Supplemental digital content is available in the text.

Collaborative drug therapy management (CDTM) is a written agreement that allows a pharmacist to initiate, modify, or continue pharmacotherapies under a physician's scope of practice. While available literature pertaining to cardiometabolic and respiratory CDTM services is growing, publications are sparse in psychiatry, particularly outside Veterans Health Administration medical centers. A descriptive study was undertaken to demonstrate how a board-certified psychiatric pharmacist would begin organizing a protocol for clinical pharmacy services at an outpatient, community treatment center for mental health and substance abuse disorders. The primary CDTM service proposed was metabolic monitoring for atypical antipsychotics, though profile reviews for medication reconciliation, drug level monitoring, and insurance coverage were also considered. Potential obstacles identified and worked through during the project included pharmacist-prescriber relationships, federal and state law requirements, pharmacy informatics development, and pharmacy services billing. Discussions with both administrative and medical stakeholders across the health system were essential in helping a pharmacist detail professional qualifications, justify positive impacts on patient outcomes, and navigate these legal and financial issues. The systematic approach arrived at through the study addresses current literature gaps concerning how pharmacists can evolve their practices from ancillary to collaborative design by nature within psychiatric settings.

Introduction Long-acting injectable antipsychotics (LAI-As) are important tools for the treatment of schizophrenia, yet they appear to be underutilized. This study will assess practitioner perceptions of LAI-As to elucidate reasons for underuse and uncover new avenues to increase appropriate use. Methods An anonymous electronic survey was developed and actively distributed to behavioral health care practitioners (MD, DO, PA, NP, PharmD, RN, LCSW). Independent t testing and linear regression analysis was used to assess for interactions between survey responses and individual factors. Results A total of 146 survey responses were collected from September 3, 2020 to March 17, 2021. On average, participants thought that LAI-As were slightly underutilized in practice. The mean estimated patient acceptance rate for LAI-A therapy was 38.6% ± 29.5% (range = 0%-100%). Participants who were <40 years of age and those with a psychiatric pharmacist at their practice site had significantly higher estimated acceptance rates. The highest-rated barriers to LAI-A use were related to negative patient attitudes, lack of patient education, and access issues (eg, transportation, cost). Respondent characteristics including age, gender identity, geographic location, practice setting, and the presence of a psychiatric pharmacist significantly influenced the perceived impact of these barriers. Discussion Behavioral health practitioners generally believed that LAI-As were underused, and only one-third of their patients would be accepting of the therapy. Several barriers were perceived as frequently impacting LAI-A use, but these were reduced by the presence of a psychiatric pharmacist. Understanding practitioner perceptions can assist with increasing the use of LAI-As.

Gabapentin is an anticonvulsant medication with an indication from the US Food and Drug Administration for use in partial onset seizures and postherpetic neuralgia in the United States. Currently, gabapentin is only classified as a controlled substance subject to stricter prescribing and distributing regulations in certain states, as opposed to pregabalin, an anticonvulsant with a similar mechanism of action which is a considered a Schedule V medication under federal law. Gabapentin shares a structural similarity to pregabalin, and several case reports have suggested that gabapentin has a similar propensity for abuse. The mechanisms of the gabapentin reward pathway, addiction, and withdrawal, however, are not well known. This case report describes a patient with long-term polysubstance abuse and new onset gabapentin dependence and demonstrates the need for increased surveillance of gabapentin prescribing.