Dozens of clinical studies are published every week. Most pharmacists don't have time to read five of them, let alone perform a thorough assessment of each one. But we rely on current evidence to make decisions that directly affect patient outcomes. Every day, critical research goes unread.
I know this because I've lived it. As a Critical Care Clinical Pharmacy Specialist working in the Medical ICU at a large community-based hospital, I spent years scanning journal table of contents emails, searching for the studies that mattered for my patients. No matter how many I read, I always felt behind.
So I built a system to fix it.
Artificial intelligence is already embedded in modern healthcare, from clinical decision support systems to drug information databases. At PharmD Signal, we use it where it makes the most sense: reading, filtering, and organizing the flood of new medical literature so pharmacists can spend their time on what requires their expertise, the clinical analysis.
Our system scans over 30 PubMed feeds daily across 20 clinical specialties, from critical care and infectious disease to cardiology, oncology, and beyond. AI handles the initial triage, identifying which studies are most relevant to practicing pharmacists. But every clinical takeaway, every practice recommendation, and every deep analysis passes through my review before it reaches subscribers.
We believe AI is a tool that helps clinical pharmacists stay on the forefront of evidence-based practice. It is not a replacement for the judgment, training, and patient-centered thinking that define our profession.
Six kinds of thing, all of it read and signed off by a licensed pharmacist before it goes out.
1. Daily scan. AI monitors over 30 PubMed feeds across 20 clinical specialties every morning, filtering for studies with real clinical impact.
2. Structured drafting. Each candidate article gets a headline, clinical hook, and structured summary highlighting what changed and why it matters. Articles are scored for relevance and clinical impact.
3. PharmD review. I review every draft personally. Studies that don't meet the bar are declined. Approved articles get a verdict (Practice-changing, Confirmatory, etc.) and GRADE evidence rating.
4. Delivery. Approved content goes to subscribers. Free subscribers receive the headline, hook, and summary. Paid subscribers get the full deep analysis, pharmacist implications, and downloadable PDF.
Ben Cottongim, PharmD, BCCCP, is a Board-Certified Critical Care Pharmacist and Clinical Pharmacy Director. He built PharmD Signal because he wanted it to exist for himself, and because he believes every pharmacist deserves access to timely, well-analyzed clinical evidence without spending hours they don't have searching for it.
All content reviewed and approved by a licensed clinical pharmacist before publication.