Hospital pharmacy
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Seven PCA infusion pumps from seven manufacturers were evaluated. The condition for acceptable use of most of the units is that they not be used at low volumes that could result in overinfusion from the stored volume when an occlusion is cleared. All pumps met most accuracy, electrical safety, and performance criteria. Purchasing decisions should also take into consideration the cost of disposables, application, and medication security.
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The article describes a system of continuous quality assurance monitoring which is accomplished by pharmacists at the medical center. This 856 bed Veterans Affairs facility is provided pharmacy services through a decentralized unit dose distribution system. Pharmacists are assigned to separate patient care areas and provide or coordinate all drug distribution functions and additionally provide clinically-oriented services including quality assurance intervention. ⋯ This report is distributed along with the Pharmacy and Therapeutic Committee minutes to all pharmacists, physicians, and supervisory nursing personnel. The system of continuous quality assurance monitoring encourages pharmacists to use their expertise in a manner which assures quality of medical care provided by the medical center. Documentation of pharmacist intervention meets many JCAHO requirements for quality assurance.
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Eighty-eight percent of the hospitals accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations don't fully comply with JCAHO standards in the area of drug usage evaluation, reports JCAHO in Hospitals, August 5, 1989. Why are so many hospital pharmacies receiving contingencies from JCAHO for QA/DUE? Do we lack a clear understanding of the required features and terms, and/or are we confused on how to best implement a comprehensive program? JCAHO has a number of publications which describe not only newer QA/DUE terminology and requirements but also a nine step process to establish a comprehensive program. This article will describe and summarize both terminology and the nine step process. ⋯ The article will provide simple examples of QA/DUE programs which dovetail with existing drug distribution processes. Lastly, current JCAHO published QA/DUE scoring guidelines will be discussed. The establishment of structured ongoing QA/DUE programs can begin to collect data vital to documenting the impact of the pharmacist on patient care.