During the past decade, the Adult Medicine PRN membership has continued to grow and is now more than 800 strong. In addition to our “traditional” PRN activities, our Nominations Committee has been working to develop PRN Service Awards to recognize the outstanding work of our members. The Nominations Committee will present awards during the PRN Business Meeting at the ACCP Spring Practice and Research Forum on April 24, 2010.

The Adult Medicine PRN has developed a focus session titled “Reviewing the Evidence for Antithrombotic Controversies in Medicine” for the 2010 Spring Practice and Research Forum in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Congratulations to Renee M. Holder, Pharm.D., for receiving the $1000 Adult Medicine PRN Resident/Fellow Research Award. Dr. Holder is currently completing her first year of a pharmacotherapy residency at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Pharmacy at the Abilene campus. She will present her research project titled “Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Nasal Colonization and Correlation to Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Pneumonia in the Intensive Care Unit” at the upcoming PRN Business Meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Additional Congratulations for Notable Member Achievements

• Barna MM, Kapoian T, O’Mara NB. Sevelamer carbonate. Ann Pharmacother 2010;44:127–34.
• Lundquist LM, Moye PM. Resident physicians’ acceptance of pharmacy students’ pharmacotherapy recommendations during an ambulatory care advanced pharmacy practice experience. Am J Pharm Educ 2009;73:Article 145.
• Monach PA, Arnold LM, Merkel PA. Incidence and prevention of bladder toxicity from cyclophosphamide in the treatment of rheumatic diseases: data-drive review. Arthritis Rheum 2010;62:9–21.
• A. Thomas Taylor presented “Managing Heart Failure in the Mental Health Patient” at the 2010 Mental Health Pharmacotherapy Symposium at the College of Pharmacy, the University of Georgia.
• A. Thomas Taylor presented “Adverse Drug Events” at the 2010 Mental Health Pharmacotherapy Symposium at the College of Pharmacy, the University of Georgia.
• Olga Hilas presented a poster titled “Piperacillin-Tazobactam–Associated Acute Interstitial Nephritis” at the ASHP Clinical Midyear Meeting in December 2009.
• Olga Hilas presented a poster titled “Utilization of Technology to Prevent and Minimize Inappropriate Use of Sedative Hypnotic Agents in Elderly Inpatients” at the ACCP/ESCP International Congress on Clinical Pharmacy in April 2009.
• Pamela Moye presented an ACPE-accredited Web Continuing Education Program titled “HIV Treatment Updates for Pharmacists” in January 2010.
• Lamis R. Karaoui, Pharm.D., BCPS, was appointed Acting Director of Experiential Education for the School of Pharmacy, Lebanese American University.
• Stephanie Seyse became certified as an Anticoagulation Provider (CACP) and was awarded Fellowship with the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.
• Zachary A. Stacy, Pharm.D., BCPS, won the Emerson Excellence in Teaching Award for outstanding classroom education in the St. Louis metropolitan area.
• Suzanne Wortman, B.S., Pharm.D., BCPS, Beth H. Resman-Targoff, B.S., Pharm.D., FCCP, and Rolee Pathak, Pharm.D., BCPS, received Volunteer Recognition by ACCP and the Adult Medicine PRN for significant contributions within the past 2 years.

Congratulations to the Following PRN Members Who Became Board Certified in 2009

Pharmacotherapy

Sarah Anderson, Lori Arnold, Russell Attridge, Melanie Bates, Christine Bercume, Matthew Bird, Christina Brizendine, Rodney Brumbelow, Christy Burrows, Laura Butkievich, Stefanie Chick, Andrew Crannage, Amy Dill, Rebecca Dunn, Julie Eckert, Y. Michelle Fagan, T. Michael Farley, Christopher Finch, James Forgione, Piyamas Gaston, Elaine Greene, Michael Gulseth, Susan Hamblin, Meri Hix, Shannon Holt, Jenna Huggins, Jolie Jantz, Lamis Karaoui, Lela King, Matthew Korobey, Jeffrey Kyle, Tyrone Lin, Jenna Lovely, Joseph Lovely, Christopher Malabanan, Soonali Maniar, Robert Menak, Andrew Miesner, Benjamin Miles, Michael Monaghan, Marilynn Novell, Nathan Pinner, Dane Shiltz, Harleen Singh, Grant Sklar, Thomas Thompson, Tara Vlasimsky, Karen Wall, Diane Yu, Mary Zelazny, and Danielle Zola.

Oncology

Leila Mohassel

Nutrition Support Pharmacy

Yaman Kaakeh

The many committees of the Ambulatory Care PRN have been actively pursuing completion of their charges since last fall. Below is a summary of the work of each committee.

Advocacy Committee (Chair: Leigh Ann Ross)

The ACCP Ambulatory Care Advocacy Committee worked during 2008–2009 to develop a survey to be administered to the PRN to assess practice sites, billing processes, opinions regarding Medicare provider status, and advocacy practices. This survey has been completed and will be administered in 2010. This year, the Advocacy Committee is also focusing its efforts on creating an overall program (e.g., mini-sabbatical) for an ACCP member to spend time with the ACCP Government and Professional Affairs team in the Washington, DC, office to learn more about the advocacy process and professional affairs of ACCP. Committee members will be asked to host or participate in congressional visits at their practice sites. From these experiences, the committee plans to provide a report on the do's and don'ts of hosting an elected official or staff site visit in various settings. We will continue to work with the ACCP Government and Professional Affairs office to facilitate communication to the PRN regarding advocacy issues.

Budget and Finance Committee (Chair: Edith Nutescu)

The Budget and Finance Committee is working to spend its money for scholarly and productive uses. We are working to increase PRN membership by offering free dues for PGY2 Ambulatory Care residents, to be implemented in July 2010. We have also been working with the Scholarship and Research Committee to evaluate other methods to spend PRN funds, such as continuing the PRN seed grant. The commitment has been made to offer $1500 to one PRN member to attend the FIT Program. Finally, the PRN will be supporting travel awards for students and residents to the Annual Meeting (i.e., one student and one resident).

