• Description
• Lectures
• Workshops
• Program
• Abstracts
• Travel advice and accommodation
• Registration

The 14^th PCNE Working Conference will take place in Innsbruck, Austria from 5th to 8th February 2025!

The registration for the 14th PCNE Working Conference 2025 in Innsbruck, Austria (5th to 8th February 2025) is now open!

It’s important to follow the two-step registation procedure:

FIRST: on INDICO in order to provide your details: HERE
SECOND: registration and payment on this PCNE website

The "Strengthening Pharmaceutical Care Research and Practice" conference aims to connect science and practice. Keynote lectures will highlight the latest advancements in pharmaceutical services, the implementation of AI in both scientific and practical work, and recent developments in medication review. We are confident that the inspiring environment, fresh mountain air, and excellent networking opportunities will spark new ideas and foster collaborations.

Venue: The conference will take place at the Innrain University Campus Ágnes-Heller-Haus (Innrain 52a, 6020 Innsbruck)

Conference Highlights

• Workshops: 12 hours of intensive learning
• Foppe van Mill Memorial Lecture
• Three Keynote Lectures
• Short Oral Presentations
• Poster Session

PCNE General Assembly: will be held in a hybrid format for PCNE members on Thursday, February 6th, at 17:00.

The best poster presentation and the best oral communication will be awarded! Dr. Isabelle Arnet sponsors the Isabelle Arnet-Poster Prize PCNE 2025. And, as in previous years, the Förderinitiative Pharmazeutische Betreuung sponsors the best oral communication prize! 

Social event

A social event will be held on Friday, February 7th, at the Restaurant 1809 am Bergisel! This restaurant, next to the Tirol Panorama, is the jewel of the Bergisel ski jump area. Registration for the event will be available in the registration form.

SPONSORS OF THE CONFERNCE:

Gold sponsor

We extend our sincere thanks to these organizations for their sponsorship and support:

And special thanks to PD Dr. Isabelle Arnet for sponsoring the Isabelle Arnet-Poster Prize PCNE 2025!

Keynote lecture 1: Wednesday, 5 February 2025, 13:30 - 14:30

Foppe van Mil Memorial Lecture

Evolution of pharmaceutical care & research and the example of enriching medication reviews with pharmacogenetic (PGx) testing results

Kurt E. Hersberger & Anna Bollinger, Pharmaceutical Care Research Group, University Basel, Switzerland

Foppe van Mil was a co-founder of the Pharmaceutical Care Network Europe (PCNE) and since its establishment in 1994 the leading person of the association either as chair or professional secretary. He was dedicated to strengthening pharmaceutical care research and practice, always committed to innovation for the well-being of patients and public health. He was a researcher, teacher, networker, editor and last but not least a practicing community pharmacist. Major contributions are the development of the PCNE classification of DRPs, the definition of pharmaceutical care and the development of a typology for pharmacist-led medication reviews.

Since 2009 at each PCNE conference medication review was an important topic. Specific aspects were discussed and refined in dedicated workshops, most of them chaired or co-chaired by Foppe. Today, medication review is seen as the cornerstone of pharmaceutical care. But still strong evidence of the impact of pharmacist-led medication review is lacking.

In the first part of this lecture important advancements and gaps were discussed with reference to Foppe van Mil.

In a second part, Anna Bollinger (PhD candidate in the Pharmaceutical Care Research Group of the University of Basel) presents the experiences of an observational case series study, in which PGx panel testing was applied to enrich medication reviews in patients with DRPs or therapy failure. PGx panel testing is a promising approach to identify the patient’s susceptibility to DRP reactively and to provide recommendations for future treatment decisions preemptively, both to ensure a safe and effective pharmacotherapy.

Keynote lecture 2: Thursday, 06 February 2025, 9:00 - 10:00

Application of theories, models, and frameworks in pharmacy practice research 

Prof. Dr. Anita Elaine Weidmann, The Innsbruck University, Austria

Pharmacy practice research often focuses on the design, implementation and evaluation of pharmacy services and interventions. This lecture highlights the importance of using theory to underpin pharmacy practice research to maximise its quality and impact and tries to clarify how such theoretical lenses can be used, selected, and applied correctly.

