Antibiotic stewardship programs (ASPs) must be implemented at all acute-care hospitals that participate in Medicare and Medicaid by March 30, 2020, according to a new CMS rule released late last year.

Maria G. Tanzi, PharmD

Researchers estimate that at least 30% of antibiotics prescribed in the outpatient setting are unnecessary and inappropriate. Outpatient antibiotic use is close to 50% for patients receiving the wrong drug, the wrong dose, and/or the wrong duration.

Maria G. Tanzi, PharmD

The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) recently published its Practice Advancement Initiative (PAI) 2030, which looks forward to the coming decade and changes to pharmacy practice within both acute and ambulatory settings of health systems.

Joey Sweeney, PharmD, BCPS

Heart failure (HF)–exacerbating medications are commonly used in older adults hospitalized for HF and are often continued or even initiated after hospitalization, according to the results of an observational study published on November 8, 2019, in Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Maria G. Tanzi, PharmDMaria G. Tanzi, PharmDMaria G. Tanzi, PharmDMaria G. Tanzi, PharmD

A recent event of patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) by proxy—a term used to describe conditions under which someone other than the patient administers one or more doses of an opioid to the patient using the PCA device—has prompted a review of the safeguards needed to prevent these types of events.

Maria Tanzi, PharmD