During the past decade, patient safety issues during care transitions have gained greater attention at both the local and national level. Readmission rates to U.S. hospitals are high, often because of poor care transitions. Serious adverse drug events (ADEs) caused by an incomplete understanding of changes in complex drug regimens can be an important factor contributing to readmission rates. This paper describes the roles and responsibilities of pharmacists in ensuring optimal outcomes from drug therapy during care transitions. Barriers to effective care transitions, including inadequate communication, poor care coordination, and the lack of one clinician ultimately responsible for these transitions, are discussed. This paper also identifies specific patient populations at high risk of ADEs during care transitions. Several national initiatives and newer care transition models are discussed, including multi- and interdisciplinary programs with pharmacists as key members. Among their potential roles, pharmacists should participate on medical rounds where available, perform medication reconciliation and admission drug histories, apply their knowledge of drug therapy to anticipate and resolve problems during transitions, communicate changes in drug regimens between providers and care settings, assess the appropriateness and patient understanding of drug regimens, promote adherence, and assess health literacy. In addition, this paper identifies barriers and ongoing challenges limiting greater involvement of pharmacists from different practice settings during care transitions. Professional degree programs and residency training programs should increase their emphasis on pharmacists' roles, especially as part of interdisciplinary teams, in improving patient safety during care transitions in diverse practice settings. This paper also recommends that Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) standards include specific language regarding the exposure of students to issues regarding care transitions and that students have several opportunities to practice the skills needed for effective care transitions. Moreover, reimbursement mechanisms that permit greater pharmacist involvement in providing medication assistance to patients going through care transitions should be explored. Although health information technology offers the potential for safer care transitions, pharmacists' use of information technology must be integrated into the national initiatives for pharmacists to be effectively involved in care transitions. This paper concludes with a discussion about the importance of recognizing and addressing health literacy issues to promote patient empowerment during and after care transitions.

Objective. To determine the impact of an interprofessional simulation using the SBAR (situationbackground-assessment-recommendation/request) communication tool on pharmacy students' selfperception of interprofessional competence and reactions towards interprofessional collaboration. Design. Ninety-six pharmacy students participated in an interprofessional simulation within a required applications-based capstone course. Pharmacy students collaborated with nursing students on multiple patient cases in various settings using the SBAR communication tool over the telephone. Assessment. Pharmacy students' responses to all 20 items on the Interprofessional Collaborative Competency Attainment Survey (ICCAS) completed after participating in the simulation indicated significant positive changes. The themes identified in students' reflection papers indicated the simulation was beneficial and student responses on satisfaction surveys were positive with a mean score of 4.2 on a 5-point Likert scale. Conclusion. Implementation of an interprofessional simulation using the SBAR communication tool improved pharmacy students' self-perception of interprofessional competence and attitudes toward interprofessional collaboration.

Background Improving the care of older adults in our healthcare system involves teams working together. As the geriatrics population rises globally, health science learners need to be prepared to work collaboratively to recognize and treat common conditions in geriatrics. To enable workforce preparation, the Institute of Medicine and the National League for Nursing emphasize the need to implement interprofessional active learning activities for undergraduate healthcare learners at academic medical centers. Methods The Geriatrics Champions Program was a team-based learning activity created to meet this task. It was a 24-month program, repeated twice, that impacted 768 learners and 151 faculty from medicine, occupational therapy, physical therapy, nursing, social welfare, psychology, pharmacy and dietetics. Each class was intentionally divided into 20 interprofessional teams that met four times annually. Each session focused on one geriatrics domain. The objectives were centered around the specific geriatrics competencies for each health profession, divided into the eight domains written in the “American Geriatrics Society IM-FM Residency Competencies”. Evaluation consisted of individual and team Readiness Assessment Tests (iRAT and tRAT). Surveys were also used to collect feedback using a Likert scale. Wilcoxon signed rank tests were used to compare iRAT and tRAT scores. Other analyses identified characteristics associated with tRAT performance group (Unpaired t-tests) and tRAT performance on the raw scale (Pearson correlation). Paired t-tests using a 7-level Likert Scale measured pre-post change in learner knowledge. Results Student tRAT scores were 30% higher than iRAT scores (p < 0.001). Teams were more likely to score 100% on the initial tRAT attempt if more team members attended the current session (p < 0.001), more health professions were represented by team members in attendance (p = 0.053), and the team had a better track record of past attendance (p < 0.01). In the post-program evaluation, learners felt this program was helpful for their career preparation in interprofessional geriatrics care. Conclusions Learners understood that teams performed better than individuals in the care of older adults. Feedback from the learners and faculty was consistently positive and learners felt better prepared for geriatrics care. The program’s benefits may extend beyond individual sessions.

The impact of clinical pharmacy transitions of care (TOC) services on relevant quality measures (QMs) has been a major focus in the recent biomedical literature. The 2020 ACCP Transitions of Care Task Force was charged with updating a 2012 white paper that focused on process indicators of quality clinical pharmacy services during TOC. The Task Force extensively reviewed the recent literature and regulatory measures relevant to TOC services. Given the wide heterogeneity and apparent uncertainty in these measures, the Task Force identified a need to define broader groupings for QMs so that pharmacy TOC services could more be reliably compared across various institutions and practice settings. The Task Force recommends QMs for the processes used to identify, and ultimately resolve, medication discrepancies (QM‐1) and medication therapy problems (MTPs) (QM‐2). Although interventions through various processes can be used to resolve medication discrepancies and MTPs, the findings of these interventions are closely aligned with the major outcomes from these TOC services. Therefore, the Task Force strongly recommends that the successful resolution of medication discrepancies and MTPs be studied for their potential roles as intermediate, or surrogate, QMs (iQM‐1, iQM‐2, respectively) because these are most likely to directly influence or predict quality related to major outcomes from TOC services. In addition, three QMs related to major outcomes are recommended, which are consistent with the triple aim: QM‐3: Health Care Utilization (HCU), QM‐4: Satisfaction and Engagement, and QM‐5: Economics. QM‐3, QM‐4, and QM‐5 span patient‐centered outcomes to institutional, or clinician‐based, outcomes. Specific metrics used for each QM are recommended. In addition to highlighting confounding variables affecting findings in the recent literature, broader contextual considerations that may support TOC services or span multiple practice settings are summarized. Future studies must adopt standard QMs and seek to understand the potential of iQMs to accurately predict success within major patient‐centered and institutional outcomes.

Objective. To implement and assess the impact of Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) students participating in a required interprofessional (IP) simulation during an advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE). Methods. Fourth-year PharmD students completing APPEs were required to participate in one of three IP simulations during the 2016-2017 academic year to improve their interprofessional teamwork and collaboration skills. Pharmacy student self-perception of IP competence was measured by the Interprofessional Collaborative Competency Attainment Survey (ICCAS), administered in a retrospective pre-/post-test design. Responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics to obtain an overview of the data. Paired t tests were used to compare the pre-and post-test results. Results. During the 2016-2017 academic year, 157 PharmD students were assigned to complete an IP simulation. Student scores on the six subscales of the ICCAS (communication, collaboration, roles and responsibility, collaborative patient-centered approach, conflict management, and team functioning) were compared. Scores in all categories significantly increased after completion of the simulation. Conclusion. Following participation in an IP simulation, PharmD students felt competent to engage in IP collaboration, and this, along with their performance on APPEs, determined their practice-readiness for IP teamwork upon graduation.