Kaiser Permanente Researchers Honored for Drug Therapy Study

OAKLAND, Calif., Oct. 23, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --Three Kaiser Permanente Colorado researchers have been named co-recipients of the prestigious Drug Therapy Research Literature Award, an award presented annually by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Foundation.

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Daniel Witt, PharmD, FCCP, BCPS, Tom Delate, PhD, MS, and Nathan Clark, PharmD, FCCP, BCPS, co-wrote the award-winning article titled "Risk of Thromboembolism, Recurrent Hemorrhage and Death After Warfarin Therapy Interruption for Gastrointestinal Tract Bleeding," which initially appeared in JAMA Internal Medicine, a peer-reviewed medical journal formerly called Archives of Internal Medicine, in 2012. It was selected among "pretty formidable competition," according to ASHP Foundation Vice President Daniel J. Cobaugh.

The ASHP Foundation Literature Awards Program honors important contributions by pharmacists to the biomedical literature. The Literature Awards are made to individuals who publish high-impact articles in the primary, peer-reviewed, biomedical literature. Emphasis is placed on originality, innovation, impact and quality of the contributed articles. The ASHP Foundation will recognize this year's Literature Award winners during its midyear clinical meeting in Orlando, Fla., on Dec. 11.

"At Kaiser Permanente, one of our goals is to improve medication safety for our patients, and this award is validation that we are achieving that goal," said David Kvancz, vice president, National Pharmacy Programs and Services for Kaiser Permanente. "We strive to publish research that helps clinicians improve the care of patients not only at Kaiser Permanente, but around the world."

Witt, Delate and Clark are members of the Warfarin Associated Research Projects and Other Endeavors consortium, an international group of anticoagulation therapy experts who periodically meet to generate research projects. The consortium has published numerous studies in the last five years that have appeared in peer-reviewed medical journals such as Pharmacotherapy and Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis. This is their first ASHP Foundation award. 

"My colleagues and I are very honored that our research was selected for this award," said Witt, senior manager, Clinical Pharmacy Research & Applied Pharmacogenomics, in Aurora, Colo. "We'd like to thank the Kaiser Permanente Colorado pharmacy department leadership for its support of our work, as well as the dedicated staff of the Clinical Pharmacy Anticoagulation and Anemia Service, the care providers who keep our anticoagulated patients as safe as possible."

In addition to Witt, Delate and Clark, five other co-authors of the study  were named co-recipients of the Drug Therapy Research Literature Award, including Mark Crowther, MD,  (McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario), David Garcia, MD, (University of Washington, Seattle), Elaine Hylek, MD, MPH, (Boston University, Boston), Walter Ageno, MD, (Insubria University, Varese, Italy), and Francesco Dentali, MD, (Insubria University, Varese, Italy).

About Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America's leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, our mission is to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve 9.1 million members in eight states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to: kp.org/share.

Contact: Mark Camps, Kaiser Permanente, 510-625-5624

SOURCE Kaiser Permanente