Center for Medication Safety Advancement

National Prescription Drug Take Back Day is tomorrow, October 26th! This day addresses a crucial public safety and public health issue.

According to the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 9.9 million Americans misused controlled prescription drugs. The study shows that a majority of abused prescription drugs were obtained from family and friends, often from the home medicine cabinet.

The DEA’s Take Back Day events provide an opportunity for Americans to prevent drug addiction and overdose deaths. Visit the website to find a collection site or learn more about how you can help: https://takebackday.dea.gov/

CMSA would like to congratulate all Purdue College of Pharmacy Class of 2018 graduates! It is such an extraordinary accomplishment, and we are proud of you!

The Medication Safety Collaborative is for interprofessional teams of clinicians and administrators who focus on quality and patient safety. Learn more about the education and events offered at the Collaborative, and register at https://summer.ashp.org/. We hope to see you in Denver this summer, one of our most popular and highest rated meeting locations.

Welcome our APPE students this month: Austin Kurkowski and Carli Beall! They will be working with us this month to improve safe medication use.

Season's Greetings from Purdue CMSA!

One way for us to ensure safe medication use is through medication reconciliation. Our APPE student Megan Bereda shared her experience and talked about the role of medication reconciliation in patient safety. Read more here: https://medsafety.pharmacy.purdue.edu/role-medication-reconciliations-patient-safety

Our Medication Safety Fellow Dr. Kathryn Marwitz presented her poster at ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting 2017. Connect with us to know more about our fellowship program and how we improve safe medication use.

Meet and talk with us at the Indiana Reception at ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting in Orlando!

Welcome our new APPE student Megan Bereda! Megan will spend a month at CMSA helping us make safe medication use common practice.

Communication plays an important role in providing optimal care and ensuring safe medication use. Read more about our APPE student Patrick Nelson’s story on patient communication here: https://medsafety.pharmacy.purdue.edu/communication-key-0.

It is important for us to obtain accurate medication history information in order to advocate for our patients and help prevent medication errors from happening. Our social media intern Jon Zhou shared his story from his rotation on medication. Read more here: https://medsafety.pharmacy.purdue.edu/improving-medication-reconciliation-process

Pharmacists play an important role in educating and connecting with the community to improve safe medication use. Our Medication Safety Fellow Kathryn Marwitz shares her experience from her time in Baltimore. Read more here: https://medsafety.pharmacy.purdue.edu/connecting-community-through-medication-safety

Dr. John Hertig was awarded the Excellence in Medication Safety Award at the Indiana Pharmacist Alliance (IPA) Annual Meeting this past weekend. Dr. Dan Degnan accepted the Organizational Excellence in Medication Safety Award on behalf of the Indianapolis Coalition for Patient Safety.

We spoke with Mary Lou Sauer, Medication Safety Officer at AMITA Health Adventist LaGrange Memorial Hospital, for our medication safety spotlight. Check on our website for the full article here: https://medsafety.pharmacy.purdue.edu/medication-safety-spotlight-2

Pharmacists spend a lot of time communicating with patients and communication can help build trust and prevent medication errors. Read about our APPE student Erin Harpster’s story of communication here: https://medsafety.pharmacy.purdue.edu/communication-and-trust

There are various ways to improve medication safety. Our APPE student McKenna Harrell shared her story of the importance of preparedness from one of her past rotations. Read more here: https://medsafety.pharmacy.purdue.edu/blink

It’s never too early to address medication safety concerns. Read more about what our APPE student Geoffrey Federspiel learned about medication safety during the drug development process here: https://medsafety.pharmacy.purdue.edu/safety-during-drug-development-process

CMSA also educates future pharmacists on safe medication use. Here, Dr. Degnan and Dr. Marwitz teach Patient Safety and Informatics to third-year pharmacy students at the Purdue University, College of Pharmacy.

Medication safety is important wherever we work! Our Regulatory Pharmaceutical Fellow Kiersten Walters shared her story of advancing medication safety at a summer camp. Click here to read more: https://medsafety.pharmacy.purdue.edu/medication-safety-summer-camps

Join us in welcoming McKenna Harrell to CMSA! In the next 4 weeks, she will work with us to advance medication safety and make safe medication use common practice.

Pharmacists enhance safety through medication adherence. Read about our APPE student Yoojung Kim and her experience with medication adherence. Read more here: https://medsafety.pharmacy.purdue.edu/pharmacists-and-medication-adherence

Dr. Degnan and Dr. Anderson from CMSA attended Purdue's pharmacy orientation.

Many thanks to our alumni who joined us for roundtable discussions with first year PharmD students at Orientation today!

Dr. Degnan and Dr. Anderson from CMSA attended Purdue's pharmacy orientation.

Many thanks to our alumni who joined us for roundtable discussions with first year PharmD students at Orientation today!

Join CMSA and other safety professionals for multiple sessions covering a wide array of medication safety and patient safety issues, such as: Transitions of Care, IV Safety, Online Pharmacies, Anticoagulation, Opioids, and more!

View the complete agenda at www.stlcop.edu/ce on the “Midwest Medication Safety Symposium” page.

Hope to see you there!

Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies

New study from Purdue University, co-authored by the Center for Medication Safety Advancement's John Hertig, PharmD, finds more education is needed to ensure healthcare providers have the tools to keep their patients safe when buying prescription online. bit.ly/2ibu1zs

New study from Purdue University, co-authored by the Center for Medication Safety Advancement's John Hertig, PharmD, finds more education is needed to ensure healthcare providers have the tools to keep their patients safe when buying prescription online. bit.ly/2ibu1zs

We have three APPE students this month here working with us to make safe medication use common practice. Welcome Erin, Geoffrey, and Yoojung!

Jackie Wasynczuk received her PharmD from Butler University and now serves as a Regulatory Pharmaceutical Fellow in Drug Information at Purdue, Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC and FDA. She is spending the first part of her fellowship at CMSA to gain more experience in medication safety.

At CMSA we encourage collaboration among our learners. Here our APPE students and fellows are working together to advance safe medication practice.

Kiersten Walters received her PharmD from Purdue University and now serves as a Regulatory Pharmaceutical Fellow in Drug Information at Purdue, FDA and Eli Lilly and Company. She is spending the first part of her fellowship at CMSA to gain additional experience in medication safety. Welcome Kiersten!