Happy Halloween Weekend from the OctariusRx team! Halloween can be a scary time of year. This year we celebrate this holiday weekend with our list of “Top Five Scariest Things” and our suggestions for dealing with them. Can you guess what’s on the list?
Are you ready for electronic prescribing requirements? They come into effect soon so make sure you are prepared. Beginning January 1, 2021, all prescriptions for controlled substances and medical devices in Massachusetts must be issued electronically unless covered by an exception.
Happy Columbus Day from our team at OctariusRx. Whether you’re celebrating the sailor or the indigenous people who already lived in the “new world”, we think it’s a great opportunity to honor the spirit of exploration.
“In wisdom gathered over time I have found that every experience is a form of exploration.”
― Ansel Adams
Medication competency and your consultant pharmacist are two things that should go hand-in-hand. We all know that ongoing education and assessments are required to demonstrate staff competency and safe medication management is no exception. How are you assessing your staff? Can your consultant pharmacist help?
Happy Labor Day Weekend from all of us at OctariusRx!
Labor Day is a time to recognize the hard work of Americans and allow a day to relax and reflect on a job well done. It’s a time for us to acknowledge all the work that we do throughout the year, and the work that those around us do.
Thank you to our team members, our clients, and vendors for your hard work. We appreciate all that you do throughout the year.
"My grandfather once told me that there were two kinds of people; those who do the work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group; there was much less competition." — Indira Gandhi
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.
Medication competency and your consultant pharmacist are two things that should go hand-in-hand. We all know that ongoing education and assessments are required to demonstrate staff competency and safe medication management is no exception. How are you assessing your staff? Can your consultant pharmacist help?
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?
Medications used during surgery could be putting your patients at risk and increasing your facility and practitioner liability. Are you using Sugammadex (Bridion®) or Aprepitant (Emend®)? If so, are you providing education on discharge to your female patients about the potential increased risk of pregnancy?
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.
