The USC School of Pharmacy received the 2007 Pinnacle Award on June 12 from the American Pharmacists Association Foundation in Washington, D.C.

The Pinnacle Award (category 2) recognizes individuals or groups for exemplary leadership in medication use and the delivery of appropriate pharmaceutical care. The award will be given to the school in honor of its work in “safety net” clinics in some of Los Angeles’ most disadvantaged neighborhoods.

“The ‘safety net’ clinic program is one way USC can give back to its community,” said USC School of Pharmacy Dean R. Pete Vanderveen. “At the clinics, our staff provides regular, one-on-one pharmacist counseling to patients resulting in better medication compliance and overall improved disease management.

“We have seen firsthand the difference this unique program has made in the health and well-being of some of Los Angeles County’s most at-risk residents,” Vanderveen said. “Being honored for our commitment makes the work even more rewarding.”

At the clinics, USC faculty, staff and residents provide pharmaceutical care services for patients with chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, asthma, high cholesterol and heart failure.

The pharmacists get to know the patients through regular appointments, supervising their progress and teaching them about their diseases. Through physician-approved protocols, staff members at the clinics can modify drug therapy as needed to help patients reach treatment goals.

“Our pharmacists are determined to ensure clinic patients follow their prescribed medication schedules,” said Steven Chen, associate professor at the USC School of Pharmacy and pharmacy residency director for the eight clinics served by USC. “They go out of their way to support their patients’ safety and health, even if that means visiting them where they live to make sure they have a proper place to store medications.

“For example, to improve the health of a blind diabetes patient, my staff and I worked to identify a glucose monitor that ‘spoke’ and a manufacturer willing to donate the monitor to him.”

USC’s involvement in the clinics began in 2002 when Mel Baron, associate professor in the USC School of Pharmacy, was working as a pharmacist consultant for safety net clinics. During his tenure, Baron observed how expanded pharmaceutical services could dramatically improve the care patients received.

Baron and colleague Kathleen Johnson, chair of the school’s Titus Family Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Economics & Policy, sought and received a grant supporting pharmacy services in three clinics from the Health Resources Services Administration. Foundation grants have extended pharmacy services to eight clinics.

“The challenges facing our nation’s health care system are well-known, particularly for those who are uninsured,” Baron said. “In Los Angeles County alone, there are 2.7 million uninsured residents. The community-based clinics are often the only option available to these patients.

“We found a real opportunity to affect positive changes for those patients who seek care at clinics, many of whom suffer from multiple chronic conditions and require complicated medication regimens,” he explained. “Through regular disease management visits with a pharmacist, we can decrease emergency room visits, hospitalizations and mortality rates.”