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Are You Ready for the New AAAHC Standards?
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Are You Ready for the New AAAHC Standards?

Are you ready for the new Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC) standards? The accreditation handbook has been updated with an expected implementation date of November 1, 2020. The new standards include more concise language, more consistency, less repetition and of course, new standards on current best practices and regulatory requirements. Is your facility fully compliant? Do you have a consultant pharmacist on your team to help you?

Image of Insulin vial - Look-alike-sound-alike risks with flu vaccine and insulin
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Look-alike-sound-alike Risks with Flu Vaccine and Insulin

Look-alike-sound-alike risks with flu vaccine and insulin may not be something you normally consider, but the risk of patient harm is extremely high. Do you have a facility specific look-alike-sound-alike list? Is it updated annually and posted in areas of medication administration? As a consultant pharmacist, I have the following five suggestions for minimizing risks and increasing patient safety.

The FDA Recommends Prescribers Discuss Naloxone when Prescribing Opioids
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The FDA Recommends Prescribers Discuss Naloxone when Prescribing Opioids

The FDA recommends prescribers discuss naloxone when prescribing opioids or medications to treat opioid use disorder (OUD). In a recent Drug Safety Communication posted on July 23, 2020, the FDA made the recommendations about naloxone in an effort to reduce the risk of death from opioid overdose. Do you know what the FDA is recommending? What steps do you need to take as a prescriber?

COVID-19 Vaccine Approval: Is the Answer that Easy?
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COVID-19 Vaccine Approval: Is the Answer that Easy?

The race to the first Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved COVID19 vaccine is on, but is the answer that easy? Probably not, but we all have high hopes for returning to the “normal” world we once knew. Although we are all hoping for a one hundred percent effective vaccine with life-long immunity, reality may be completely different.

Drug Shortages and the Second Wave of COVID-19
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New Drug Shortages and the Second Wave of COVID-19

With new COVID-19 outbreaks occurring across the country and the world, the concern for drug shortages is heightened.  What drugs are impacted and how do they affect your organization?  Do you have a contingency plan in place to deal with unexpected shortages?  Work with your consultant pharmacist to resolve these issues quickly and efficiently so that patient safety and your day-to-day operations are not impacted.

Three Ways to Avoid Fireworks During Survey
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Three Ways to Avoid Fireworks During Survey

Fireworks can be great this time of year, but as a consultant pharmacist, I don’t like to hear fireworks when it comes to surveys.  Some deficiencies are fairly common and avoiding them is not that difficult.  Today we will discuss three of the most common deficiencies in ambulatory surgery centers and ways to avoid them.