Positioning psychiatric pharmacists to improve mental health care.

Psychiatric pharmacy continues to grow and look to the future with a focus on helping individuals recover from mental health and substance use disorders. The American Association of Psychiatric Pharmacists (AAPP) considers Board Certified Psychiatric Pharmacist (BCPP) the gold standard credential that all psychiatric pharmacists should attain to demonstrate specialized knowledge and expertise in psychiatry. BCPPs are part of collaborative interprofessional teams and practice in hospitals, clinics, and diverse health systems. Two out of 3 BCPPs practicing in clinics have prescriptive authority. BCPPs improve access, safety, medication adherence, and therapeutic outcomes. Every person with a mental health and substance use disorder should have access to a BCPP providing comprehensive medication management (CMM) and psychotropic stewardship aimed at improving population health. BCPPs are in demand owing to their expertise. AAPP envisions growth and expansion of the BCPP role in many areas including coordinating psychiatric transitions of care and telehealth services, managing long-acting injectable medication clinics, providing pharmacogenomic consultation, conducting clozapine and lithium monitoring, managing medications for substance use disorders, leading medication groups, CNS drug development, research, and provider education. To prepare the workforce, colleges and schools of pharmacy should hire BCPPs for optimal curriculum development, and each student pharmacist should have an opportunity to develop a therapeutic alliance with a person recovering from psychiatric illness. Postgraduate year (PGY) 1 residencies should offer learning experiences in psychiatric pharmacy to prepare residents to enter an expanded number of PGY2 psychiatric pharmacy residencies, ultimately earning their BCPP and being well positioned to improve mental health care.

Clozapine-induced myocarditis: Two case reports and review of clinical presentation and recognition.

Myocarditis is a potentially fatal cardiac disease marked by inflammation of the heart muscle. With a noted black-box warning, rates of clozapine-induced myocarditis are reportedly as high as 3%. Since the first case of clozapine-induced myocarditis was documented in 1994, more than 250 cases have been described in literature with an approximate 33% case-fatality rate. We report 2 cases of patients with primary psychotic disorders treated with clozapine, who developed signs and symptoms of myocarditis. The first was a 35-year-old white male patient with a primary diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder (bipolar type) who was initiated on clozapine after nonresponse to several therapies. On day 26, the patient was admitted to the emergency department for chest pain presenting with eosinophilia and notable elevations in several biomarkers, including troponin and C-reactive protein. The second patient was a 45-year-old black male who was initiated on clozapine for treatment-resistant schizophrenia. On day 13, the patient reported cardiac-related concerns (tachycardia) and flu-like symptoms resulting in hospitalization. Similarly, this patient demonstrated elevated biomarkers (troponin and creatine kinase). Both patients experienced resolution of symptoms after discontinuation of clozapine. Clozapine was not rechallenged for either patient. Review of literature further elucidates the relationship between clozapine and myocarditis, including potential risk factors, pathophysiology, and symptom presentation. Due to the potentially fatal nature of this condition, clinical vigilance and awareness is warranted upon initiation of clozapine through monitoring of symptoms along with cardiac and inflammatory biomarkers as indicated.

Consumer satisfaction with National Alliance on Mental Illness written medicine information.

INTRODUCTION: Written medicine information (WMI) is a collection of facts for a specific medication, and it helps facilitate patient understanding of medication therapy. The primary objective of this study was to assess consumer satisfaction with National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) WMI. A secondary objective was to assess health care professional satisfaction. METHODS: National Alliance on Mental Illness WMI and surveys were offered to consumers, health care professionals, and trainees at 3 treatment centers with psychiatric services. All adults who received medication counseling were eligible for inclusion. Survey responses were evaluated using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Most consumers (82.4%) and providers (74.5%) reported overall satisfaction with NAMI WMI. Consumers were least satisfied with information on how to manage unwanted effects, drug-drug interactions, and readability (9.5%, 14.9%, 41.9% dissatisfaction). DISCUSSION: Evaluation and feedback from consumers and health care professionals may influence decisions to refine NAMI WMI to meet consumer needs.

Hospitalizations and emergency room visits after initiation of long-acting injectable antipsychotics.

INTRODUCTION: Long-acting injectable antipsychotics (LAIs) serve as a means to ensure medication adherence with the intention of improving outcomes for psychiatric patients. Evidence remains inconclusive regarding the impact of LAIs on relapses and psychiatric hospitalizations rates. METHODS: The primary objective of this retrospective pre/post study was to determine whether initiating an LAI in a veteran population with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or bipolar disorder is associated with a decrease in the 1-year rate of psychiatric hospitalizations and emergency room (ER) visits. RESULTS: For the combined primary endpoint, the 1-year rate of psychiatric hospitalizations and ER visits for patients with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or bipolar disorder was not significantly reduced after initiation of LAIs (n = 50, median [interquartile range]: 1.5 [1, 3] to 1 [0, 3], P = .055). However, the secondary endpoint of the 1-year rate of psychiatric hospitalizations was reduced (1 [0, 3] to 0 [0, 2], P = .026). Additionally, for those who received injections on a regular basis, the 1-year rate of hospitalizations and ER visits was significantly reduced (2 [1, 3] to 0 [0, 1.5], P = .009). DISCUSSION: This retrospective study suggests that the initiation of LAIs is associated with a reduced rate of psychiatric hospitalizations as well as a reduced rate of psychiatric hospitalizations and ER visits for those patients who receive injections on a regular basis.