|
RMH Pharmacy Services
Do you love working in a vital, rapidly growing healthcare environment
where you know that what you do matters? If so, RMH Pharmacy Services
is the right fit for you.
We currently have 26 Pharmacists , 7 Clinical Pharmacists, 2 Pharmacy Residents, and 30 Pharmacy Techs working in our department.
Our
program…then and now
At RMH, an expansion of clinical pharmacy services is currently
underway in response to burgeoning demand. Here are the significant
milestones in our clinical pharmacy program’s development:
 |
1982—RMH
contracts for a 0.5 FTE pharmacist to provide clinical pharmacy
services. The program starts with aminoglycoside dosing and
expands to numerous drug monitoring programs and consultation
services. The program soon grows to include 1.5 FTE contract
clinical pharmacists and 1 FTE RMH staff pharmacist. |
 |
2003—RMH
brings clinical pharmacy services inhouse to better meet the
needs of the patient, the hospital and the pharmacy department.
Four clinical pharmacist positions and a clinical pharmacy manager
position are created. |
 |
Summer
2004—An additional pharmacist position is decentralized
due to efficiencies obtained through implementation of the Robot-Rx. |
 |
Spring
2005—High Fall Risk Medication Review is implemented.
A clinical work area is created to provide staff with file space
and access to clinical resources. |
 |
Summer
2006—A new clinical pharmacist position is approved
and staffed. RMH Pharmacy Services pilots a medication history
program in the Emergency Department and implements an automatic
pharmacist IV to Oral conversion program. |
 |
Fall
2006—A pharmacist vaccination program is initiated,
and an automatic therapeutic interchange program begins. |
 |
Winter
2006—Two new clinical pharmacist positions and
two pharmacy clinical assistants positions are created:
|
To meet the demand for increasing clinical pharmacy services,
including medication reconciliation; |
|
To provide clinical pharmacy services to the newly created
cardiac surgery program at RMH; |
|
In response to approval received by RMH Pharmacy Services
to develop and implement a PGY-1 residency; |
|
To
increase pharmacy student presence at the hospital. |
|
 |
July 2009—Our first residents graduate from the RMH PGY-1 Residency. |
 |
September 2009—Receive accreditation from ASHP for PGY-1 Residency Program. |
 |
June 2010—Move into new hospital pharmacy with state of the art technology. |
 |
July 2010—Implement an automatic renal dosing program. |
| You
can see that clinical pharmacy services at RMH have expanded
rapidly over the past several years. Our medical staff and our
administrative team have been key supporters of this expansion,
and we expect this trend to continue into the future. |
| Current
scope of care includes: |
 |
Parenteral Nutrition Consult Service—ordering and monitoring
parenteral nutrition; |
 |
Antibiotic Consult Service—recommending and monitoring
antibiotic therapy for patients; |
 |
Home Health Consult Service—assisting in the transition
of care for patients on IV medications who will be discharged
and receive services through home health, including appropriateness
of medication therapy for the outpatient setting and recommending
a monitoring plan (lab work); |
 |
Medication Dosing Consultation Service—dosing and monitoring
of certain medications, including vancomycin, aminoglycosides,
heparin, integrilin and argatroban (this service also involves
renal dosing of any medication); |
 |
Supporting
the clinical programs of the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee,
including adverse drug reaction monitoring, medication error
reporting, therapeutic interchange and formulary compliance,
medication use evaluation, etc. |
 |
High Fall Risk Medication Review—reviewing medication
therapy for any patient deemed to be at high fall risk; |
 |
Pharmacist Vaccination Program—reviewing patients for
indications and contraindications for influenza and pneumococcal
vaccinations (the pharmacist may order these vaccines for appropriate
patients); |
 |
IV to Oral Conversion Program—converting appropriate patients
and medications from the IV route to the oral route; |
 |
Participation in multi-disciplinary patient rounds; |
 |
Renal Dosing Program – decentralized pharmacists may automatically adjust doses of approved medications; |
 |
24/7 Inpatient Pharmacy operation—fully automated with
automated dispensing cabinets and robot dispensing; |
 |
Outpatient
Pharmacy services; and |
 |
Precept 4th year pharmacy students on institutional, acute care, drug information, and management. |
|