Pharmacists have a key role to play in healthcare, but it has little to do with dispensing drugs. Instead, pharmacists will become key players on patient-centered medical care teams. “Physicians are not good at medication management. Pharmacists are,” said Roger Merrill, MD, chief medical officer of Perdue Inc. “Pharmacists are good at drug interaction. Pharmacists are a trusted source of healthcare advice. And pharmacists provide value.”
Pharmacists are particularly good at medication counseling, Dr. Merrill told students at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy during …

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This year marks the centennial year of Florence Nightingale‘s death.  Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) is the founder of modern nursing.  Her contributions to nursing theory, education, practice, research, statistics, public health, and healthcare reform are foundational and inspirational and allow me to do what I do today.  She was a health care advocate to influenced leaders of her time.  She impacted public awareness and changed how people understood and valued health.
Not only was Florence Nightingale a patient advocate, she was also an advocate for nurses and nursing.  She asked …

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As fall prevention programming becomes embedded in more community sites, as well as health care settings, it is useful to find a statistical analysis of the evidence regarding the most effective types of exercise programming.  A meta-analysis was conducted to establish the effect of exercise on falls rates and to determine the particular features of effective fall prevention exercise programs.  After identifying 1,107 relevant studies, the authors applied strict inclusion standards resulting in a final sample of 44 randomized clinical trials where it was possible to discern the …

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Traditionally vitamin D has been recommended with respect to preventing osteoporosis, reasoning that improving the absorption of calcium improves bone strength making them less likely to fracture, should there be a fall.  Thereafter it was discovered that vitamin D has direct effects on muscle strength.  Severe vitamin D deficiency (as one might see in those nursing home residents who do not eat well and are virtually never in the sun) can present as muscle weakness and pain which resolves with vitamin D supplementation.  
Several early trials examining …