Keynote lecture 3: Friday, 07 February 2025, 9:00 - 10:00

Challenges and opportunities of introducing artificial intelligence enabled solutions in pharmaceutical care and research 

Kreshnik Hoti, University of Prishtina, Faculty of Medicine, Division of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacy Practice and Pharmaceutical Care

This lecture will provide an overview of recent developments in artificial intelligence (AI) within the field of pharmacy, highlighting how key AI techniques are driving related solutions in healthcare, with an emphasis on pharmacy practice. Challenges and opportunities related to implementation of these solutions into real-world settings will be discussed, with consideration on future implications for pharmaceutical care and evolving scope of practice. The lecture will also cover current trends in pharmacy practice related AI research, drawing on insights from editorial experience with submissions and publications in leading pharmacy journals.

Keynote lecture 3: Saturday, 08 February 2025, 9:00 - 10:00

Evaluation of medication management reviews: are they effective in optimising pharmaceutical care?

Prof. Timothy F. Chen, The University of Sydney 

Collaborative medication management reviews are now well established as a core component of pharmaceutical care in many countries around the world. Pharmacists providing collaborative medication management reviews can receive remuneration for providing services which aim to achieve the quality use of medicines. These services usually require interprofessional collaboration with primary care physicians, who make referrals to pharmacists to review complex regimens. Although most would agree that collaborative medication management review services are both efficacious and effective, a few contend that they are not. Complex health interventions require a sophisticated and comprehensive evaluation strategy – often beyond the scope of a single study. This presentation will discuss some of the key considerations in the evaluation of collaborative medication management review services and the strengths and weaknesses of various approaches, from resolution of medication related problems to quality of life and avoidance of hospitalisations. Factors which can lead to heterogeneity of findings will also be discussed, such as extent of interprofessional collaboration, experience of the pharmacist, and facilitators and barriers within the health care system, amongst others. 

1. DRUG RELATED PROBLEM CLASSIFICATION

Workshop facilitators: Prof Timothy F Chen, The University of Sydney; Prof Rebekah J Moles, The University of Sydney; Dr Margaret Jordan – member of research team, The University of Sydney, Affiliate; Mr Timothy Yeo – member of research team, The University of Sydney, Honours candidate 2024

Background: PCNE has had a long history of developing and updating a classification system for drug related problems (DRP). The current version of the classification system (V 9.1) was last updated in May 2020. The PCNE system has been used by both clinicians and researchers to report evaluations of medication management review services, especially in relation to the causes of drug related problems (i.e., the factors contributing to drug related problems). Currently the “causes” component of the PCNE system is the most detailed and precise section of the classification system. The level of precision and detail in the classification system for the “interventions” or “recommendations” resulting from medication management review services is less well developed.

Aim: To address this potential imbalance, our research team has reviewed the published literature on classification systems for drug related problems. We are currently developing and validating an aggregated system for classifying the “interventions” or “recommendations” arising from medication management reviews (due for completion Nov/Dec 2024). This research has the potential to inform updates of other DRP classification systems, including the PCNE classification system.

Learning objectives:

• To describe the development of an aggregated system for classifying the “interventions” or “recommendations” arising from medication management reviews
• To compare and contrast the differences between classification systems for drug related problems, as the relate to any “interventions” or “recommendations” arising from medication management reviews
• To discuss and strengths or limitations of the (newly) developed aggregated system for classifying the “interventions” or “recommendations” arising from medication management reviews for research purposes or clinical practice
• To test the applicability of the (newly) developed aggregated system for classifying the “interventions” or “recommendations” arising from medication management reviews for research purposes or clinical practice

Activities:

• Facilitated discussion on the applicability of the (newly) developed classification system and areas for improvement and or potential deletion
• Application of the (newly) developed classification system and comparison with existing selected classification systems
• Discussion about the use of AI to facilitate the classification of drug related problems versus expert (human) coders

Targeted workshop participants: This workshop is open to all those with an interest in measuring the outcomes from medication management review services. It will be delivered in a way which suits both early career as well as those more experienced in the evaluation of pharmaceutical care services. Participants may bring (de-identified) cases from their own practice which may be used to test the  (newly) developed aggregated system for classifying the “interventions” or “recommendations” arising from medication management reviews.

