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Bar Code Scanner, Printer, and Wristband Media Selection |
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PP&P May Issue 2008
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Lessons Learned from the VA
By Ronald Schneider, RPh, MHA, and Jonathan Bagby, RN, MSN, MBA-HCM
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Health Administration (VHA), the health care arm of the VA, released its bar coded medication administration (BCMA) software application to all VA medical centers in August 1999, with a mandate for the software to be implemented VA-wide by June 2000. By 2002, 100% of medications were administered to VA inpatients using BCMA. The VA administers over 600,000 medications daily through the BCMA software. Although best practices and pre-implementation guidelines were shared with VA medical centers to facilitate BCMA implementation, challenges persisted following implementaion due to bar code quality, dispensing, labeling, and coordination issues. It was apparent that continuous monitoring and control processes were needed to reduce BCMA workarounds.
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Increase the IQ of Your Smart Infusion Systems |
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PP&P May Issue 2008
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By Marla M. Husch, RPh, John Salay, and Jaime Ramirez
Purchasing a smart infusion system can be a complex and daunting task. After sifting through numerous purchase criteria, you must determine whether or not to invest in the wireless functionality now offered with most of these systems. By carefully considering the features and functions currently available in smart infusion systems, you can select the appropriate product for your facility. (Download the recent article, “Purchasing Smart Infusion Systems,” at www.pppmag.com.) Furthermore, in taking the time to understand and implement wireless networking capabilities in conjunction with your smart infusion systems, you will reap a number of patient safety and workflow efficiency benefits.
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Controlled Environment Air Sampling |
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PP&P May Issue 2008
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Meet USP's Environmental Monitoring Guidelines to Achieve <797> Compliance
By Holly Simmons, RPh
The goal of the revised USP Chapter <797> is to provide increased patient safety and consistent recommendations for activities related to sterile compounding, and these guidelines apply to all entities that prepare compounded sterile preparations (CSPs). This article is intended to provide a brief summary of USP <797>’s environmental monitoring requirements, with an emphasis on the updated guidance for air sampling and quality controls. However, it is incumbent upon the reader to refer to the chapter itself for further explanation and detail on the issues discussed herein.
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A Multidisciplinary Approach to Medication Reconciliation |
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PP&P May Issue 2008
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By Pam Benson, RPh, and Curt Trowbridge, RPh Medication reconciliation is a growing concern for many hospitals; not only does The Joint Commission (TJC) mandate it, but it is also a best practice for achieving patient safety. Located in Fargo, North Dakota, 86-bed Innovis Health recognized the need for improvement in our fragmented, manual, and error-prone medication reconciliation process. To identify areas for improvement, we established a multidisciplinary team that included pharmacy and nursing personnel, our patient safety officer, physicians, hospital administration, and the information systems (IS) department. Click here to download the PDF |
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Product Spotlight: Talyst AutoSplit 340B |
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PP&P May Issue 2008
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By Dana Darger, RPh
Rapid City Regional Hospital is 400-plus-bed, not-for-profit, community-based hospital serving western South Dakota. We host a large cancer center, which serves both radiation and medical oncology patients. Our emergency department has 50,000-plus admissions annually. Year round, we are a very busy rural hospital, and the week of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, when Sturgis’ population swells from about 5,000 to nearly 500,000, we become a very busy urban trauma center.
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