Communications Committee (Chair: Sarah Westberg)

The Communications Committee continues to sustain the ongoing tasks of completing the PRN spring and fall newsletters and monitoring the use of the PRN e-mail list. In addition, the committee has several subgroups working on completing the charges. One group is actively working with members of the Scholarship and Research Committee to prepare a poster presentation from its survey results for the 2010 Annual Meeting in the fall. In addition, several committee members are exploring options for a novel means of communication among the PRN members, such as social networking sites. This group will be drawing from the results of the full ACCP member survey completed on this topic. Finally, a subcommittee is reviewing the policies and procedures related to updating the Ambulatory Care Survival Guide and determining the best means to market and sell this guide to individuals outside the Ambulatory Care PRN.

Education Committee (Chair: Mitzi Wasik)

The Education Committee is in the process of finalizing the details for programming for the fall 2010 focus session at the Annual Meeting in Austin, Texas. The session will focus on Updates in Antithrombotic Therapy. The committee will explore possible opportunities for collaborating with another PRN to develop focus session programming for the future.

Networking Committee (Chair: Daniel Riche)

The Ambulatory Care PRN Business Meeting and Networking Forum at the ACCP Spring Research and Networking Forum in Charlotte, North Carolina, has been scheduled for Saturday, April 24, at 12:30 p.m. Although there is no entertainment because of meeting time constraints, the committee has set up the education for this event. The committee assignments are set for implementing "walk rounds" at the Annual Meeting. During the spring/summer, the committee will set up the education and entertainment for the Annual Meeting. In addition, the committee will solicit and review nominations for the annual PRN Member Achievement Award.

Nominations Committee (Chair: Alan Zillich)

The Nominations Committee is charged with helping identify PRN members for ACCP awards, elected offices, and fellowship status. We are also responsible for seeking nominations for PRN offices and putting forth the slate of candidates. On March 1, we put out a call for Ambulatory Care PRN officer positions for 2010–2011. This year, we will elect a Chair-Elect (1-year term to be followed by 1 year as PRN Chair) and Treasurer (2-year term). We would like to encourage those who are interested in nominating someone or themselves to e-mail any member of the committee no later than May 1, 2010. Also in May, look for a call for nominations for the Ambulatory Care PRN Achievement Award. Last year, Stuart Haines received this award.

Scholarship and Research Committee (Chair: Daniel Longyhore)

The 2009–2010 Scholarship and Research Committee (SRC) was active in completing several charges that included compiling the results of the “Diversity and Needs Survey,” ranking and funding two PRN seed grant applicants, and developing a funding line to partially fund an Ambulatory Care PRN member to the 2011 FIT Program offered by ACCP’s Research Institute.

The “Diversity and Needs Survey” was conducted, and results were compared with data from the 2003 survey. The data are being organized and will be presented jointly at the ACCP Fall 2010 Meeting in conjunction with the Communications Committee. Research-specific needs scored low on this, and a focused survey on research needs is under development for 2010 to better understand how the PRN or ACCP can support this need of its members.

The SRC began publicizing the seed grant in July 2009 and received six strong applications to deliberate on. In the end, committee members agreed to partially fund two applications from Whitney Maxwell and Amy Kennedy. Two thousand dollars has been allotted from the Budget and Finance Committee for the 2010–2011 grants, and notice for new applications will take place in summer 2010. The SRC will then review, rank, and fund as indicated, with an announcement of recipients made in late fall 2010.

The SRC worked closely with the Budget and Finance Committee in 2009 to explore funding opportunities for the FIT Program offered by ACCP’s Research Institute, and they agreed to contribute 50% of the tuition ($1625) toward the funding of one PRN member. The SRC will develop an application form in 2010 and make it available to members by the time of the Annual Meeting in the fall.

Resident and Student Committee (Chair: Kim Thrasher)

This committee has identified Kelly Lempicki and Christie Schumacher to serve as StuNet liaisons. A subcommittee is actively working on developing activities for the Annual Meeting for residents and students. The committee is working closely with the Budget and Finance Committee to develop a plan to communicate the free dues initiatives to residents and to develop a plan to sponsor a student/resident travel award. Finally, this committee will be prioritizing a plan for the annual activities of this relatively new committee.

ACTIVITIES

• Central Nervous System PRN Business Meeting and Networking Session
  Sunday, April 25, from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Hilton Charlotte Center City, Gwynn Room. Please join your colleagues for a networking and business meeting. Hors d’oeuvres and drinks will be served.

MEMBER HIGHLIGHTS

• Jacci Bainbridge has been promoted to full Professor of Clinical Pharmacy at University of Colorado Denver School of Pharmacy. James Cloyd would like to announce that his Center for Orphan Drug Research at the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy will host a workshop on August 2–4, 2010. Anyone interested in developing a drug product for treatment of a rare disorder is invited to attend.
• Larry Cohen has been nominated for President-Elect, and Vicki Ellingrod has been nominated for Research Institute Trustee for ACCP. I would like to encourage all of the Central Nervous System PRN members to vote for and support your fellow colleagues! You have until April 30 to cast your votes!

PUBLICATIONS

• Chen JJ. Parkinson's disease: health-related quality of life, economic cost, and implications of early treatment. Am J Manag Care 2010;16:S87–S93.
• Chen JJ, Swope DM. Movement disorders. In: Tisdale J, Miller D, eds. Drug-Induced Diseases: Prevention, Detection, and Management, 2nd ed. Bethesda, MD: American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, 2010:211–35.
• Lee KC, Ma JD, Kuo GM. Pharmacogenomics: bridging the gap between science and practice. JAPhA 2010;50:e1–e17.

