Edison, NJ (PRWEB) July 08, 2013
With the recent conclusion of National Safety Month, leading long-term care pharmacy PharmScript offers tips on how long-term care communities can work with their pharmacies to reduce pharmacy-related errors.
Each June, the National Safety Council encourages organizations to get involved and participate in National Safety Montha yearly observance to educate and influence behaviors regarding safety in the workplace.
Pharmacy errors may not be at top of mind when considering national safety issues in the workplace, but the fact is its an issue for those working in the industry, said Saul Greenberger, founder of PharmScript. Human error happens. But its our goal and responsibilities to ensure errors are minimal when working with long-term care communities and their residents.
According to Greenberger, long-term care facilities should not become numb to pharmacy errors nor accept them as standard. To help, Pharm Script offers the four most common errors in today’s nursing home to pharmacy relationship and advises on steps long-term care communities and their pharmacy providers can take for safety and accuracy.
Fax Machines
Many facilities have upgraded to electronic ordering systems, but those that havent may have valid reasons for not making the move. However, those still using a fax machine do not have to be susceptible to the infamous lost fax syndrome.
Quality pharmacies that have invested in technology should no longer be receiving paper faxes paper, but rather a paperless incoming fax server. This means every order sent goes directly to a pharmacy’s computer system and is time stamped. This is a great way to take advantage of added accuracy while still using fax.
Skips
An order with 10 medicines is sent to the pharmacy, yet only nine are received. Why? How does that happen?
When pharmacy techs enter orders they’re working from of a sheet of paper, oftentimes containing several orders. As techs work their way down the paper, they can easily get distracted along the way and think they’ve entered an order when in fact they have not.
Greenberger advises that one tried and proven solution to this is for pharmacy techs to make a mark through each order as they enter them to indicate their completion. The process, called slashing, is simple and can help prevent needless errors.
Transcription Errors:
Transcription errors occur when a tech enters an order for 25mg as 2.5mg or enters the right medication for the wrong resident. The common reason for this is simply human error. A pharmacy designed on the fundamentals of quality will have properly trained their staff and will have set up a work environment which mitigates such errors.
A better approach, Greenberger said, is using electronic ordering systems that enable nurses to enter orders directly into the pharmacy system, thus avoiding another step of order entry. (Of course, the data should be checked by the pharmacy for contraindications and allergies).
Label Mismatches:
Perhaps one of the most dangerous errors is a mismatched label. This is when the label identifies the contents of the blister pack or unit dose as a given medication when it is in fact, another. These errors can occur when a pharmacy tech accidentally places the label on a wrong medication pack. The results of this can be devastating because the nurse administering the medication may have no idea that the medication is incorrect since the label identifies it as the correct one.
Its important to know what quality assurance steps a pharmacy employs. Today, barcodes are common practice and most pharmacy software allows a pharmacist to scan the label barcode on the medication bottle or packaging. If there is a mismatch, the software should alert the pharmacy staff. This is an invaluable step of safety that no pharmacy should be without.
To read more helpful tips on how to maximize the pharmacy experience, visit PharmScripts learning center at http://www.pharmscript.com/learning.html.
About PharmScript:
The unique principles upon which PharmScript was founded were based on years of invaluable experience in the long-term care industry. Comprised of a reputable and experienced management team, PharmScript is geared toward providing the ultimate pharmacy experience utilizing cutting-edge technology, impeccable customer service, and assisting facilities in saving on pharmacy costs. Pharmscript currently services New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Washington DC, Maryland, Florida and Texas.
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