Bridging the continuity: Practice-enhancing publications about the ambulatory care medication-use process in 2024

Area of Science:

• Pharmacy Practice
• Medication Safety
• Health Services Research

Background:

• The medication-use process (MUP) is fundamental for safe medication management.
• The ambulatory care medication-use process (ACMUP) encompasses critical stages of patient care outside traditional hospital settings.
• Evaluating the ACMUP is essential as healthcare increasingly shifts to ambulatory environments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify, summarize, and prioritize published literature from 2024 concerning the ambulatory care medication-use process (ACMUP).
• To assess the usefulness of evaluated articles for improving ambulatory pharmacy practice.
• To define the components of the ACMUP, including transitions of care, prescribing, access, dispensing, adherence, and evaluating.

Main Methods:

• A comprehensive PubMed search was conducted in January 2025, focusing on articles published in 2024.
• Targeted Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) keywords and selected pharmacy journal contents were utilized.
• Articles were screened for relevance to at least one step of the ACMUP and potential practice enhancement.

Main Results:

• A total of 3,427 articles were initially identified.
• 34 articles were selected as potentially practice-enhancing.
• These articles were distributed across ACMUP components: 4 on transitions of care, 10 on prescribing, 5 on access, 2 on dispensing, 4 on adherence, and 9 on evaluating.

Conclusions:

• Regularly reviewing published literature is crucial for incorporating advancements into daily pharmacy practice.
• This article continues a series evaluating the literature on the ACMUP.
• The ACMUP remains a vital process for evaluation as ambulatory care expands.