Congratulations to the following Cardiology PRN members on their recent achievements:

• Karen McConnell, Kari Olson
  McConnell KJ, Olson KL, Delate T, Merenich JA. Factors associated with recurrent coronary events among patients with cardiovascular disease. Pharmacotherapy 2009;29:906–13.
• Margaret Thomson, Jean Nappi, Steven Dunn, Ian Hollis, Jo Ellen Rodgers
  Thomson MR, Nappi JM, Dunn SP, Hollis IB, Rodgers JE, Van Bakel AB. Continuous versus intermittent infusion of furosemide in acute decompensated heart failure. J Card Fail 2010;16:188–93.
• Cynthia Jackevicius
  Was appointed a member of the VA National Ischemic Heart Disease Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (QUERI) Executive Committee, which aims to improve the care of veterans with ischemic heart disease nationally through research and implementation of best practices. Was nominated ACCP Research Institute Trustee, and elections will occur this spring.
• Jennifer Donovan
  Serebruany V, Rao SV, Silva MA, Donovan JL, Kanaan AO, Makarov L, Goto S, Atar D. Correlation of inhibition of platelet aggregation after clopidogrel with post discharge bleeding events: assessment by different bleeding classifications. Eur Heart J 2010;31:227–35.
• Kim Birtcher
  Was elected Fellow of the American Heart Association and Fellow of the National Lipid Association
• Andrew Smith
  Was awarded the Missouri Society of Health-System Pharmacists (MSHP) Research and Education Board's Award for Best Practice for project titled "Truman Medical Center: Heart Failure Enhanced Education Pilot Program"
• Sarah Spinler
  Was elected inaugural Fellow of the Quality and Outcomes Research Council of the American Heart Association and was appointed to the Research Subcommittee of the American College of Cardiology's National Cardiovascular Data Registry (NCDR) Practice Innovation And Clinical Excellence (PINNACLE) registry, the first national ambulatory care quality improvement registry.
• Toby Trujillo
  Was elected to the Clinical Pharmacology Committee – American Heart Association
• Zach Stacy
  Was awarded the Emerson Excellence in Teaching Award – recognizes outstanding classroom educator(s) in the St. Louis metropolitan area
• Shannon Finks
  Was appointed to serve as a member of the PSAP Editorial Board and will be the Cardiology book liaison for the Editorial Board (when the next Cardiology PSAP module is published in 2013)
• Jo Ellen Rodgers
  Elected Fellow of ACCP
• Michael Crouch
  Has a new book and another article to add to his list:
  Crouch MA, ed. Cardiovascular Pharmacotherapy: A Point-of-Care Guide, 1st ed. Bethesda, MD: American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, 2010.
  
  Maxwell CB, Crouch MA. Intrapericardial triamcinolone for acute pericarditis after electrophysiologic procedures. Am J Health Syst Pharm 2010;67:269–73.
• C. Michael White
  Baker BL, Coleman CI, Kluger J, Reinhart KM, Talati R, Quercia R, Phung OJ, White CM.* Systematic review: comparative effectiveness of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin II-receptor blockers for ischemic heart disease. Ann Intern Med 2009;151:861–71.
  *Denotes corresponding author.
  
  This year, he also received $1.5 million in funding from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality as primary investigator and another $900,000 as coinvestigator (Craig Coleman and William Baker were PIs on the other projects) for comparative effectiveness review projects.
  
  He also completed a methods guide chapter on systematic review for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality:
  White CM, Ip S, McPheeters M, Carey T, Chou R, Lohr K, Robinson K. Chapter 12. Using existing systematic reviews in comparative effectiveness reviews. In: EPC Methods Guide for Comparative Effectiveness Reviews. Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2009. Available at
  http://www.effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/healthInfo.cfm?infotype=rr&ProcessID=60.
  
  He received an Annals of Internal Medicine Best Reviewer Citation and was rated a premier reviewer of the Annals of Internal Medicine.
  
  Phi Lambda Sigma, UCONN Chapter – Honorary Member. Inducted on the basis of leadership provided in pharmacy education and research. School of Pharmacy, January 19, 2009.
  
  He was a member of the Health Services Research and Development Service Scientific Merit Review Committee (Review Panel C) 2009–2010 and the Health Services Research and Development Service Scientific Merit Review Committee (Pilot Trial Review Panel) 2009–2010.
• Rhonda DeHoff
  Elected Fellow of the American College of Cardiology
• Barbara Wiggins
  Elected Fellow of ACCP
• Anne Spencer
  Elected Fellow of ACCP

The Clinical Administration PRN is entering its ninth year as an official PRN. Currently, we are 250 members strong. Many of our members are in formal or informal leadership roles with medication management in health systems across the country. Our Vision and Mission Statements were approved in October 2009 and are stated below.

Vision: The Clinical Administration PRN is the PRN for clinicians and managers who are seeking to advance clinical pharmacy practice by developing leadership.

Mission: To facilitate networking and educational programming for pharmacy clinicians, coordinators, and administrators who seek to provide high-quality and cost-effective clinical pharmacy services.

Our PRN thrives on collaborating with other PRNs to develop programming that is of broad interest to other ACCP members. We are a dynamic group in the College. Members are passionate about what they do, and they have contributed time, effort, and money to advance practice, teaching, research, and advocacy.

Highlights of some ongoing projects include:

• Initiation of a member-driven newsletter
• Development of a welcome packet/informational brochure about the PRN
• Development and conduction of a membership survey
• Seventy-six (76) Clinical Administration PRN members have received board certification:
  BCPS – 65, BCOP – 8, BCPP – 1, BCNSP – 2
• Taking a leadership role in designing and teaching at the ACCP Leadership Academy
• Continued support of the ACCP Research Institute Frontiers Fund/Focused Investigator Training Program
• Contributions to support StuNet
• The focus session for the 2010 Annual Meeting titled, “What Every Patient Deserves: How Do Hospitals Provide It?”
• Initiation of a PRN Opinion Paper

Some individual member highlights include:

• Michelle E. Allen, Pharm.D., FCCM, BCPS, Clinical Coordinator and PGY1 Residency Director at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, DC, was inducted as a Fellow into the American College of Critical Care Medicine and was elected Treasurer of the Washington Metropolitan Society of Health-System Pharmacists.
• James M. Hoffman, Pharm.D., M.S., BCPS, Medication Outcomes and Safety Officer at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, is serving on the Special ACCP Task Force on Governance. The committee’s charge is to expand the field of members considered for election to the Board of Regents, particularly those without primary academic appointments.
• Charlene Hope, Pharm.D., BCPS, wrote a chapter titled “When 10 Heads Are Better Than One” in ASHP Quality and Safety Pearls 2, Deb Saine (Editor). American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, 2009. She is also on the 2009–2010 Clinical Practice Committee. Her group is tasked with compiling a list of clinical/quality metrics for the acute care setting.
• John Noviasky, Pharm.D., BCPS, received Board Certification in Pharmacotherapy; in addition, he has been recognized by his peers at ACCP for his contributions to the organization and the profession of pharmacy.
• Suzanne Wortman, Pharm.D., B.S., BCPS, has been recognized by her peers at ACCP for her contributions to the organization and the profession of pharmacy.

