Press Release

Pharmacists Receive Grants to Improve Patient Care Using Technology

The ASHP Foundation is pleased to announce that it has awarded funding to two researchers through the Optimizing Technology Solutions Innovation Grant program, which was made possible by a donation from Omnicell.

Mojdeh S. Heavner and Debbie Liang each received $30,000 for projects demonstrating how new and emerging technologies can aid in the safe and effective use of medications.

“This year’s funded projects provide much-needed insight into how technology can improve access to care and advance pharmacist-team integration to enhance medication outcomes,” said ASHP Foundation CEO Kelly McCormick-Sullivan. “Projects such as these demonstrate the leading role of pharmacists in finding ways to leverage technological advancements to improve patient care.”

The Optimizing Technology Solutions Innovation Grant program is offered in collaboration with the ASHP Innovation Center and supports pharmacist-led research projects that demonstrate the impact of innovative technology solutions on enhancing the safe and effective use of medications. Digital transformation of pharmacy operations to enhance efficiency and optimize medication use is a priority for ASHP and the ASHP Foundation.

The 2024 Optimizing Technology Solutions Innovation Grant Research Projects are:

Optimizing Pharmacist Team-Integration for ICU Patient Management
Mojdeh S. Heavner, PharmD, BCCCP, FCCM, FCCP
Associate Professor and Vice Chair for Clinical Services
University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Baltimore, Maryland

"Patient health outcomes are optimized when clinical care pharmacists attend interprofessional rounds in ICUs. However, 30% of ICUs do not have a clinical care pharmacist on staff, and those that do often come with a heavy workload. This study will create robust models of the relationship between clinical care pharmacists’ workload and patient outcomes using advanced machine learning and other techniques with diverse data generated from a rigorously designed evaluation."

Predictive Pharmacoequity: Development and Validation of a Predictive Model and Risk Score of Social Determinants of Health and Medication Adherence
Debbie Liang, PharmD, BCCCP
Outcomes Research Pharmacist
UNC Health, Morrisville, North Carolina

"There have been many studies on how social determinants of health (SDOH) impact medication adherence, and it is well-established that pharmacists play a critical role in reducing barriers and disparities. Despite this, there is yet to be a comprehensive solution to address these challenges. The goal of this study is to create a useable and scalable tool that identifies patients at risk of medication nonadherence based on SDOH factors by leveraging advanced data analytics to develop a predictive model that can be integrated into the electronic health record to identify those at high risk of medication nonadherence due to poor SDOH."

For more information about the Optimizing Technology Solutions Innovation Grant Program, visit ashpfoundation.org/optimizingtechnologysolutions.