Acknowledgements and potential outcomes: The facilitators acknowledge and thank all individuals who have contributed to the development of the PCNE classification system for drug related problems, especially the conceptual framework of the system. It is possible that the findings from this workshop may, in some way, inform a future update of the PCNE classification system.

The workshop facilitators thank the members of the PCNE DRPs working group  – Tommy Westerlund, Ina Richling and Nejc Horvat for their support.

2. INTERVENTIONS TO ENHANCE MEDICATION ADHERENCE IN COMMUNITY PHARMACY – HOW TO DEVELOP EFFICIENT STRATEGIES WITH SELF-REPORT QUESTIONNAIRES SUCH AS THE 15-STARS

Workshop facilitators: Dr Isabelle Arnet, University of Basel, Switzerland; Dr Christiane Eickhoff, ABDA, Berlin, Germany; Dr Hanna Seidling, University Hospital Heidelberg, Germany NN, cand PhD, University of Basel, Switzerland NN, cand PhD, University Hospital Heidelberg, Germany 

Background: Easy questions or elaborated software systems in community pharmacies are able to alert the healthcare providers (HCP) when patient behavior is indicative of non-adherence. From an ethical point of view, the HCP should then offer an adherence enhancing intervention or program that should be patient-centered and efficient. The 15-items questionnaire has been developed and validated to assess modifiable barriers to medication adherence in polymedicated, ambulatory patients (Arnet et al. RSAP 2024; 20(3): 308). It is currently used in several countries to investigate the type of adherence difficulties that patients encountered in daily life. The interventions proposed by pharmacies need to be investigate.

Simultaneously, digitalization and mobile Health (mHealth) are expanding, and digital health interventions show vast potential in supporting patients. Although mHealth applications (apps) are considered a promising solution to promote behavior change among patients, improve health outcomes, and reduce healthcare costs, uptake remains low and patients engage only at a minimum level. Thus, if electronic monitoring should be a remedy to non-adherence, what tools should be best used in community pharmacies?

Aim: This workshop aims at (i) defining the interventions that can be derived from the 15-STARS questionnaire; (ii) exploring how to propose a concrete (feasible?) intervention to patients, keeping in mind the concept of shared-decision making; (iii) defining electronic tools for the monitoring of adherence including pros and cons, accessibility and patient acceptance; (iv) exploring methods to assess the success of adherence enhancing interventions, keeping in mind the concept of SMART goals (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound).

Activities: To reach these objectives, the workshop will be organized in several parts: A) regarding adherence enhancing interventions and how to invite patients to adopt them (2 sessions of 2-3 hours); B) regarding mHealth apps and electronic monitoring tools for pharmacy practice (1 session of 2 hours); C) regarding the assessment strategies of adherence enhancing interventions with specific focus on electronic tools (2 session of 2-3 hours).

What can participants expect from the WS? Participants will refresh their knowledge about medication adherence and self-report questionnaires; will get aware of interventions that can be offered in pharmacy practice; will have insight into SMART assessment methods that will enable research projects.

Who can participate to the WS? Participants from all levels of expertise can join the WS, from PhD students to experts in performing research study, from all nations. Specific preliminary knowledge is not mandatory. Participation to former workshops on medication adherence in 2020, 2021 and 2023 is not mandatory.

3. FROM GUIDELINES TO QUALITY INDICATORS: PHARMACEUTICAL CARE FOR DIABETES TYPE 2 IN A GLOBAL CONTEXT

Workshop facilitators: Dr. Kenji Fujita, The University of Sydney, Kolling Institute, Australia; Dr. Kjell H. Halvorsen, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Norway; Dr. Martina Teichert, Leiden University, Netherlands

Background: This workshop will continue the work of the PCNE working group on Guidelines & Indicators on quality indicators (QIs) to assess pharmaceutical care in treatment of Diabetes Mellitus type 2 (DM2) in community pharmacies. The working group has derived recommendations for pharmaceutical DM2 care from the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) Handbook and converted them into QIs.  A core set  of these QIs has been selected to assess DM2 care in community pharmacies across various countries.