PRN activities at the 2010 ACCP Spring Forum:

Critical Care PRN Business Meeting and Networking Forum:
Monday, April 26, 2010, from 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m., Hilton North Carolina Room Join the Critical Care PRN networking forum and interact with colleagues while you enjoy a light lunch. Presentations will include a summary of PRN activities, reports from PRN officers, and the Resident/Fellow Research Travel Award.

Critical Care PRN Focus Session:
Tuesday, April 27, 2010, from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., Convention Center: 211 and 212 “Debates in Critical Care”

Topics will include “The Use of Procalcitonin Levels in Sepsis and Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia,” “The Use of Recombinant Factor VIIa in Traumatic Brain Injury,” and “Empiric Use of Anti-fungal Agents in the ICU: Echinocandins vs. Fluconazole.”

Please join us in congratulating the Critical Care PRN Spring 2010 Resident Travel Award Winner:
Kathryn Connor, Pharm.D., for “Resolution of Clinical Signs in Trauma Intensive Care Unit Patients Following Diagnosis of Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia.” Coauthors included Joseph M. Swanson, Pharm.D., BCPS, G. Christopher Wood, Pharm.D., FCCP, BCPS (AQ-ID), Bradley A. Boucher, Pharm.D., FCCP, FCCM, BCPS, and Louis J. Magnotti, M.D. The work was completed at The Regional Medical Center at Memphis/The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, Tennessee.

Students who attended the Education and Training PRN's Mock Interview Workshop during the 2009 Annual Meeting in Anaheim were surveyed by the PRN's new Scholarly Activities Committee. Those participating in the survey agreed that the event improved their preparation and confidence in interviewing for a residency or pharmacy position and recommended the Mock Interview Workshop to a colleague. To participate, look for the call for volunteers in the fall.

Member Achievements

Heather Whitley has had an active year for publications:

Whitley HP. Monetary value of a prescription assistance program service in a rural family medicine clinic. The Journal of Rural Health. Accepted.

Whitley HP. Innovative student-centered active-learning technique incorporating public health discussions into an advanced pharmacy practice experience. American Journal of Pharmacy Education. Accepted.

Whitley HP, Starr J. Academic dishonesty among pharmacy students: does portable technology play a role? Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning. Accepted.

Hornsby L, Whitley HP, Hester K, Thompson M, Donaldson A. Survey of patient knowledge related to acetaminophen recognition, dosing, and toxicity. Journal of the American Pharmacists Association. Accepted.

Thompson AN, Ragucci KR, Fermo J, Whitley HP. Evaluation of patient perceptions and outcomes related to anticoagulation point-of-care testing in ambulatory care clinics. Pharm Pract 2009;7:213–7.

Whitley HP, Lindsey W. Sex-based differences in drug activity. Am Fam Physician 2009;80:1254–8.

Sarah McBane has accepted an Assistant Clinical Professor position at the University of California, San Diego. She moved from North Carolina to California in January, so she changed jobs, time zones, and coastlines, as well as from a private school (Campbell University) to a public one.

Member Scholarly Activities

Stephen Chesser
Schuckman HA, Chesser SL. Cushing’s syndrome. In: Schaider JJ, Hayden SR, Wolfe RE, et al., eds. Rosen and Barkin’s 5-Minute Emergency Medicine Consult, 4th ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 2010. In press.

Schuckman HA, Chesser SL. Hyperparathyroidism. In: Schaider JJ, Hayden SR, Wolfe RE, et al., eds. Rosen and Barkin’s 5-Minute Emergency Medicine Consult, 4th ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 2010. In press.

Schuckman HA, Chesser SL. Hypoparathyroidism. In: Schaider JJ, Hayden SR, Wolfe RE, et al., eds. Rosen and Barkin’s 5-Minute Emergency Medicine Consult, 4th ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 2010. In press.

Victor Cohen
Jellinek SP, Cohen V, Stansfield L, Likourezos A, Sable KN. A survey of drug information references emergency medicine clinicians utilize for prescribing in pregnant patients. Ann Pharmacother 2010;44:456–61.

Cohen V, Jellinek SP, Stansfield L, Truong H, Baseluos C, Marshall JP. Cardiac arrest with residual blindness after overdose of Tessalon® (benzonatate) perles. J Emerg Med 2009. [Epub ahead of print].

Cohen V, Jellinek SP, Hatch A, Motov S. Effect of clinical pharmacists on care in the emergency department: a systematic review. Am J Health Syst Pharm 2009;66:1353–61.

Cohen V. Toxic epidermal necrolysis. eMed J [serial on the Internet]. 2002 July cited [2003 March 18]. Available at http://www.emedicine.com. Revised 2009.

Jellinek SP, Cohen V, Fancher LB, Likourezos A, Lyke M, Peterson K, Lashley E, Davidson SJ. Pharmacist improves timely administration of medications to boarded patients in the emergency department. J Emerg Nurs 2010;36:105–10.

Cohen V. Safe and Effective Medication Use in the Emergency Department. Bethesda, MD: American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, 2009.

Cohen V, Jellinek SP, Fancher L, Sangwan G, Wakslak M, Marquart E, Farahani C. Tarka® (trandolapril/verapamil hydrochloride extended-release) overdose. J Emerg Med 2009 Nov 4. [Epub ahead of print].

