Strategies to Implement Practice Change in Light of New Literature and Guidelines
Authors: Katie Blomquist, Morgan Bridwell, Ella Domingo, James Kortus, Jess Patel; Clinical Resources Workgroup, Clinical Practice Advisory Group - ASHP New Practitioners Forum
The Significance of Staying Up-To-Date with New Literature and Guidelines
Pharmacy practice is continually evolving, and literature and guidelines inform our medical management. Guidelines are updated every few years, and literature is published frequently. In order to provide the highest level of care, we must be aware of notable advances and apply relevant findings in a timely fashion to advance not only our practice and professional skill set. Detailed below are tips on how to navigate this process of gathering and applying this evidence as a new practitioner.
Strategies to Stay Up-to-Date on Evidence
Media, email notifications, and preceptor development are great tools to review the latest evidence to apply to practice.
Media
Social media platforms, such as LinkedIn and X/Twitter, can be useful in keeping up with new literature and reviewing old information. Organizations can have business accounts on these media platforms where new guidelines, recent journal publications, or other valuable educational material can be shared. Following organizational accounts within your clinical practice and interest area will allow you to get easy access to the newest publications and guidelines as they are shared. Pharmacy organizations may also share opportunities they have to attend upcoming journal clubs, continuing education presentations, or webinars they are hosting. In addition to following organizations, you can also connect with and follow pharmacy colleagues. The information your colleagues like or post can also be valuable and assist you in finding new literature.
Finding time to read new literature and guidelines may be difficult as a new practitioner, particularly during residency training. Depending on your learning style, reading and visualization may not be the best way you learn new information. Listening to podcasts may be another useful way to stay up to date on new information as well as revisit old topics. Podcasts can be listened to during your commute to work, a workout, or during other daily life activities. There are organizations and individual experts that have created podcasts discussing information on pharmacotherapy and professional development topics. These podcasts are often accessible on major streaming services (e.g. Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts). Finding a podcast that discusses information in your practice and interest area can be another way to stay up to date on new guidelines and literature on the go.
Email Notifications
One way to stay up-to-date is signing up for Listservs through different organizations and journals. The ASHP Connect Communities provide discussion panels through email, and anyone who is signed up for the community receives the emails, can post, and reply to other posts. This connection leads to many helpful ideas, such as quality improvement projects for P&T. It can be valuable to utilize the discussion board and search for a drug name and find a solution to an issue without having to reinvent the wheel. For example, if a health system wants to add a restriction to IV levothyroxine due to the cost of the medication, a community discussion about other facilities’ restriction criteria can inform the steps that can be taken. Getting email updates from NEJM, JAMA, etc., is also a helpful method of gathering information. Emails can be flagged so they can be further reviewed later on. These emails can also provide more ideas for journal club topics for students and residents.
Preceptor Development
For those who obtain board certification, recertification via the continuing pharmacy education (CPE) pathway can be beneficial to stay current on your pharmacotherapy knowledge. With this pathway, there is a required number of Board of Pharmacy Specialties (BPS) approved CPE credits you need to obtain depending on your certification date within the seven year period. Completing CPE credits throughout the seven-year period can help pharmacists stay up to date reviewing new topics and refresh their knowledge on previously learned topics. Multiple organizations offer recertification opportunities, including ASHP, whose Board Certification Guide has a list of BPS approved professional development program providers for CPE.
Precepting pharmacy students and residents can be another great way to help facilitate reviewing previously mastered topics and stay current on new literature. When precepting learners on rotation, you will likely have many topic discussions and have them put together a journal club and/or presentation. Prior to topic discussions, quickly refresh your knowledge on the subject and review any new guidelines or literature that has come out since the last time you have discussed the topic. Journal clubs can be a great way for both you and your learner to delve into a recently published study. Precepting and providing feedback to learners' presentations, whether it be a patient case or an accredited continuing education presentation, allows you to review the management and supporting evidence of disease states in your practice area.
Some health systems may have pharmacy subcommittees for preceptor development and education. In these subcommittees, there are a handful of pharmacists that are responsible for planning and executing monthly preceptor development resources such as in-services. This not only keeps pharmacists savvy with their skills, but it also prevents all of the education and in-services falling on only one or two individuals. There are a few topics that are covered annually and involve skills that pharmacists have previously given feedback on or have identified as needing review. Examples include introduction to statistics, writing letters of recommendation, giving constructive feedback, or adapting to learning styles.
How to Apply This Knowledge
Self-advancement, sharing information with interdisciplinary teams, and impacting the health system are ways to effect meaningful change and move pharmacy practice forward.
