Over the last ten years, there has been an increasing realization of the importance of information. Much of this can be related to the increased availability of Internet information sources throughout society, along with the ease by which material can be located and used. The impact of the Internet can also been seen in this book. The first edition contained only two pages of information about the Internet, which reflected the small amount of medical information available and the little impact that it had on the profession at that time. In this new edition, it seems as if hardly a page can be found without some reference to Internet material. This increased emphasis on information has had an effect on both the health care professional, who uses the material, and the patient, who may look up material directly and even bring it in to talk about with a pharmacist or physician. The ability to obtain, manage, and use information has become an important core skill for the professional.
Unfortunately, pharmacists in practice may find it difficult to learn how to manage information, due to a lack of good, comprehensive resources to teach them proven methods for improving their skills. Students also need a source to supplement the classroom and clerkship training they receive. It is to serve those populations that this book was originally written. In this third edition, the goal of this book continues to be to educate both students and practitioners on how to efficiently research, interpret, collate, and disseminate information in the most usable form. While there is no one right method to do these things, proven methods are presented and demonstrated. Also, seldom-addressed issues are covered, such as the legal and ethical considerations of providing information.
The book begins by introducing the concept of drug information, including its history, and providing information on various places drug information specialists may be employed. The book continues on by describing the various steps for obtaining, evaluating, and providing information. As with the first edition, the “Modified Systematic Approach” to answering a question is presented. “Formulating Effective Responses” further expands on this topic by addressing problems that pharmacists experience when answering questions and providing techniques for overcoming these issues in order to reach appropriate conclusions. This section of the book is designed to teach pharmacists and students useful methods for determining what information is actually needed and how to adequately respond to requests.
Subsequent chapters allow the reader to further expand their skills in these areas. Once the pharmacist determines what information is needed using the skills outlined in the initial chapters, resources must be consulted to formulate a response. As always, a chapter discussing various resources that may be consulted for specific types of information has been provided, which has expanded coverage of electronic resources, particularly those for personal digital assistants (PDAs). New material on how to find information regarding veterinary medicine and complementary/alternative medicine has been added. A chapter on electronic information management is included, although there has been an effort to include this type of information throughout the book.
Even when information is found, pharmacists must evaluate the literature for quality and usefulness. The earlier editions of this book provided information on how to evaluate the medical literature. Those evaluation techniques are again in this edition with additional information being provided.
Two specific types of literature have been identified for even greater examination— pharmacoeconomics and evidence-based clinical practice guidelines. Information is presented on how to both perform such functions and evaluate work prepared by others. Evaluation of information resources often requires knowledge about statistical tests. The “Clinical Application of Statistical Analysis” chapter is an expansion of information provided in previous editions. The reader of this chapter will discover how to evaluate the appropriateness of statistical tests used in clinical studies.
Pharmacists may be asked to provide information in written form. The next chapter describes how this may be done. Additionally, sections describing how to prepare materials for formal presentations (platform and poster) and develop Websites are also provided.
The legal and ethical aspects of providing information always must be considered. The chapters on these topics have been updated and improved to be even more useful tham those in previous editions. In particular, additional information has been provided on new privacy regulations that have been instituted because of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).
The remaining chapters deal with specialized functions that have often been the responsibility of drug information specialists but may be addressed by other pharmacists. These chapters will build upon the first part of the book. Much of the information in these chapters was covered in the Pharmacy and Therapeutics (P&T) chapter of the first edition; however, that chapter is now mostly limited to formulary management and some minor P&T functions. The formulary material also has increased information regarding third-party payer (e.g., insurance companies) formularies. New and expanded information is provided on quality assurance, adverse drug reactions and medication errors. Also, the information on how to prepare a drug evaluation monograph has been moved to a new chapter, with additional information on standards that have been prepared by the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) and various governments. Finally, the chapter on Investigation Drugs has been updated to take into account new information and procedures.
With the veritable Niagara Falls of drug or pharmacy information available, much of which is complex, pharmacists have an increasing need for information management skills. This book will assist any pharmacist or student in the improvement of his or her skills in this area and allow individuals to evolve into new roles for the advancement of both the profession and care of patients.
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