Making Meaningful Improvements in Pharmacotherapy and Medication Management for Children and Youth-A Modest Proposal.

The Special Issue, "Development of a National Pediatric Pharmacotherapy Collaborative Practice Network," has illuminated the vital global need for better care coordination and interprofessional collaboration in pharmacotherapy and medication management of children with medical complexity and special healthcare needs (CSHCN-CMC) [...].

Toolkit for Population Health Initiatives Around the Globe Related to Collaborative Comprehensive Medication Management for Children and Youth.

Almost 30 million babies worldwide are born prematurely or become ill annually and need specialized care to survive. Formalized collaborative practice agreements (CPA) between clinical pharmacists and physicians have been put forward as a means for improving the overall medicating experience in many patient populations, including children. This report briefly describes opportunities for collaboration using examples from countries on each continent where CPA is established in professional governance documents and standards. It also provides resources in the form of a toolkit for countries and pharmacist⁻physician collaborators to authorize and form CPAs to provide comprehensive medication management (CMM) for children and youth with special health care needs (CSHCN).

Creating a Pharmacotherapy Collaborative Practice Network to Manage Medications for Children and Youth: A Population Health Perspective.

Children with special health care needs (CSHCN) use relatively high quantities of healthcare resources and have overall higher morbidity than the general pediatric population. Embedding clinical pharmacists into the Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) to provide comprehensive medication management (CMM) through collaborative practice agreements (CPAs) for children, especially for CSHCN, can improve outcomes, enhance the experience of care for families, and reduce the cost of care. Potential network infrastructures for collaborative practice focused on CSHCN populations, common language and terminology for CMM, and clinical pharmacist workforce estimates are provided. Applying the results from the CMM in Primary Care grant, this paper outlines the following: (1) setting up collaborative practices for CMM between clinical pharmacists and pediatricians (primary care pediatricians and sub-specialties, such as pediatric clinical pharmacology); (2) proposing various models, organizational structures, design requirements, and shared electronic health record (EHR) needs; and (3) outlining consistent documentation of CMM by clinical pharmacists in CSHCN populations.

Positioning a Paediatric Compounded Non-Sterile Product Electronic Repository (pCNPeRx) within the Health Information Technology Infrastructure.

Numerous gaps in the current medication use system impede complete transmission of electronically identifiable and standardized extemporaneous formulations as well as a uniform approach to medication therapy management (MTM) for paediatric patients. The Pharmacy Health Information Technology Collaborative (Pharmacy HIT) identified six components that may have direct importance for pharmacy related to medication use in children. This paper will discuss key positions within the information technology infrastructure (HIT) where an electronic repository for the medication management of paediatric patients' compounded non-sterile products (pCNP) and care provision could be housed optimally to facilitate and maintain transmission of e-prescriptions (eRx) from initiation to fulfillment. Further, the paper will propose key placement requirements to provide for maximal interoperability of electronic medication management systems to minimize disruptions across the continuum of care.