BACKGROUND In 2013, California passed Assembly Bill (A.B.) 2348, approving registered nurses (RNs) to dispense patient self-administered hormonal contraceptives and administer injections of hormonal contraceptives. The Family Planning, Access, Care and Treatment (Family PACT) program, which came into effect in 1997 to expand low-income, uninsured California resident access to contraceptives at ...

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plays a unique role in protecting the public health and minimizing the risk of the distribution of unsafe or ineffective medicines in the United States. Perhaps equally as important for public health, however, is the need for healthcare professionals to be well informed about the benefits and risks of the medicines they prescribe. In this way, information ...

BACKGROUND Post-stroke healthcare consumption is strongly associated with a mental health diagnosis. This study aimed to identify stroke patients who utilised mental healthcare facilities, explored their mental healthcare consumption pre-stroke and post-stroke, and examined possible predictors of costs incurred by mental healthcare consumption post-stroke. METHODS Three databases were integra...

INTRODUCTION Diabetes is difficult to manage and treatment involves significant lifestyle adjustments. Unlike the traditional method of insulin administration via the vial and syringe method, insulin pens might be perceived as less cumbersome and have potential to significantly increase patient adherence. METHODS Using "real world" data, we examined the differences in adherence and costs betw...

OBJECTIVE to meta-analyze studies that have assessed the medication errors rate in pediatric patients during prescribing, dispensing, and drug administration. SOURCES searches were performed in the PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Trip databases, selecting articles published in English from 2001 to 2010. SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS a total of 25 original studies that met inclusion criteria were se...

PURPOSE Intravenous (IV) zoledronic acid (ZA) is commonly used to delay skeletal complications secondary to bone metastases. However, the time associated with ZA administration may represent a significant burden to healthcare providers and patients. This study assessed the time associated with IV ZA infusion in patients with bone metastases secondary to breast or prostate cancer (BC or PC) in t...

Abstract The standardized antibiotic administration ratio (SAAR) enables comparison of use (AU) within and between hospitals identifies target locations antimicrobials for stewardship interventions. Thousands institutions have already been submitting AU to the National Healthcare Safety Network. We highlight benefits meaningful utilization SAAR in conjunction with antimicrobial interventions im...

The most popular and patient-friendly method of drug administration is often thought to be the oral route administration. Compared conventional release formulations, advancements in formulation technology, including modified dosage forms or sustained forms, have been extensively accepted. A form provides a prolonged over an extended period, thereby giving better patient compliance enhanced bioa...