Self-Advancement
It is easy to get overwhelmed with journal articles, institutional protocols, and guideline updates, so before applying literature and guidelines, having a structured approach is key to remain organized. Google Drive, Sharepoint, and other cloud storage allow ease of access to literature. You can create folders for different topics such as oncology, infectious diseases, or critical care. As well as subfolders for guidelines, landmark trials, and recent studies. A great tip is to name files clearly (e.g. “2017 ACC/AHA guidelines” or “DAPA-HF Trial Summary”). That way, you can quickly find what you need when discussing cases. Mendeley is another great tool, especially if you prefer a reference manager. It lets you store PDFs, highlight key points, and even generate citations. If you are doing research, it is a lifesaver for keeping track of papers and making annotations for later reference.
Once you have a system for organizing literature, the next step is applying it in real-world discussions. If there is a new study or guideline update, discuss it with preceptors, mentors, and other colleagues. Asking questions such as, “Have you seen this trial? What do you think about its applicability to our patients?,” can spark insightful discussions and help refine how we apply evidence in practice. It is not just about reading the literature, but also about understanding how it applies to specific patient populations. Comparing guideline recommendations to real-world cases helps build that clinical judgment over time.
Pharmacy Team
Beyond one-on-one discussions, bringing literature into structured meetings is another great way to apply it in practice. If you are part of a specialty workgroup, bringing key literature findings can help shape practice decisions. For example, in an infectious diseases meeting, you might reference new data on cefiderocol for MDR infections and discuss where it fits in your institutional guidelines.
At broader pharmacy meetings, literature can be used to support policy changes or updates. If there is a new guideline impacting practice, such as updated anticoagulation strategies in atrial fibrillation, it is important to summarize the evidence clearly and concisely for your team. Whether you are presenting a journal club, leading a case discussion, or mentoring students, breaking down literature in a way that is digestible is key. Focus on the study’s design, major findings, clinical relevance, and limitations. Encourage discussion by asking, “Would this trial change your practice? Why or why not?” Summarizing studies with key takeaways such as major endpoints, primary findings, and clinical implications can help make the information more accessible. Not everyone may have time to read a full trial, so concise, high-yield summaries can be incredibly valuable.
Providers and Healthcare Team
When new guidelines are released or a new medication comes on the market, a health system may get a request from a physician or pharmacist to review them for formulary additions or updates. When reviewing new literature, subcommittees or individual pharmacists within P&T can be responsible for a full presentation at the main P&T meeting. This includes information on the medication, a comprehensive literature review, and cost analysis. Literature review will typically consist of multiple slides where the physician or pharmacist speaks about key takeaways and clinical application at the health system. This facilitates thorough discussion at the committee meeting, bringing up great questions that someone may not have previously thought about, or new ideas to better facilitate use of the medication. Studies are very important to dive into during meetings since some medications may not have the strongest data but still may be used often.
Thorough discussions can shed light on current practices and steps forward. When a significant change is made at P&T, the hospital can disseminate this information via educational flyers to providers to make them aware of changes or via presentations at interdisciplinary meetings. For example, if a medication is added to formulary, a summary of the medication, including indications for use and restrictions to ordering, can be shared with providers and other staff. By doing this, providers at multiple sites are up-to-date with changes and for greater preparation for additions or removals from computerized provider order entry (CPOE).
Health System
Pharmacists use national initiatives and professional newsletters as key tools to translate evolving clinical guidelines and emerging literature into actionable practice for healthcare staff. By staying current with updates from organizations like the CDC, FDA, ASHP, or professional journals such as AJHP or Pharmacotherapy, pharmacists can identify shifts in standards of care, new drug approvals, safety alerts, and therapeutic recommendations. These insights are then distilled into concise updates, formulary bulletins, or summary briefs tailored to prescribers, nurses, and fellow pharmacists.
To implement these changes effectively, pharmacists often lead staff education through targeted in-services, grand rounds, or informal huddles. They may integrate guideline updates into clinical decision support tools or revise existing protocols and order sets. When backed by credible, nationally recognized sources, these communications carry authority and promote consistent, evidence-based practice across departments. In doing so, pharmacists serve as both interpreters of literature and educators who ensure that the clinical frontline stays aligned with current best practices.
Key Takeaways
Media, email notifications, and preceptor development are notable resources to stay up-to-date on the most recent evidence. By setting up a system to keep literature organized and take time to review it, discussing these findings with the pharmacy team through daily interactions and educational sessions, and effecting change on a larger scale to align with best practices, we can continue to flourish as new practitioners and establish a solid foundation of evidence-based practice.