UConn Health

June 6, 2013 | Carolyn Pennington - Schools of Medicine and Dental Medicine

Health Center Pharmacy Resident Receives National Research Grant

Stephen Rappaport is one of only six pharmacy residents nationwide to receive the grant.

Stephen Rappaport

Stephen Rappaport

Stephen Rappaport
Stephen Rappaport

UConn Health Center pharmacy resident Stephen Rappaport has been awarded a Pharmacy Resident Practice-Based Research Grant from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) Foundation.

Rappaport will use his grant to conduct a study entitled “Evaluation of a Pilot Pharmacy Service Across Transitions of Care to Reduce 30-Day Postdischarge Healthcare Utilization Rates in Patients With Pneumonia or COPD Exacerbation.” He will receive guidance from senior investigator William L. Baker, assistant professor of Pharmacy Practice and Medicine at the Health Center.

“Proper prescription of medications is only one step in ensuring appropriate medication therapy,” says Rappaport. “As patients move through the transitions of care, the opportunity for medication-related problems increases dramatically. We performed a pilot quality improvement project around the idea that it should be the pharmacist who assumes responsibility for a patient’s medication regimen from admission, through discharge, to home. As vital as it is to perform the improvement project, it is just as important to document and assess the results. With help from the ASHP Foundation, we will be able evaluate outcomes that are meaningful to both pharmacists and administrators.”

Rappaport is one of only six pharmacy residents nationwide to receive this grant. “I was excited to go through the grant process with the ASHP Foundation,” he says. “It is a great grant program for first-time applicants, and I am grateful for the experience. On a professional level, it is good to have the experience of submitting and being awarded a grant, and on a personal level, I am happy that the ASHP Foundation saw enough potential in our project to assist in funding it to completion.”

“We are honored and excited to receive support from the ASHP Foundation for this important work,” Baker concurred. “We hope that our results improve outcomes in our patient population and can serve as a model for other health care institutions.”

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