Darrel Hughes
Hughes DW, Roth JM, Laurel Y. Establishing emergency department clinical pharmacy services: experience from two large urban teaching hospitals. Am J Health Syst Pharm. In press.

Asad Patanwala
Patanwala AE, Warholak TL, Sanders AB, Erstad BL. A prospective observational study of medication errors in a tertiary care academic emergency department. Ann Emerg Med 2010 Jan 12. [Epub ahead of print].

Patanwala AE, Amini R, Hays DP, Rosen P. Antiemetic therapy for nausea and vomiting in the emergency department. J Emerg Med 2009 Dec 17. [Epub ahead of print].

Chisholm-Burns MA, Patanwala AE, Spivey CA. Hemolytic anemia, hepatitis, orthostatic hypotension, and aseptic meningitis in a G6PD-deficient male taking trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. Am J Health Syst Pharm 2010;67:123–7.

Warholak TL, Clark C, Babits L, Patanwala A, Fritz W. Nurses’ and other staffs’ opinions of potential impact of an emergency department clinical staff pharmacist at a tertiary care academic medical center. Ariz J Pharm 2009;1:21–4.

Patanwala AE, Norris CJ, Nix DE, Kopp BJ, Erstad BL. Vancomycin dosing for pneumonia in critically ill trauma patients. J Trauma 2009;67:802–4.

Stephen Rolfe
Rolfe SS, Papadopoulos S, Cabral KP. Controversies of anticoagulation reversal in life threatening bleeds. J Pharm Pract 2010. In press.

Rachael Perritt; Kevin Rynn
Merlin MA, Saybolt M, Kapitanyan R, Alter SM, Jeges J, Liu J, Calabrese S, Rynn KO, Perritt R, Pryor PW. Intranasal naloxone delivery is an alternative to intravenous naloxone for opioid overdoses. Am J Emerg Med 2010;28:296–303.

Kevin Rynn
Saybolt MD, Alter SM, DosSantos F, Calello DP, Rynn KO, Nelson DA, Merlin MA. Naloxone in cardiac arrest with suspected opioid overdoses. Resuscitation 2010;81:42–6.

Michael Thomas
Thomas MC. A practical approach to medication reconciliation by pharmacists in a community hospital emergency department. Hosp Pharm 2010;45:41–4.

Kyle Weant
Lemon SJ, Winstead PS, Weant KA. Alcohol withdrawal syndrome. Adv Emerg Nurs J 2010;32:20–7.

McMahon D, Winstead PS, Weant KA. Ethylene glycol and methanol overdose. Adv Emerg Nurs J 2009;31:206–13.

Weant KA, Johnson PN, Bowers RC, Armitstead JA. Evidence-based, multidisciplinary approach to the development of a crotalidae polyvalent antivenin (CroFab) protocol at a university hospital. Ann Pharmacother 2010;44:447–55.

Weant KA, Martin JE, Humphries RL, Cook AM. Pharmacologic options for altering the shivering response to therapeutic hypothermia. Pharmacotherapy 2010. In press.

Weant KA, Ramsey CN, Cook AM. Role of intraarterial therapy for cerebral vasospasm secondary to aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. Pharmacotherapy 2010. In press.

Weant KA, Humphries RL, Hite K, Armitstead JA. The impact of emergency medicine pharmacists on medication error reporting in the emergency department. Am J Health Syst Pharm 2010. In press.

Recent Member Accomplishments

Victor Cohen, Pharm.D., BCPS, CGP, was appointed by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists to the Emergency Department and/or Urgent Care Steering Committee of the National Quality Forum for the development of performance measures.

Erica Merritt, Pharm.D., BCPS, in December 2009 obtained Board Certification in Pharmacotherapy.

Erica Merritt, Pharm.D., BCPS, and Michael Thomas, Pharm.D., BCPS. We need a pharmacist STAT: establishing an emergency department practice. Presented at Georgia Society of Health-System Pharmacists Spring Meeting in March 2010.

Michael Thomas, Pharm.D., BCPS. New treatments for hereditary angioedema. Presented at Georgia Society of Health-System Pharmacists Spring Meeting in March 2010.

D.W. Hughes, Pharm.D., BCPS. Free from harshness: gentle reversal of opioid intoxication. Presented at ASHP Midyear Clinical in December 2009.

McKee M, Maxwell P, Green K, Hughes DW, Gonzalez J, Barthol C. Impact of an electronic risk factor assessment and mediation order set on contrast induced nephropathy. Presented at 2009 American College of Clinical Pharmacy and European Society for Clinical Pharmacy International Congress on Clinical Pharmacy in April 2009.

Kyle Weant, Pharm.D., BCPS, was appointed as program director of the new PGY2 Emergency Medicine Pharmacy Residency Program at the University of Kentucky.

The Endocrine and Metabolism PRN has grown to 179 members who practice in a variety of clinical settings. The Networking Committee has been working on ideas for recruiting more fellow/resident/student members for the past year and has had some success in recruiting new members into the PRN this year. In addition, the PRN has contributed money for the Student/Resident Travel Award and the Frontiers Fund this year. Most recently, the PRN submitted an opinion paper that was accepted by Pharmacotherapy regarding insulin glargine and the risk of cancer. The PRN is working to establish guidelines for future collaborations within members of the PRN on other publishable topics.

The members of the Communications Committee have created new guidelines for an online journal club with the PRN e-mail list. The online journal club was implemented in February, and it has been going strong ever since its implementation. The purpose of the online journal club is to provide an awareness of key articles that add new information to the fields of endocrine and metabolism. Members of the PRN are asked to contribute articles and comments periodically. Active members of the Communications Committee have been soliciting journal club articles from the PRN e-mail list and posting two articles each week. Since the creation of the online journal club, the officers have noticed an increased involvement of the members within the PRN and the e-mail list. The following members were involved in creating and implementing these guidelines: Marissa Quinones (Communications Committee Chair), Kim Kelly (Project Lead), Danny Riche (member), Jeremy Thomas (member), Kavita Dalal (member), and Jennifer D’Souza (member). Please contact [email protected] for more questions about the online journal club.

