Insights Newsletter October 2025: Emerging Trends for Clinical Leadership

This month’s Insights Newsletter covers the latest practice-changing pharmacy updates, emerging trends, and popular natural medicine topics and resources. 

Clarify Facts About COVID-19 Vaccines for 2025-2026

Subscribers will need to be ready to give guidance about this year’s COVID-19 vaccines, especially as confusion and misinformation abounds. Our article discusses which patients should get vaccinated along with clarification of recommendations from FDA and various clinical organizations. We also give guidance on how the available vaccines compare and which to recommend. Readers can use our COVID-19 Vaccines 2025-26 resource for dosing, storage, and answers to FAQs about safety and effectiveness. Read More

Community Pharmacies: Take Charge with the Latest BP Treatment Strategies

New guidelines from the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association are reigniting conversations about managing hypertension. Our article discusses tailored BP goals, emphasizing a target of less than 130/80 mm Hg for most patients, while considering looser goals for those with frailty, limited life expectancy, etc. We provide guidance on lifestyle changes, medication recommendations, and the importance of home BP monitoring. Readers can use our updated Treatment of Hypertension algorithm for guidance about med choices and optimizing therapy. Read More

Hospitals: Review Data Behind Expanded Thrombolytic Timing for Strokes

Your team will hear about recent data that is stirring up discussion over using thrombolytics (alteplase, etc) beyond the typical 4.5-hour window after an ischemic stroke. We discuss the HOPE trial’s findings and nuances, which support alteplase use up to 24 hours in select patients, and weigh the benefits against risks such as symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage. Additionally, we provide guidance on patient selection and whether to apply this approach with tenecteplase. Readers can use our Ischemic Stroke Checklist to help identify other exclusions and weigh risks. Read More

New Guidelines: Fighting Hypertension with Lifestyle Modifications 

People will have questions about lifestyle modifications for managing hypertension, as new guidelines from the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology continue to emphasize heart-healthy eating patterns like the DASH diet, sodium reduction, and increased physical activity. Our NatMed article highlights clinical evidence showing that the DASH diet and sodium reduction can significantly lower blood pressure, and combining these strategies with weight loss yields even greater benefits. We discuss additional approaches such as yoga and transcendental meditation, noting their potential for stress reduction and blood pressure improvement.  Subscribers can check out our “Effectiveness by Condition” tool for additional evidence-based lifestyle modification strategies. Read More

Pharmacy & Prescriber Podcasts

Medication Talk

Listen to this month’s podcast episode, Biosimilars in Action, as we discuss considerations, challenges, and strategies related to the use and switching of biosimilars in clinical practice. You’ll hear communication tips to address patient and prescriber concerns as well as operational considerations for integrating biosimilars into practice.   

All Medication Talk episodes offer CE credit to Pharmacist’s Letter and Prescriber Insights subscribers for 2 years after the episode release date. Go to the CE/CME & Training Organizer and search “podcast” to find available courses.  

Rumor vs Truth

Listen to or watch the latest episode, Quick Verdicts: Acetaminophen in Pregnancy, as hosts Don and Steve separate fact from fiction about whether acetaminophen use during pregnancy increases the risk of neurologic disorders in kids.  

Clinical Capsules

Listen to our latest episode, Explore Different Med Regimens for H. pylori, as TRC Healthcare editor, Rachel Cole, PharmD, unpacks the updated recommendations for H. pylori management, spotlighting why bismuth quadruple therapy is now front and center and how to navigate antibiotic resistance and patient-specific factors. You’ll come away with actionable pearls on regimen selection, adherence strategies, and which drug interactions to watch for. 

Upcoming Tradeshows

We’d love to see you in person! Send us a meeting request if you’ll be attending any of the following shows:

• Becker’s Fall Chief Pharmacy Officer Summit: November 5-6
• Sigma: 2025 Biennial Convention: November 8-11
• Transform 2025: December 4-5
• ASHP Midyear: December 7-11 

See the Full List of Events for 2025 

New Blog! Compounding Chronicles

Category 3 Compounding – Sterile, Stringent, and Slightly Scary

By Adam West, Course and Curriculum Manager at CriticalPoint.

For years, compounders have been told to wait 30 minutes to start compounding after powering up a PEC. But is that really necessary? In this month’s Compounding Chronicles blog, CriticalPoint explores the pharmacy tradition behind the “30-minute rule” and reveals how quickly ISO 5 conditions can actually be restored. Spoiler: you might be waiting for no reason.

Read the Blog

Other Covered Topics

Explore our popular clinical resources, learn about our new Pharmacy Compliance Suite that gives your team the tools to reduce risk, meet regulatory requirements, and support accreditation, and watch a recorded webinar, Insights from Industry Leaders: Elevating and Empowering Pharmacy Technicians.