Aim: This workshop will set the groundwork for the international implementation of QI measurements.

Learning objectives: After this workshop, participants will be able to:

• understand the development process of a core set of QIs
• get insight into the measurement properties of QIs and the validation process
• develop a research protocol to measure the QIs in community pharmacies in different countries in a methodologically robust way
• plan and participate in the measurement of the QIs for their respective countries

Activities: During the workshop the participants will:

• understand the achievements of this working group and the ongoing project
• learn about different types of measurement properties and their validation process
• discuss the implementation of an international study to validate the QIs in community pharmacies across different countries, aiming to assess and compare the quality of pharmaceutical DM2 care globally.

Workshop Structure: The workshop will be delivered through a mix of didactic presentations, interactive activities, and group discussions. Participants will have the opportunity to engage with real-world case studies and apply the concepts learned to their own research projects. The workshop will cover the following topics:

• Introduction to implementation science
• Implementation theories, models, and frameworks
• Assessing context and identifying determinants
• Selecting and tailoring implementation strategies
• Planning and evaluating implementation

Targeted workshop participants: This workshop is open to anyone interested in measuring and improving quality of care, including higher degree research students. After the workshop, participants will have the opportunity to join our working group.

4. ENHANCING PHARMACEUTICAL CARE: EXPLORING AND CODING PHARMACIST-PATIENT COMMUNICATION

Workshop Facilitators: Afonso Cavaco, University of Lisboa; Karin Svensberg, University of Uppsala; Susanne Kaae, University of Copenhagen

Background: Mapping and identifying essential aspects of the pharmacist-patient communication is crucial for evaluating dispensing and counseling practices and to link them to pharmaceutical care interventions and health outcomes, as pharmacist-patient communication is often a central component of these interventions. Typically, coding instruments are used to quantitatively describe interactions between healthcare professionals and patients, including various elements such as content, empathic response and motivational skills, in order to develop counseling practices further. However, currently, there are no specifically developed coding instruments on an international scale to describe and evaluate the pharmacist-patient communication.

The aim(s) of the workshop: Although some pharmacy practice studies have utilized coding instruments like RIAS, we aim to explore the variety of available coding instruments developed for other health care contexts and provide recommendations for the research field of pharmaceutical care.

Activities in the workshop:

• introduce working with coding schemes to advance health care communication research and translation to practice (2h)
• explore two of the coding schemes for participants to get a short firsthand experience with them (8 h)
• initiate a process of evaluation of an initial set of coding schemes relevant for pharmaceutical care research, including the development of a matrix to score those tools (according to aspects such as availability, relevance of included categories, precision, reliability and need for sufficient training) (2h)

After the workshop for those interested:

• apply the developed matrix to a selection of coding instruments to determine which could be used for pharmacist-patient communication and for which specific purposes

Learning objectives/WS outcomes:

• Introduction and guidance on tools for studying and understanding pharmacist-patient interactions
• Hands-on experience of 2 quantitative coding instruments on pharmacist-patient communication
• Development of a matrix to categorize relevant coding schemes for pharmaceutical care research along with the initiation of a scientific publication discussing these findings

5. HOW TO MEET THE PATIENT NEEDS? EMPLOYING DESIGN THINKING INTO PHARMACEUTICAL CARE INNOVATION PROJECTS

Workshop Facilitators: Mikas Glatkauskas, Department of Pharmacy, Section for Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Biosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; Liv Mathiesen, Department of Pharmacy, Section for Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Biosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway, Marianne Lea, Department of Pharmacy, Section for Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Biosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway, Department of Pharmaceutical Services, Oslo Hospital Pharmacy, Hospital Pharmacies Enterprise, South Eastern Norway, Oslo, Norway

