Bridging the continuity: Practice-enhancing publications about the ambulatory care medication-use process in 2022.

Abstract

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Purpose: This article identifies, summarizes, and prioritizes literature on the ambulatory care medication-use process (ACMUP) published in 2022 that can describe ambulatory pharmacy practice. The medication-use process (MUP) is the foundational system that provides the framework for safe medication utilization within the healthcare environment and was reimagined to focus on new innovations and advancements in ambulatory pharmacy practice. The ACMUP is defined in this article as having the following components: transitions of care, prescribing, access, dispensing, adherence, and evaluating. Articles evaluating at least one step of the ACMUP were assessed for their usefulness toward practice improvement.

Summary: A PubMed search for articles published in 2022 was conducted in January 2023 using targeted Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) keywords and the table of contents of selected pharmacy journals, providing a total of 4,125 articles. A thorough review identified 49 potentially practice-enhancing articles: 6 for transitions of care, 9 for prescribing, 5 for access, 2 for dispensing, 6 for adherence, and 21 articles for evaluating. Trends from the impact articles are described.

Conclusion: It is important to routinely review the published literature and to incorporate significant findings into daily practice. This article continues a series of articles defining and evaluating the currently published literature around the ACMUP. As healthcare continues to advance and care shifts to ambulatory settings, the ACMUP will continue to be a crucial process to evaluate.