Approved Hospital Formulary
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Approved Hospital Formulary
08/27/18 MD -- Patient's Own Medications Changes - INFO FOR PHARMACISTS
From: Michele Durda
Sent: 27 August, 2018 12:26 PM
To: Pharmacists
Cc: Michael Hubbert
Subject: Patient's Own Medications Changes - INFO FOR PHARMACISTS
Attachment: POM for Pharmacists August 2018
After 1Chart implementation, nurses will be SCANNING all medications (including the patient's own supply) at the bedside
What does this mean for Pharmacy?
* The verifying pharmacist must visually verify the patient's own supply AND apply an appropriate IDENTIFYING barcode
* This should be done on the nursing unit whenever possible (to prevent lost medications); never tube patient's own medications
* Centralized pharmacists may hand the visual verification step off to the next shift (if there are no doses due prior to the next shift)
Why can't this be done by the nurse or a pharmacy technician?
* The barcode being applied to the medication connects the product to an order (and identifies the product contents)
* This is equivalent to dispensing a medication, which is out of the scope of nurses and pharmacy technicians
* Think about what would happen if the barcode label was placed on the wrong medication bottle
How are we going to manage this new role?
* By minimizing the use of the patient's own supply as much as possible - please see attached flyer on the recent guideline update
Why are we starting now?
* There will be a large number of practice changes with 1Chart. By beginning the process of restricting the use of patient's own supply and having the pharmacist visually verify the patient's own medications that are used, we are easing into the practice changes that can begin now.
* There will be more changes later (labeling process)
How will I know if I should use the patient's own supply?
* If the medication is not built in iCare, check FORMWEB for formulary status and if applicable, check to see whether any medication is in stock; the patient's own medication may be used if the medication is non-formulary and/or not in stock
* If the iCare entry indicates the patient's own supply should be used
* If you are informed by central pharmacy that the medication you verified is not in stock
* It is a medication that is obviously unavailable to pharmacy (investigational drugs, specialty pharmacy drugs, some compounded drugs, etc.)
What if there is a physician's order to use the patient's own supply?
* Check to see whether the medication is in stock
* If in stock, adjust the order to use the hospital's medications and add a comment "Use of hospital meds per P&T"
* Instruct the nurse to send the medication home with a family member or send to Security as a valuable
Please view the attached flyer for important information about this change. This policy update is also being discussed at staff meetings between now and the end of September.
--
Michele Durda, Pharm.D.
Medication Safety/Drug Utilization Pharmacist
Sent: 27 August, 2018 12:26 PM
To: Pharmacists
Cc: Michael Hubbert
Subject: Patient's Own Medications Changes - INFO FOR PHARMACISTS
Attachment: POM for Pharmacists August 2018
After 1Chart implementation, nurses will be SCANNING all medications (including the patient's own supply) at the bedside
What does this mean for Pharmacy?
* The verifying pharmacist must visually verify the patient's own supply AND apply an appropriate IDENTIFYING barcode
* This should be done on the nursing unit whenever possible (to prevent lost medications); never tube patient's own medications
* Centralized pharmacists may hand the visual verification step off to the next shift (if there are no doses due prior to the next shift)
Why can't this be done by the nurse or a pharmacy technician?
* The barcode being applied to the medication connects the product to an order (and identifies the product contents)
* This is equivalent to dispensing a medication, which is out of the scope of nurses and pharmacy technicians
* Think about what would happen if the barcode label was placed on the wrong medication bottle
How are we going to manage this new role?
* By minimizing the use of the patient's own supply as much as possible - please see attached flyer on the recent guideline update
Why are we starting now?
* There will be a large number of practice changes with 1Chart. By beginning the process of restricting the use of patient's own supply and having the pharmacist visually verify the patient's own medications that are used, we are easing into the practice changes that can begin now.
* There will be more changes later (labeling process)
How will I know if I should use the patient's own supply?
* If the medication is not built in iCare, check FORMWEB for formulary status and if applicable, check to see whether any medication is in stock; the patient's own medication may be used if the medication is non-formulary and/or not in stock
* If the iCare entry indicates the patient's own supply should be used
* If you are informed by central pharmacy that the medication you verified is not in stock
* It is a medication that is obviously unavailable to pharmacy (investigational drugs, specialty pharmacy drugs, some compounded drugs, etc.)
What if there is a physician's order to use the patient's own supply?
* Check to see whether the medication is in stock
* If in stock, adjust the order to use the hospital's medications and add a comment "Use of hospital meds per P&T"
* Instruct the nurse to send the medication home with a family member or send to Security as a valuable
Please view the attached flyer for important information about this change. This policy update is also being discussed at staff meetings between now and the end of September.
--
Michele Durda, Pharm.D.
Medication Safety/Drug Utilization Pharmacist