Background: Many innovative ideas in pharmaceutical care fail to reach patients or the market, even when the concept is good. In many cases this is due to the mismatch between the intervention and the specific needs of patients, rather than the intervention itself being flawed. It is challenging to accurately predict all the patients’ preferences and conditions necessary for a new pharmaceutical care intervention to be used, and it is common for unforeseen issues to arise that can hinder the interventions intended purpose. Moreover, we tend to empathize more with individuals similar to ourselves and not so much with groups of people with different needs. It is challenging to remain objective whenassessing the needs of patients with conditions or lifestyles vastly different from our own, often leading to subjective assumptions that can skew decision making. Design thinking is a systematic, iterative, and exploratory approach to solving complex problems and introducing innovative solutions. The method helps researchers, without a design background, analyze and understand the needs of the end users. It offers an accessible problem-solving and innovation framework for developing new services and products and it can also be seen as a philosophy for tackling challenges. Many successful companies have woken up to embrace user-centered design through design thinking, leading to desirable, feasible and viable end-services and products.

Aim: The purpose of this workshop will be to engage the participants into familiarizing themselves with the design thinking process. The participants will learn how to design a pharmaceutical practice service or product through the eyes of the user, which will secure a better fit between the solution and the end-user problem. Additionally, this workshop will teach the participants how to employ the design thinking method into their own research and innovation projects.

Workshop Outcomes: Engage and understand the design thinking process and learn how it can be implemented in pharmaceutical intervention innovation.

Activities in the workshop:

• The participants will work in groups and learn how to empathize with end users and see different situations through their eyes. End user personas will be created by using data from anonymized qualitative interviews of several patient cases.
• The next step will focus on how to define a specific problem statement that will drive the participants innovation project and subsequently generate ideas that will confront the problems.
• The ideas will then be turned into an experience (prototype) that the end-user can engage with. The participants will have access to multiple props that will help them build a prototype of their designed intervention.
• The groups will test their intervention/product prototypes with the other groups in the room. They will receive feedback and time will be given to refine the prototype so the end user experience can be enhanced.

Preliminary Programme

Wednesday, 5th February 2025

Thursday, 6th February 2025

Friday, 7th February 2025

Saturday, 8th February 2025

Travel advice

Although Innsbruck is surrounded by mountains, giving you the impression of always looking at a postcard, the climate is moderate, with snow expected in February. Innsbruck is the capital of the Austrian federal state of Tyrol and is a small city.

The Ágnes-Heller-Haus is easily accessible by public transport from the airport (F Line, ticket cost: 3 EUR, approximately 10 minutes) and within walking distance from the train station (approximately 10 minutes).

Specific travel info:

• Detailed information on how to arrive in Innsbruck (by car, train, or plane) can be found HERE 
• Innsbruck has a small airport that is well connected to surrounding airports. Information about surrounding airports and connections is available HERE

• We suggest you check bus connections HERE if you do not have direct shuttle airport transport to Innsbruck

• Information about public transport is available HERE.

• Most hotels provide a "Welcome Card" for stays of 2+ nights. This card includes free public transport and numerous other discounts (see HERE). 

Accommodation

We highly recommend booking accommodation at Rufis Hotel, as the University of Innsbruck has arranged special prices for this event. The hotel is available for our participants from February 4th until February 8th, 2025.

Prices are:

• Double/Twin room: € 80,00 per person/per day incl. breakfast
• Double room for single use: € 120,00 per person/per day incl. breakfast

City tax € 2,00 p.P/day

These prices will be active until January 4th! After this period, prices and availability cannot be guaranteed!

Reservations must be made by direct contact with the hotel (E-Mail: hotel@rufi.at; Phone:+43 512 9123 5550) and mentioning the name of the conference: (PCNE Working Conference 2025)

Cancellation and change policy for booking an accomodation in Rufis Hotel:

• Free reservation cancellation is up to 1 day, 12:00, before arrival.
• The same rules apply to reservation changes
• If a no-show, the hotel reserves the right to charge 100% of the total amount.

Other hotels near the conference venue (without special arranged prices):

• Meininger hotel Innsbruck
• Basic Hotel Innsbruck

CONFERENCE REGISTRATION

• The early bird registration is now open up to 7th January 2025
• The late registration will be open from 8th January and ends on 28th January 2025 at 24.00h CET.

It’s important to follow the two-step registation procedure:

FIRST: on INDICO in order to provide your details: HERE
SECOND: registration and payment on this PCNE website

Registration form