The Education Committee is working on the programming for the fall 2010 focus session for the Annual Meeting in Austin, Texas, titled “Clinical Debates in Endocrinology and Metabolism.” The goal of the session is to review three controversial topics in the fields of endocrinology and metabolism using a debate format.

Member Accomplishments

Nathan A. Painter, Pharm.D., CDE, is President of the Southern California College of Clinical Pharmacy (SCCCP) and member of the Inaugural Community Advisory Panel (CAP) of the ACCP PBRN.

Susan Sirmans, Pharm.D., BCPS, was recently recertified for the second time by examination on BCPS. She has maintained her certificate for 15 years.

Marissa Quinones, Pharm.D., was recently recognized for her contributions as an officer to the Dallas/Fort Worth chapter of ACCP for several years of service as Secretary and President of the local chapter since 2006.

New Members

We would like to welcome the following students, residents, and members to the PRN and encourage them to get involved and be sure to provide us with suggestions and comments to make our PRN even better.

Timothy Horwedel	Resident
Wad Kadi	Student
Ashley Pearson	Resident
Jilliam Descourou	Resident
Jennifer Deyo	Resident
Jay Eidem	Associate member
Jennifer Luppa	Resident
Lance Lindberg	Resident
Jill Logan	Resident
Charles Makowski	Student
Wana Manitpisitkul	Member
Joelle Radosevich	Student
Basma Sadaka	Resident
Anne Spennings	Resident
Hector Ramirez	Member
Nicole Alvey	Member
Manijeh Hamed	Member

Transplantation/Immunology Residency and Fellowship

More than 20 programs were recruiting for transplant residents and fellows for 2010–2011. The PRN would like to congratulate the following programs and individuals on their match. This list is incomplete because some programs are still in the process of completing interviews and participating in the scramble.

University of California–San Diego	Kevin Lor
Tampa General Hospital	Angela Tong
Duke University	Christina Teeter Doligalski
University of Cincinnati	Nicole Schmidt
University of Cincinnati	Basma Sadaka
University of Pittsburgh	David Johnson
Medical University of South Carolina	Holly Barrier
Vanderbilt University	Lance Lindberg
Methodist Hospital, Houston	Jenny Devos
University Health Systems, San Antonio	Barrett Crowther
University of Utah Hospitals and Clinics	Adrian Carlson
University of Illinois at Chicago	Lenley Heinrich

Announcements

• We would like to thank all members of the PRN who responded to the many postings soliciting feedback for our 2010 ACCP Annual Meeting PRN focus session. Our goal is again to plan a session that our members want on a timely topic of interest to a large majority. Based on the information you provided, we developed a program that focuses on clinical controversies in the new era of generic immunosuppressive agents. We are awaiting ACCP approval and comments. Stay tuned.
• Through collaborative efforts between our PRN and the AST Transplant Pharmacists Community of Practice (CoP), a white paper to provide an overview of clinical pharmacists and pharmacist researchers practicing in the field of transplantation is being developed. A special thanks to Nicole Weimert for facilitating these efforts and the members of the PRN for their review and contributions.
• Congratulations to the PRN members below who have had abstracts accepted to the 2010 American Transplant Congress (ATC), to be held in San Diego, May 1–5, 2010. Fifty-six PRN members are authors of 156 abstracts, of which 45 have a PRN member as first author. This shows the impact of pharmacists in advancing the field of solid-organ transplantation. We look forward to hearing about the exciting research in which our members have been involved.
  • Rita Alloway
  • Winston Ally
  • Nicole Alvey
  • Anastasia Anamisis
  • Teresa Lynn Anderson-Haag
  • Meredith Aull
  • Iman Bajjoka
  • Lyndsey Bowman
  • Rebecca Brady
  • Maya Campara
  • Teresa Cavanaugh
  • Jennifer Deyo
  • Benjamin Duhart
  • Matthew Everly
  • James Fleming
  • Steven Gabardi
  • Reed Hall
  • Matthew Harris
  • Jennifer Hibbs
  • April Hildebrand
  • Timothy Horwedel
  • Heather Hurley
  • Pamala Jacobson
  • Scott Kaczmorski
  • Nicole Kenyon
  • Amy Krauss
  • Sabrina Lee
  • Pamela Maxwell
  • Megan McCartan
  • Lisa McDevitt
  • Leandra Miko
  • David Min
  • Samir Patel
  • Keri Roberts
  • Christin Rogers
  • Jennifer Ryan
  • Basma Sadaka
  • Jenna Scheffert
  • Kristine Schonder
  • Adele Shields
  • Theodore Sievers
  • Lonnie Smith
  • Eglis Tellez-Corrales
  • James Thielke
  • Eric Tichy
  • Angela Tong
  • Kathleen Tornatore
  • Jennifer Trofe-Clark
  • Crystal Truax
  • Demetra Tsapepas
  • Kimi Ueda Stevenson
  • Ashley Vo
  • Jennifer Walker
  • R. Carlin Walsh
  • Nicole Weimert
  • Angela Wills
• All PRN members attending ATC in May are invited to attend the AST Transplant Pharmacist Community of Practice (CoP) reception scheduled for Sunday, May 2, 2010, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. The agenda and location have not been finalized. We will forward the details by the PRN e-mail list when they become available.

