Increasing chronic pain patients’ opioid prescription doses does not seem to improve pain, according to a VA study. Researchers from the Central Arkansas and Minneapolis VA health care systems and three universities looked at prescribing data of more than 50,000 VA patients taking opioids. They found that patients who had their opioid dosage increased did not have meaningful improvements in pain, compared with patients who continued to take the same dose. Learn more
Harps Food, UAMS Create Program to Teach Pharmacists to Work More Directly with Patients
LITTLE ROCK — Springdale-based Harps Food Stores Inc. and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Pharmacy together have created a novel training program to teach pharmacists to work more directly with patients to improve their health.
Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians will be trained to work as a team on medication therapy management (MTM), which is medical care provided by pharmacists to ensure medications are helping patients achieve the best possible health from their prescriptions.
The program is called MTM The Future Today (mtmthefuturetoday.com) and could bring significant changes to the pharmacy profession, said College of Pharmacy Dean Keith Olsen, Pharm.D..