargaining table.
But these rewards won't come cheap. The second stage of the study entails far greater expense than the first, and much more financial support from ASCP members and provider pharmacies will be needed to see it through to successful completion.
The Fleetwood Project is the most ambitious research initiative ever undertaken on behalf of the consultant pharmacy profession. It would be a tragedy if the advance of this truly landmark study were jeopardized by a lack of support from the people who stand to benefit most.
Tim Webster
ASCP Executive Director