PRN Activities
In November 2009, the Nephrology PRN submitted comments to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in response to the proposed rule, “Medicare Programs; End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Prospective Payment System" (also referred to as “bundling” of payments).Under this legislation, many services related to dialysis treatment would be bundled into one payment for reimbursement. The dialysis center would be reimbursed a fixed fee for all dialysis equipment, laboratory fees, and dialysis-related medications. In addition, the definition of a “dialysis-related” drug would be expanded to include not only injectable agents such as erythropoiesis-stimulating agents and iron products, but also oral, “home medications” such as phosphate-binding agents and calcimimetics. The allotted reimbursement for medications (around $15 per treatment) would likely not meet the needs of many patients, and many members raised concerns. Dr. Wendy St. Peter compiled our comments and evidence into a cohesive document and petitioned CMS to reconsider many components of the proposal, positing,

We understand that bundling of payments for dialysis services is designed to reduce financial incentives for utilization of unnecessary dialysis services. However, we believe that the current proposed bundle will lead to unintended consequences including under treatment of certain vulnerable ESRD patients and further fragmentation of medication management in these patients. We are also concerned that bundling could stifle innovation in new medication therapies for ESRD patients and, thereby, reduce the likelihood of further improvement in patient care.

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority’s Manitoba Renal Program received the 2009 Commitment to Care Award. Their initiative to increase the number of pharmacists providing direct patient care to patients with chronic kidney disease began in 1998. Their vision was to increase the pharmacy team (then 1.5 clinical pharmacists) using a unique, population-based funding structure. They have achieved their goal, increasing the team to 10 full-time equivalents (FTEs). In fact, their funding model for a fixed ratio of pharmacists to patients is now included in the planning process for every new dialysis unit, ensuring positions for clinical pharmacists and optimal pharmaceutical care for all patients in this setting. In addition to direct patient care, this program has allowed the clinical pharmacy team to demonstrate its value in providing training and education to pharmacy students as well as to other health professionals. Member of this team are also able to participate in research projects to improve medication use and have generated millions of dollars in drug-related cost savings. Their unique funding structure has definitely proved its worth!

The Nephrology PRN is currently writing a PRN Opinion Paper titled “Using Cockcroft-Gault and Modification of Diet in Renal Disease Equations to Dose Medications.” This paper will provide information and evidence pertinent to the controversy and debate that surround the issue of assessing kidney function and determining optimal drug doses in patients with chronic kidney disease. The final draft of the paper will be presented during the Nephrology PRN Networking and Business Meeting at the ACCP Spring Practice and Research Forum in Charlotte, North Carolina. We have applied for a focus session at the ACCP Annual Meeting in Austin, Texas, in October 2010 to present this debate in more detail.

Significant Papers/Presentations by Nephrology PRN Members in 2009–2010

Events at the 2010 Spring Forum

Joint Focus Session
The Nephrology PRN will cohost a focus session with the Ambulatory Care PRN regarding at the ACCP Spring Practice and Research Forum in Charlotte, North Carolina.

“What’s New with Vitamin D?”
Tuesday, April 27, from 10:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. in the Convention Center, Room 213 D
Moderator: Kathryn L. Kiser, Pharm.D., BCPS

The session includes three discussions:

1. “Vitamin D Physiology, Pharmacology and Supplementation: How Good Is It and How Much Is Enough?” Presented by Alan H. Lau, Pharm.D., FCCP
2. “The Use of Vitamin D in Chronic Kidney Disease.” Presented by Wendy L. St. Peter, Pharm.D., FCCP, BCPS
3. “The Potential Role of Vitamin D in Ambulatory Care Pharmacy Practice.” Presented by Joseph Vande Griend, Pharm.D., BCPS

Business Meeting and Networking Forum
Please join us for our Nephrology PRN Networking and Business Meeting in at the ACCP Spring Practice and Research Forum in Charlotte, North Carolina. This meeting will be held in the Johnson Room of the Hilton Hotel on Saturday, April 24, from 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. A light lunch will be provided.

The Pediatrics PRN, more than 400 members strong with an active e-mail list, is formally focusing on communication, collaboration, and collegiality this year. To this end, a needs assessment has been conducted, and action is being taken to address areas of interest to the membership. The topic “Formal Post-Pharm.D. Training in Pediatrics” was identified as an interest area, and it will be addressed at the Spring Meeting with the intent of proposing that the group write a formal position paper on the subject. Additional avenues of collaboration with other organizations will be explored through the leadership of the Collaboration Committee.

Member Accomplishments:

Steve Plogsted was appointed to ASPEN's Malnutrition Taskforce; he currently serves on ASPEN's Self-Assessment Committee. He is actively involved in new nutrition-related publications: "The A.S.P.E.N. Pediatric Core Curriculum" (section editor) and a chapter, "Gluten in Medications and Supplements" (chapter author), in an upcoming American Gastroenterological Society publication.

Kalen Porter has earned promotion to Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy.

The Pharmaceutical Industry, which has more than 240 members, is continuing to grow. The Pharmaceutical Industry PRN supports members working in the pharmaceutical industry and provides awareness and education to members who do not work in the industry. This year, the PRN is focused on highlighting the accomplishments of its members and networking with other PRNs to foster collaboration on a variety of projects.

PRN Business
The PRN will host a networking lunch at the 2010 Spring ACCP Meeting at the Hilton Charlotte Center City in the Gwynn Room on Monday, April 26, from 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Please join us to catch up with old friends and meet new colleagues. The Programming Committee has developed a symposium for the 2010 Annual Meeting that analyzes the quality of data that support recent changes to the prescribing information for drugs in the United States. The committee is now confirming speakers. The Nominations Committee is currently taking nominations for 2010–2011 PRN leadership positions. In addition, former Chair Andrea Anderson has completed revisions to the PRN’s “Drug Development Overview and Opportunities for Pharmacists in the Pharmaceutical Industry” slide deck. The members who drafted this deck will review it for finalization. Once finalized, the information will be available to the Industry PRN members for use in discussions to educate other pharmacists and pharmacy students on career opportunities and the process of drug development. Finally, Julie Maurey (Pfizer) and Marc Israel (Novartis) will represent the PRN at the ACCP Spring Forum Career Roundtable session on April 24, 2010.

