New research finds collaboration between physicians and pharmacists can reduce asthma hospitalizations, Pharmacy Times reports. Researchers from the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy studied patients enrolled in a trial program entitled Collaboration Among Pharmacists and Physicians to Improve Blood Pressure Now (CAPTION) that measured changes in blood pressure levels after the implementation of physician-pharmacist collaborative management (PPCM). They found the number of hospitalizations and/or emergency department visits fell 43.2 percent during PPCM and rose back to baseline levels after the intervention ended. "We were pleasantly surprised by how significant pharmacists were in the care of asthmatics," Tyler Harris Gums, corresponding author of the study, told the Pharmacy Times. "With a large percentage of CAPTION's patients controlled at baseline, we were concerned any effect would be difficult to see." The study will be presented next month at the American College of Clinical Pharmacy Annual Meeting. Article