Summer 2009

Part 1 of this 2-part overview of prescription drug trend focuses on important therapeutic classes for all generations.

An individualized care plan for patients with chronic conditions will improve outcomes and eliminate unwanted and unnecessary care.

A multistakeholder, statewide symposium demonstrated the value of innovative pharmacist-led patient care programs and generated 9 key measures for planning or examining such programs.

Nominal group technique reinforced with electronic voting technology to stimulate conversation is a feasible technique for conducting focus groups with primary care physicians.

An automated reinforcement platform was shown to increase statin adherence by 34.6%.

Methotrexate >15 mg weekly and adalimumab as first-line therapy were positive predictors of anti-TNF-a response in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Ms Nayer praises the bold collaborations between pharmaceutical companies and health plans that base contract incentives on improving health outcomes, not the volume of drugs sold.

It is important that clinicians with pain management expertise be on committees that choose pain medications for formularies.

This commentary encourages P&T committee members to be champions for assimilating new findings into medical practice and translating research into real outcomes.

The Editor discusses how the results from comparative effectiveness research will affect the various constituents in the healthcare sector.