RxInformatics.com

Creation and adherence to workflows make the transition to a new pharmacy information system easier. Workflows clearly define steps related to verification, preparation, dispensing and sometimes administration of medications.

Some examples include (in no specific order):

1. Conditional medication ordering
2. Discharge medication ordering and dispensing
3. Dispensing extra or missed doses
4. Dispensing inpatient chemotherapy medications
5. Dispensing variable rate and bulk products
6. Documenting medications administered in the past
7. Expiring medication orders
8. Clinical monitoring and documentation
9. Patient transfers
10. Investigational medications
11. Managing medication charges
12. Multi-route medication ordering
13. Nursing communication to pharmacy
14. Pended and held medications
15. Prior to discharge orders
16. Pharmacist documentation and communication
17. Pharmacy interventions
18. Taper order entry and administration
19. Ambulatory infusion orders
20. Charging for bulk medications
21. Crediting medication charges
22. Dispensing first doses
23. Therapeutic substitutions
24. Pharmacist documentation of height and weight
25. Allergy documentation
26. Medication reconciliation at admission, discharge, and transfer
27. Non-formulary ordering
28. Adjusting administration times
29. Cart fill/batch printing
30. General and prn medications
31. Order verification
32. Patient supplied medications
33. Advanced preparation of medications
34. Bolus medication ordering
35. Compounding medications
36. Dispensing home health medications
37. Dispensing respiratory medications
38. Dispensing TPNs
39. Medication list management
40. FDB/Medispan/Multum update maintenance
41. Medication build
42. NDC replacement maintenance
43. Pharmacist order resolution
44. Overriding medication charges
45. Pharmacist in Training (order entry, no verification)

Today was our last day for golive preparation. Most of it was spent correcting some last minute issues with printed MARs, custom medication build, and CDMs (our Identifier between our ADC and PIS). Most of the issues we ran into at the first hospital golive were related to these identifier mismatches. Fixing them requires someone to go to the ADC on the unit and reload the medication (to send the updated interface message to the PIS). We did our best to prevent any of these mishaps this time around.

We will start conversion at about 0630 AM tomorrow. We will have just over 70 people through the pharmacy department on Saturday (about 40 at one time). Most of their time will be spent entering all of our existing orders in the new PIS. We are expecting about 6000 unique orders. I will share portions of our cutover plan as time allows tomorrow.

I will do my best to tag all of my twitter posts with #PISGL (Pharmacy Information System Golive) so they can easily be referenced later.

I will be tweeting (micro/live blogging) the conversion and golive of a pharmacy information system at a 650 bed hospital on 3/21/09. Please point your browsers to http://twitter.com/pillguy or my microblog on this website to follow starting at 0800 AM on 3/21/09.