ASHPOfficial

ASHP chats with pharmacist Andrew Smith at St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx and Attending Physician Jonathan St. George at New York Presbyterian Hospital who are deep in the trenches in New York City and treating record numbers of COVID-19 patients.  They will share their experiences and success in managing the surge of COVID-19 patients including clinical and operational considerations that can be applied across the country.

ASHP chats with pharmacist Andrew Smith at St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx and Attending Physician Jonathan St. George at New York Presbyterian Hospital about their experiences with airway management in patients during the COVID-19 surge. Listen in as they share their strategies for patient care and medication decision making during this evolving pandemic.

We chat with Lucas Schulz about what pharmacists should be evaluating when it comes to all of the rapidly emerging studies and data surrounding the treatment of COVID-19 patients. Our content matter experts provide recommendations on how to critically assess and potentially apply information to these studies into real practice situations.

Our ASHP members are in various stages of preparing for, responding to, and recovering from the COVID-19 global pandemic. This is an extremely difficult time and as we – pharmacists, pharmacy residents, students pharmacists, and pharmacy technicians - continue to care for our patients, it is even more imperative to step-up our well-being for ourselves and the healthcare workforce community. Today, we chat with Lisa Wilhelm, Medication Safety and Compliance Specialist, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, PA,  on lessons learned and advice to share related to workforce well-being, maintaining health, and (trying to) stay resilient during these complex times.

Treatment approaches to COVID-19 are rapidly changing, often based on data that are based on case reports and studies that are poorly designed and not adequately powered.  There has been an increased interest in the use of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine for the treatment based on COVID-19 based on studies where they have been found to be efficient on SARS-CoV-2.  This weekend, the FDA has approved the use of these two anti-malaria drugs to treat patients infected by the new coronavirus. While clinical trials are needed to provide scientific evidence that these treatments are effective and safe, pharmacists are starting to see patients taking these medications, often without a prescription and with no regard to dosing regimen and concurrent medication regimens. We chat with Bryan Hayes on the management of patients who present to the ED who may have taken toxic doses of these agents. 

Dave Warner, ASHP Director of the Center on Practice Development and Brad Pierson, ASHP Senior Director of CareerPharm discuss CareerPharm Rapid Connect, a new free service, to alleviate staffing shortages during this crisis.  With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic many areas such as NY, NJ, WA, and CA to name a few are hard hit to care for an enormous number of critically ill patients.  Many facilities are faced with staffing shortages due to sheer volume, staff illnesses, and caring for patients with or without COVID-19.  Dr. Warner and Mr. Pierson discuss this new platform to unite individuals and facilities to help alleviate staffing shortages. 

How do we prioritize what goes where and to who when we don’t have enough to go around?  We welcome back  Dr. Ken Richman, Professor of Philosophy and Health Care Ethics and IRB Chair at MCPHS University to talk about how ethics play an important role when it comes to the fair distribution of scarce life-saving resources.

Join nationally recognized drug shortage expert Erin R. Fox, Pharm.D., BCPS, FASHP, Michael Ganio, Senior Director, Pharmacy Practice and Quality, and Tom Kraus, Vice President of Government Relations, as they discuss recent updates on drug shortages related to COVID-19 and the impact the recent federal relief law will have on managing the supply chain. 

 

Today we talk with Susan Goodin, Head of Pharmacy Practice, Patient and Investigator Engagement, and the Innovation Strategy Lead in Biotherapeutics Development for Janssen Research and Development.  Our focus is to talk about her experiences during her 25-year career while at the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey in managing drug shortages and discussing ethical considerations in prioritizing care and lessons learned from the oncology perspective. 

In today’s episode of ASHPOfficial, host Tom Kraus, Vice President, Office of Government Relations at ASHP interviews Kathryn DiBitetto, vice president of the government relations team at 340B Health. 340B Health is a nonprofit organization of more than 1,400 hospitals and health systems that participate in the 340B Drug Pricing Program. Kathryn strives to educate policymakers about the program, and, today, speaks directly to listeners about ways they can advocate for 340B.

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COVID-19
ASHP is committed to supporting you in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and is regularly communicating updates on this crisis. We have opened access to our evidence-based online resources and tools on ashp.org, making them widely available to all pharmacists and healthcare professionals, and our COVID-19 Resource Center is updated frequently. Additionally, our podcast is currently featuring COVID-19 related content on a regular basis. ASHP has also launched a new COVID-19 Community on Connect, which serves as a forum for any healthcare providers to ask questions, share experiences, post resources, and more. Thank you for all that you are doing for your patients and your community.