RESUMEN
PURPOSE: Results of an initiative to increase participation in a survey on hospital pharmacy practices are reported. METHODS: In an initiative led by pharmacy residents at the University of Houston College of Pharmacy, a task force was created to boost the rate of response to the Hospital-Assessment Survey (HSA), an online benchmarking tool developed as part of the ASHP-sponsored Pharmacy Practice Model Initiative (PPMI). Under the guidance of leaders from ASHP's Texas affiliate and state health-system pharmacy leaders, an 11-member team of residents targeted Texas hospitals that had not responded to the HSA as of December 2013 and used phone and e-mail methods to encourage survey participation. Data obtained from newly responding institutions were aggregated with previously collected data on Texas facilities and compared with national data. RESULTS: During the 11-week initiative, 66 new HSA responses were received from Texas hospitals, raising the total number of respondents to 89 and boosting the overall participation rate from 4.3% to 16.7% (p <0.001). Analysis of the survey data indicated broad similarities among small and large Texas hospitals with regard to six optimal practice characteristics. Pharmacy practice models and characteristics in Texas overall were largely consistent with national statistics. CONCLUSION: The involvement of the PPMI task force was associated with a substantial increase in the survey response rate. The survey results indicated that, with a few exceptions, practice models and the use of optimal practices were similar at Texas hospitals of various sizes and between Texas hospitals overall and sampled hospitals nationwide.
Asunto(s)
Benchmarking , Servicio de Farmacia en Hospital/organización & administración , Encuestas y Cuestionarios , Comités Consultivos , Correo Electrónico , Humanos , Residencias en Farmacia , Facultades de Farmacia , Sociedades Farmacéuticas , Teléfono , TexasRESUMEN
GoLoco ('Galpha(i/o)-Loco' interaction) motif proteins have recently been identified as novel GDIs (guanine nucleotide dissociation inhibitors) for heterotrimeric G-protein alpha subunits. G18 is a member of the mammalian GoLoco-motif gene family and was uncovered by analyses of human and mouse genomes for anonymous open-reading frames. The encoded G18 polypeptide is predicted to contain three 19-amino-acid GoLoco motifs, which have been shown in other proteins to bind Galpha subunits and inhibit spontaneous nucleotide release. However, the G18 protein has thus far not been characterized biochemically. Here, we have cloned and expressed the G18 protein and assessed its ability to act as a GDI. G18 is capable of simultaneously binding more than one Galpha(i1) subunit. In binding assays with the non-hydrolysable GTP analogue guanosine 5'-[gamma-thio]triphosphate, G18 exhibits GDI activity, slowing the exchange of GDP for GTP by Galpha(i1). Only the first and third GoLoco motifs within G18 are capable of interacting with Galpha subunits, and these bind with low micromolar affinity only to Galpha(i1) in the GDP-bound form, and not to Galpha(o), Galpha(q), Galpha(s) or Galpha12. Mutation of Ala-121 to aspartate in the inactive second GoLoco motif of G18, to restore the signature acidic-glutamine-arginine tripeptide that forms critical contacts with Galpha and its bound nucleotide [Kimple, Kimple, Betts, Sondek and Siderovski (2002) Nature (London) 416, 878-881], results in gain-of-function with respect to Galpha binding and GDI activity.