The need for high-performance hospital pharmacies has never been clearer.
Increasingly complex drug regimens, fluctuating demand for critical medicines, and growing staff shortages are just some of the challenges an efficient pharmacy sector can help address. While this function typically operates in the context of providing nursing services, now is the time to elevate the role of pharmacies in healthcare.
Patients and providers are ready for more engagementhazardous
According to recent research, people are increasingly trusting The role of the pharmacist in nursing management, including prescribing medicines, conducting health and wellness checks, and providing consultations for specific diseases.Furthermore, almost 8 out of 10 Think of pharmacists as a reliable source of general health information other than medication issues — and rightly so. today, More than half of U.S. licensed pharmacists are pharmacists, which means they receive as much classroom clinical instruction as doctors.
Not only are patients satisfied with the involvement of pharmacists, but doctors also have a high level of trust in them. Pharmacists are prepared to take on additional responsibilities. When asked if they could meet the needs of doctors and patients in the future, Over 75% felt They have the ability to serve as a resource for drug interactions, drug management, and drug therapy.
Outdated processes may hinder pharmacists
Pharmacists ready to take on broader clinical roles, but 75% of their time remains focused on non-clinical activities. By moving to autonomous pharmacies—replacing manual, error-prone activities with safer, more efficient automated processes—hospitals and health systems can help pharmacies reach their potential. This will make it a resource for patients and other clinicians.
By leveraging technology, the pharmacy sector can improve medication safety, optimize the drug supply chain, and alleviate some of the challenges posed by ongoing staffing shortages.
Improve medication safety
As medication is the primary treatment for most patient conditions, ensuring consistent and reliable medication preparation and dispensing can have a major impact on patient safety and outcomes. One area where technology can play a role is aseptic compounding.
In most hospitals, sterile compounding remains a manual process that is prone to inaccuracies and human error. Automating IV compounding through robotics minimizes the potential for human error, increases process reliability, and increases yield.
Given a hospital’s unique patient mix and medication needs, pharmacy professionals can prioritize which medications the robot prepares. When pharmacies incorporate robotics into their compounding efforts, they can increase efficiency, reduce risk and support timely delivery of the right dose to the right patient.
Optimize supply chain
Disconnected data across multiple systems in a hospital can lead to security, compliance, and interoperability issues. Without pharmacy data analytics, it is difficult to understand and analyze the operational, financial, and clinical performance challenges that healthcare organizations face every day.
Data intelligence solutions that analyze all drug data—including expiration dates, drug locations, treatment usage, and dispensing rates—can spot trends and enable pharmacy leaders to better optimize their drug supply chains. For example, during Covid-19, medical facilities often experience drug shortages, which sometimes escalate into drug shortages.
With data intelligence tools, pharmacies can monitor Covid-19 treatments and calculate days on hand and quantities on hand, which together can help calculate if and when inventory levels are likely to be low. Real-time dashboards provide greater visibility into the drug supply chain, enabling pharmacy leaders to analyze operations and drive improvements in drug inventory optimization, drug waste reduction, and drug diversion monitoring.
Alleviate staff stress
Pharmacy automation isn’t meant to replace the talented employees who work in it. Instead, by leveraging technology, hospitals and health systems can free pharmacy staff to focus on higher-value activities.
When pharmacy professionals are able to leverage their expertise and skills, they can take on complex tasks or unexpected situations. Making time also encourages pharmacy professionals to directly support patient care, as permitted by state law and commercial payers.
This could mitigate some of the risk of general staffing shortages, as pharmacists can support nurses and doctors, including jobs related to drug education, chronic disease counseling and health care.
It’s now
Hospitals and health system pharmacies are facing a critical moment. To seize the opportunity to play a greater role in patient care, pharmacy leaders must innovate to streamline operations and improve outcomes.
By pursuing strategies and technologies that enable autonomous pharmacy, organizations can integrate pharmacy with other forward-thinking sectors and enhance their overall ability to provide the safest and most effective care to patients.
Photo: Irina_Strelnikova, Getty Images
