Helping Stroke Patients Stay on Antiplatelet Therapy

Patients who have had one stroke face a high risk of a second. While antiplatelet therapy reduces the risk, more than 30% of patients will stop taking the drugs on their own. Many of the concerns that lead to nonadherence can be addressed when patients come into the pharmacy to pick up their medications by asking about concerns and side effects and discussing the reasons for antiplatelet therapy. Read more.

Independent Pharmacists Add Healthcare Services Amid Declining Prescriptions

Prescription volume and reimbursement rates continued to drop in 2017, and generic drugs accounted for more than four out of five prescriptions. To maintain overall profitability despite these trends, independent pharmacies have continued to add services that meet broader community health needs. Here are three that stood out in the 2017 National Community Pharmacists Association Digest. Find out more.

Six Steps to Ensure Safe Dispensing of New Medications

Pharmacy computer systems typically include maximum dose, drug interaction, and allergy alerts for medications in inventory, but adding a new drug creates multiple opportunities for errors. Pharmacists can and should work with their system providers to keep their alerts up to date, but for the sake of safety, they should also take some steps themselves to minimize the possibility of errors and avoid confusion on the part of staff when they introduce new medications. Learn more.