Department of Pharmacy Practice
The University of Mississippi

Community-Based Research Program

The University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy (SOP) began a Community-Based Research Program (CBRP) in July 2008, with the implementation of the Delta Pharmacy Patient Care Management Project. The goal of this project was to demonstrate the impact of pharmacist MTM services on clinical, economic, and humanistic outcomes and to increase access to health providers/services in the underserved Mississippi Delta. This project focused on the implementation of MTM services in community pharmacies, the integration of on-site clinical pharmacists as part of a patient-centered medical home model in a primary provider clinic setting, and on-site MTM services in an employer-based setting. Building a network of pharmacy providers with experience providing MTM services in an underserved region is important to sustaining services. With this in mind, an educational model was incorporated to implement a community residency program and to integrate student participation into the CBRP service and research activities in this underserved region. Since that time, additional projects have been implemented in partnership with the Mississippi State Department of Health, the Mississippi Public Health Institute and other regional and national partners.

This effort builds upon a successful program that utilizes rural pharmacists to assist in medication management of Medicaid beneficiaries through: (1) coordinating medication use and health outcomes for persons in the Medicaid population; (2) utilizing Electronic Health Records supported by telemedicine to improve safety and adherence to pharmaceutical therapy and (3) evaluating the efficiency of Pharmacy Patient Care Management Services on medication adherence and disease management. The community impact will be a reduction in medication errors and improved clinical and economic outcomes for Medicaid beneficiaries in Delta communities.

Ongoing Projects

  • Pharmacy Cardiovascular Risk Reduction/Delta Health Collaborative – CDC/MSDH
  • Patient Safety and Clinical Pharmacy Services Collaborative – HRSA/PSPC
  • Million Hearts Initiative: Team Up, Pressure Down Pioneer Challenge – AACP/PNF
  • Community Pharmacy Residency Expansion Project (PREP) – NACDS Foundation
  • Southern U.S. Diabetes Coalition Project – CMS Innovation Award/MSPHI

Completed Projects

  • Delta Pharmacy Patient Care Management Project – HRSA/DHA
  • Delta Pharmacy Obesity Management Project – HRSA/DHA
  • Active Surveillance Attitudes and Perceptions in Prostate Cancer – NRHA/Emory
  • Million Hearts Initiative: Team Up, Pressure Down – CDC/NACDS Foundation
  • Project IMPACT: Diabetes – APhA Foundation
  • Beacon Community Cooperative Agreement – DHHS/ONC/DHA
  • Rapid HIV Testing in Pharmacies and Retail Clinics Demonstration Project – CDC