Member Achievements
We are honored to announce the following achievements of our fellow members:

• Kay Uttech, Pharm.D., BCPS, Director, Global Medical Services at Baxter Healthcare Inc., has been appointed to the advisory board for Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science's College of Pharmacy in Chicago, Illinois.
• Leigh M. Vaughan, Pharm.D., MBA, RAC, at Talecris Biotherapeutics, Inc., is the current Treasurer and Board of Director on the Regulatory Affairs Professional Society (RAPS).
• Dorothy L. Smith, Pharm.D., President and CEO Consumer Health Information Corporation, is currently serving on the National Consumers League (NCL) National Medication Adherence Campaign and the NCL Chronic Condition Working Group and will speak on "Strategies for Improving Medication Adherence and Compliance, Parts 1 and 2" at the APhA Foundation Meeting on April 30, 2010.
• Patrick G. Clay, Pharm.D., FCCP, CCTI, assumed the role of Chair (2010–2011) for the American Pharmacists Association – Academy of Pharmaceutical Scientists Clinical Sciences Section in March 2010. This position affords a simultaneous appointment to serve on the APRS Executive Council of the American Pharmacists Association. In addition, he published articles in Pharmacotherapy, Current Medical Research Opinion, Lancet, and Diabetes Care in 2009–2010 and has presented several posters in the past year.
• Ruth Ann Subach, Pharm.D., BCPS, recently accepted a position at Trevena, Inc., as Director and Head of Clinical Operations. Trevena, Inc., is a privately held pharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing the next generation of G protein–coupled receptor (GPCR) targeted medicines. Trevena’s first compound is starting clinical trials in March 2010.

The Pharmacokinetics/Pharmacodynamics PRN would like to congratulate Timothy Bensman for winning the 2009 M. Kelli Jordan Travel Award. Timothy, a Pharm.D.-Ph.D. student at the University of Southern California, presented his research project, titled “Immunomodulatory Effects of Doxycycline in Cystic Fibrosis Airway Epithelial Cells,” at the Annual Meeting in Anaheim. The travel award recognizes the accomplishments of a Pharmacokinetics/Pharmacodynamics PRN member in training with an abstract accepted at the Annual Meeting for which travel support has been granted. Please watch for another travel award to be offered at the 2010 Annual Meeting in Austin, Texas.

We would also like to thank past Chairs Phillip Empey and Brian Overholser for developing the Pharmacokinetics/Pharmacodynamics PRN history document presented at the Annual Meeting.

The PRN is providing a focus session at the Spring Meeting in Charlotte titled, “Train the Trainer to Implement a National Pharmacogenomics Education Program to Bridge the Gap Between Science and Practice.” This session aims to provide a basic understanding and application of pharmacogenomics in clinical practice and is scheduled from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, April 25, 2010.

The Women’s Health PRN is looking forward to the ACCP Spring Meeting. We will host a session on “Update on Hot Topics in Women’s Health” on Saturday, 9:00 a.m.–11:00 a.m., and hope you will join us. Topics will include:

Women’s Mental Health Issues in Peri- and Postmenopausal Years
Speakers: Kelly C. Lee, Pharm.D., BCPP, and Cathi Dennehy, Pharm.D.

Emerging Issues in Hypertension in Women
Speaker: Benjamin Van Tassell, Pharm.D., BCPS

Menopause Management in 2010
Speaker: Christine K. O’Neil, Pharm.D., FCCP, BCPS

Member Accomplishments

Appointments/Promotions/New Positions

Sarah McBane, Pharm.D., BCPS, CDE, has accepted a new position as Assistant Clinical Professor of Pharmacy at University of California at San Diego Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Alicia Forinash, Pharm.D., BCPS (St. Louis College of Pharmacy), has been appointed to the editorial board for Annals of Pharmacotherapy Women’s Health Section.

Research Funding

Mary F. Hebert, Pharm.D. (University of Washington) is PI for a grant award from NIH/NICHD for Obstetric-Fetal Pharmacology Research Unit.

Anitra A. MacLaughlin, Pharm.D. (Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center), has received funding from the Women’s Health Research Institute of Amarillo as coinvestigator for Motivating Women for Physical Activity at the Worksite.

Katie McClendon, Pharm.D., BCPS (University of Mississippi), has received funding from Allergan Inc. for the project “Assessment of Outcomes Following Bariatric Surgery for Mississippi State Employees.”

Awards and Fellowships

Thomas Gochenour, RPH, Pharm.D., BCPS, NCMP (Rush University Medical Pharmacy), was named Preceptor of the Year by the Chicago College of Pharmacy, a division of Midwestern University in Downers Grove, Illinois.

Macary Weck Marciniak, Pharm.D., BCPS (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), was recently recognized as a Fellow of the American Pharmacists Association (FAPhA).

Publications

Longo B, Forinash AB, Murphy JM. Levetiracetam in pregnancy. Ann Pharmacother 2009;43:1692–5. [Epub August 2009]. Available at http://www.hwbooks.com/pdf/articles/08/08-18-09/aph.1M231.pdf.

McClendon KS, Riche DM, Uwaifo GI. Orlistat: current status in clinical therapeutics. Expert Opin Drug Saf 2009;8:727–44.

Rafie S, Macdougall C, James CL. Cethromycin: a promising new ketolide antibiotic for respiratory infections. Pharmacotherapy 2010;30:290–303.

Ragland D, Payakachat N, Hays EB, Banken J, Dajani NK, Ott RE. Depression and diabetes: establishing the pharmacist’s role in detecting comorbidity in pregnant women. J Am Pharm Assoc 2010;50:195–9.

Many of our members are editors and/or authors of the new textbook Women’s Health Across the Lifespan: A Pharmacotherapeutic Approach. Editors were Laura M. Borgelt, Pharm.D., FCCP, BCPS; Karim Anton Calis, Pharm.D., MPH, FASHP, FCCP; Mary Beth O'Connell, Pharm.D., FASHP, FCCP, BCPS; and Judith A. Smith, Pharm.D., FCCP, BCOP. The book was published by ASHP in March.

Poster Presentations at the Spring ACCP Meeting:
Ragland D. Impact of Emergency Contraception Status on Unintended Pregnancy: Observational Data from a Pharmacy Practice.

McClendon K, Pitcock M, Pitcock J. Using Blogs During Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experiences as Reflection Tool.