Drug Topics - December 17, 2007 - (Page 24)

24 DRUG TOPICS DECEMBER 17, 2007 www.drugtopics.com NEWS Roundup Corp. for four prescription plans, Walgreens announced that it has withdrawn as a pharmacy provider from the plans. Patients affected include members of prescription benefit plans managed by CVS Caremark for ArcelorMittal, Johnson Controls Inc., Progressive Casualty Insurance Co., and Wisconsin Education Association Trust. Most of the affected members live in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Walgreens issued a statement from Trent Taylor, president of Walgreens Health Services, the managed care division of Walgreen Co., that said, “We’re sorry that our pharmacy patients and CVS Caremark’s clients are caught in the middle, and we’ll do all we can to ensure a smooth transition for our patients to another pharmacy. Meanwhile, we’ll continue to work on resolving this issue with CVS Caremark.” Walgreens contracts with thousands of group health insurance plans that use companies other than CVS Caremark to administer their dug benefit. HHS panel focuses on medical errors HHS’ Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality has developed a set of 17 toolkits to help doctors, nurses, pharmacists, patients, and others reduce medical errors. The toolkits range from checklists to help reconcile medications when patients are discharged from the hospital to processes to enhance effective communication among caregivers. One toolkit focuses on identifying patient risk factors frequently responsible for inaccurate medication reconciliation, while another seeks to improve medication safety and reconciliation by placing pharmacists in hospital emergency departments. White paper on managing pharmaceutical hazardous waste in hospitals A new, free white paper, titled “Managing Pharmaceutical Hazardous Waste in the Hospital,” is available from EH&E, a Newton, Mass.-based environmental engineering and consulting firm. The white paper outlines six essential components for developing an effective and compliant Hazardous Waste Drug Program and provides insight into practical implementation strategies. The paper is available at www.eheinc.com/hazpharmawaste.htm or by calling 1-(800) 825-5343. Hospital Practice Web tool helps hospital pharmacists compile, access patient data A California software company unveiled a Web-based tool during ASHP’s Midyear Clinical Meeting in Las Vegas that allows hospital pharmacists to compile clinical data on patients. Medici, developed by Asolva Inc. of Los Angeles, links with a hospital’s electronic medical records system to help pharmacists collect data such as patient demographics, medication profiles, lab results, cultures and sensitivities, and medical transcripts. Amassing such data enables pharmacists to make better decisions on patient care, said Asolva founder/CEO Chun Wong. “Pharmacists are doing this analysis, but they are doing it in a 20th-century way,” Wong said during ASHP’s 42nd annual Midyear Clinical Meeting in Las Vegas, where Medici officially debuted. “And they know it too. Pharmacists shouldn’t have to copy data from one chart to another.” With Medici, hospital pharmacists can use the data they collect to collaborate on treatments and diagnoses, which results in better patient care, he noted. To ensure patient safety, Medici allows pharmacists to input notes and status flags that are shared with other pharmacists, helping them to monitor compliance and patients’ progress by documenting interventions and medication management. The program, available on laptop and tablet PCs, has been in use at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, Calif., for the past 18 months. ASHP to convene IV safety summit next spring Spurred in part by recent highly publicized drug errors, such as those involving Dennis Quaid’s twins, ASHP will hold an IV Safety Summit next spring. The goal is to develop a set of recommendations to standardize the use of concentrated electrolytes and prevent errors associated with infusions. The summit will include representation from the Joint Commission, Institute for Safe Medication Practices, United States Pharmacopeia, National Patient Safety Foundation, and Intravenous Nurses Association. New software tool streamlines medication tracking, management A California company that provides software solutions to hospitals has come up with a way to centralize patient medications. At ASHP’s 42nd annual Midyear Clinical Meeting in Las Vegas, Omnicell Inc. introduced SinglePointe, a software program that helps nurses and pharmacists store, manage, and track medications. The SinglePointe software provides caregivers with an auto-assign process that matches patients and their medications that are not routinely stocked in a hospital’s dispensing system. The solution, company officials said, allows medications to be http://www.drugtopics.com http://www.eheinc.com/hazpharmawaste.htm

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Drug Topics - December 17, 2007 Contents Noncompete Clause: Help or Hindrance? Don't Overlook Feminine Care and Family Planning Independent Pharmacies Are Dreaming of a Green Christmas Latest News Roundup

Drug Topics - December 17, 2007

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