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Community Clinical Pharmacists as “Medication Coaches”- lessons from a great coach
I recently read this great piece of research published in the British Medical Journal by Australian Pharmacists. It reviews the literature to identify barriers to optimal prescribing and discusses strategies to overcome these barriers. http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/4/12/e006544.full.pdf+html As a keen sailor in my teenage years and early twenties I was extremely lucky to have as my coach…
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Retail Health Clinic Study – Many Positives
In the US, retail health clinics are now a permanent part of the health care landscape with the potential to become a much more powerful enabler of a “culture of health,” according to a recent report by Manatt Health, the health care division of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips. This perspective will be of interest to…
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Evidence Based Design Will Encourage Patient Outcomes
A pharmacy environment is a complex one of patients, customers, products and services. It is a little understood environment because evidence surrounding its structure and presentation is sparse. All the elements require integration. It’s one thing to spruce up a space aesthetically, but it’s equally important to address the underlying conditions to support the experience…
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Culture is a Unifying Force – and we need it now with a touch of Terroir
I recently received a copy of a newsletter written by Daniel Hussar, a prominent US pharmacist who publishes as The Pharmacist Activist. In his latest edition he talks about the Joint Commission of Pharmacy Practitioners (JCPP) and its vision statement. We may be concerned here in Australia at the proliferation of pharmacy organisations, but in…
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A Missed Opportunity?
The recent BioCeuticals Symposium in Sydney was titled “Interrelated Drivers of Health and Disease” and was attended by 350 health practitioners. Speakers at this outstanding forum included Dr Mark Houston, the world’s leading Functional Cardiologist, Dr David Haase, renowned Integrative Neurologist, Dr Joseph Pizzorno, pioneering naturopath and advisor to the Clinton Administration White House Commission…
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Ice Pack for Injections Courtesy 3D Printing
Rice University undergraduates have developed a quick and easy way to numb the skin, making shots virtually pain-free. And it could be a value enhancement that might differentiate pharmacy vaccination clinics from those provided by all other health professionals. Getting the flu shot is one of the many rituals that comes once a year, inoculating…
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A Clinical Look at Pharmacy
As pharmacies move towards establishing vaccination clinics, pharmacy is experiencing major resistance from medical groups. This was predicted by i2P and in fact we commented that clinical pharmacists would come under scrutiny from a range of sectors that includes doctors, nurses, patients and government agencies, and that scrutiny would be harsher than what they would…
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New Paradigm Pharmacy Design
Pharmacy Workplaces are fairly sterile places to work in as regards to interaction with co-workers and fulfilment for patients and customers. Design improvement is one of the last items generally considered when setting up a pharmacy because there are many models to view and adapt that are already developed, and can be readily copied. But…
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Vaccines – the Controversies Continue
As a member of a science-based profession I try to ensure that I follow processes that are evidence-based. Over the past decade I have become disillusioned over the quality and presentation of evidence for drugs which has become more of a marketing exercise than a scientific one. Even the design of clinical trials have been…
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A Tale of an Aspiring Medication Specialist
During my final year of Pharmacy each student was required to complete a one week placement in a hospital as part of our training. My uncle was an Intensive Care Specialist at a large regional hospital in New South Wales and was enthusiastic about organising for me to stay with him and spend a week…