Here's help for pharmacists who are making community presentations

The American Pharmacists Association and the Institute for Safe Medication Practices have joined forces to come up with a toolkit you can use. The kit includes:

All these materials are part of the "America's Medicine Cabinet: Use Medicines Safely" campaign, funded by the Community Pharmacy Foundation (CPF). They were unveiled at a press conference held at the APhA annual meeting in San Diego in March. Many of these materials can be personalized, according to the speakers. For instance, the consumer brochure has space in the back for pharmacists to affix a sticker of their pharmacy, said Donna Horn, director of patient safety at ISMP, while the slides, which take about an hour to present, can be added to or dropped based on your needs, said Michael Cohen, president of ISMP.

According to CPF's executive director Louis Sesti, the campaign will not stop with the launching of the toolkit. Instead, it will be extended to the state level through the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations.

Those who want to access the brochure, white paper, or slides can go to APhA's Web site, http://www.pharmacist.com/, or to http://www.ismp.org/.

This foundation has funds to spare

How did CPF come into being? It was formed by court order as part of a settlement of a class-action discriminatory pricing lawsuit community pharmacists had filed against drug manufacturers. Thanks to judicious investing and a diversified portfolio, far from depleting its funds, CPF has managed to stay evergreen, according to its treasurer, Bob Osterhaus.

What are some projects CPF has funded to date? The Grant Thornton study on dispensing fees, conducted last year, is probably the most well known. Other studies range from how to set up a lipid management program to improving asthma care. The results are posted on CPF's Web site and are replicable. "We've made a difference," commented CPF president Philip Burgess. To apply for CPF funds, go to http://www.tcpf.org/.