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Consultant Pharmacist 101: How We Help Ambulatory Surgery Centers

Consultant pharmacists are medication management specialists who work in a variety of settings like ambulatory surgery centers (ASC), senior care facilities (e.g., nursing homes, assisted living facilities) and also by helping individual patients. These pharmacists provide expert advice on pharmaceutical services, patient safety, and drug therapy management.

In a three-part series, we will discuss how a consultant pharmacist can benefit each client and how you can find the right consultant pharmacist for your needs. This month, we’ll focus on how ASCs can enhance patient safety by using an expert consultant pharmacist. In the coming months, this series will also discuss how consultant pharmacists can have a dramatic impact on long-term care facilities and on individual patients’ lives.

Using Downtime Time Wisely During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Tips for Healthcare Facilities -Images of a Desk and chair with laptop and medical charts
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Using Downtime Time Wisely During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Tips for Healthcare Facilities

Depending on your type of healthcare practice setting, you either have absolutely no free time, or very little to do during the current COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. If you are one of the many healthcare professionals on the frontlines caring for those affected, your primary, and really, only focus, is to provide care and support for those who are ill, as well as yourself. Because of this shift in focus, there are some healthcare facilities and professionals who currently find themselves with extra time due to the sudden work reduction or work stoppage, including cancelation of elective surgeries. Don’t let this downtime go to waste…use it to prepare yourself, and your practice, to better serve your patients and enhance regulatory compliance. As a consultant pharmacist, I am always looking for ways to keep my facilities ahead of the curve: below are five ways to put your downtime to use and stay productive and be on the leading edge.

Safe Injection campaign
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The CDC’s Safe Injection Campaign Turns Ten: Compliance Tips from a Consultant Pharmacist

This year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) One & Only Campaign turns ten years old. The One & Only Campaign, as you may know, focuses on eliminating unsafe injection practices. In the span of a single decade, healthcare facilities across the country have come a long way in improving patient safety via safe injection practices — but: there is still much work to be done.

The Coronavirus & Antibiotic Stewardship: Advice from a Consultant Pharmacist
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The Coronavirus & Antibiotic Stewardship: Advice from a Consultant Pharmacist

Antibiotic stewardship is a global issue and it’s something we all must address. At the facility level, it’s not only a regulatory concern, it’s a patient safety issue. With the ongoing global spread of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID- 19), the issue of antibiotic stewardship (already a significant focus by the certification and accreditation bodies), has been pushed even further out into the spotlight. Beyond just being a survey challenge, antibiotic stewardship can have a profound impact on patient outcomes — not only today’s patients, but also future patients.

According to the ECRI Institute*, diagnostic testing and medication events are the two greatest risks to patient safety in ambulatory care centers today. As the landscape continues to change and healthcare delivery shifts from hospitals to ambulatory facilities, we will have to develop, and enhance, systems that minimize risks and keep our patients safe. Using the services of a consultant pharmacist can help you enhance patient safety in your ambulatory healthcare facility. The following are five ways in which a consultant pharmacist can help:
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Top 5 Ways Ambulatory Care Facilities Can Minimize Patient Risk & Liability

According to the ECRI Institute*, diagnostic testing and medication events are the two greatest risks to patient safety in ambulatory care centers today. As the landscape continues to change and healthcare delivery shifts from hospitals to ambulatory facilities, we will have to develop, and enhance, systems that minimize risks and keep our patients safe. Using the services of a consultant pharmacist can help you enhance patient safety in your ambulatory healthcare facility. The following are five ways in which a consultant pharmacist can help:

As we approach 2020, we take a few moments to look back at some of the biggest stories of the current year. Each year is extremely busy, and 2019 was no exception. Below we discuss some of the most popular topics of the year. How did we determine popularity? Simple…we decided to focus on the topics that generated the most questions.
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The ambulatory surgery center year in review…

As we approach 2020, we take a few moments to look back at some of the biggest stories of the current year. Each year is extremely busy, and 2019 was no exception. Below we discuss some of the most popular topics of the year. How did we determine popularity? Simple…we decided to focus on the topics that generated the most questions.

Although the debate about whether to use intracameral antibiotics marches on, what is not in question is our collective desire to give patients the best and safest possible outcome. For the facilities contemplating intracameral antibiotics, which drug should you use? What is the best way to prepare it or obtain it? These are all valid questions you should ask. Use the expertise of your consultant pharmacist to help navigate these difficult, but extremely important decisions. Making the right choice will increase patient safety and reduce risks. The wrong decision could be devastating.
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Is your facility using Intracameral Antibiotics?

Although the debate about whether to use intracameral antibiotics marches on, what is not in question is our collective desire to give patients the best and safest possible outcome. For the facilities contemplating intracameral antibiotics, which drug should you use? What is the best way to prepare it or obtain it? These are all valid questions you should ask.
Use the expertise of your consultant pharmacist to help navigate these difficult, but extremely important decisions. Making the right choice will increase patient safety and reduce risks. The wrong decision could be devastating.