National Satellite Broadcast Held at USC

By Kukla Vera on May 7, 2009 7:30 AM

The Health Resources and Services Administration, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, presented a national learning session of the Patient Safety and Clinical Pharmacy Collaborative on May 6. The collaborative currently has 68 teams nationwide, including a USC School of Pharmacy team working in safety net clinics in Los Angeles.

The Patient Safety Collaborative is an effort to improve the quality of health care nationwide by integrating evidence-based, clinical pharmacy services into the care and management of patients with chronic diseases. The program strives to improve patient outcomes and safety.

A satellite broadcast of the learning session, whose main site was in Washington, D.C., brought together another dozen sites nationwide. USC and the University of Minnesota were the only satellite sites that transmitted part of the national program.

Steven Chen, associate professor at the USC School of Pharmacy, was online from Washington as part of the Human Resources faculty. Chen was there along with his co-faculty member Paul Gregerson, chief medical officer at the JWCH Medical Clinic at the Weingart Center, the clinic where the two work collaborate on care for the patients.

Gregerson told the audience about the important role that clinical pharmacy services play at the clinic and how the collaborative approach has improved patient outcomes while saving health care dollars. Chen discussed ways that others around the country might also form these kinds of partnerships between clinics and schools of pharmacy, providing a fertile environment for educating students and residents as well as offering faculty research opportunities.

From Washington, Chen introduced his patient Mike Metcalfe, who was at the USC site for the program. Metcalfe shared his personal story with the national audience, explaining how Chen played a pivotal role in helping him take control of his health.

Also from the USC site, Kathleen Johnson, holder of the William A. and Josephine A. Heeres Chair in Community Pharmacy, presented outcomes statistics from the school’s work in seven safety net clinics in Los Angeles.

Johnson’s presentation showed how pharmacist intervention produced better results for patients with diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol while enhancing patient medication compliance and safety.

Nearly 50 people attended the satellite broadcast at USC. The program was held at the Aresty Conference Center in the Harlyne J. Norris Cancer Research Tower.

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