PHARMACY COMMITTEES and INTERRELATIONSHIPS with other DEPARTMENTS
Pharmacy Management Team Members
Managers in a pharmacy department are typically senior pharmacists and technicians. Their roles involve membership on committees, overseeing pharmacy staff members (including hiring, training, disciplining) and liaising with other hospital departments.
Pharmacy Committees
The number and structure of committees in a pharmacy department varies from hospital to hospital. Typically, the committees are multidisciplinary meaning several representatives from several different departments will be present. The chief or main committee of the pharmacy department is the Pharmacy and Therapeutics (P&T) Committee. In some hospitals, such as the Vancouver General Hospital, this committee is, or was, referred to as the Drug and Therapeutics Committee. Other committees that directly involve pharmacy include: Palliative Care, Diabetic Education, Pharmacy and Nursing, Quality Assurance and Medication Incident and Discrepancy Review.
The P & T Committee
The main purpose of the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee is to facilitate the flow of information to physicians and nurses in a hospital. The information passed on typically involves medication, its use and management. Any and all recommendations brought forward from the committee are presented to medical staff of Medical Advisory Committee for adoption or further recommendation to the Board of Trustees.
Pharmacy’s Responsibilities to Administration
Annual reports are prepared by the Pharmacy department and submitted to the Hospital Administrator. They may include reports on: finances, staffing and work load, supplies, adverse drug reactions, medication incidents and discrepancies, activity reports and critical indicators, quality assurance measures and detection of major deviations and accreditation updates. The Pharmacy department must have systems in place to periodically inform the Administrator of its activities and achievements. Reports are used to do just that.
*Interrelationship of Pharmacy with Other Departments*
At times, the Pharmacy department may appear to function independently and completely apart from the rest of the hospital. This may be because of its location and high-security. The Pharmacy department is often located in the basement or lower level of the hospital and in a secluded area. It is always "armed" and requires a password, security code or swipe card to enter. Upon closer inspection, however, pharmacy staff members do interact often and with many different departments.
Pharmacy's interaction with Nursing is the most obvious and includes orientation to nursing personnel and students, in-service education and provision of drug information and drug distribution activities.
Materials Management interacts with Pharmacy by assisting with drug and supplies purchasing and procurement as well as budgeting drug costs.
Clinical Biochemistry may help in analyzing such things as patient electrolytes to aid in determining appropriate Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN) values and receiving drug information from Pharmacy.
The Plant Operations department provides essential services such as heating, housekeeping and laundry as well as Biohazard training and cleanup.
Medical Microbiology is important to Pharmacy in performing sterility testing and assisting with Drug Utilization Reviews for high-risk drugs such as antibiotics. Pharmacy provides drugs, supplies and information.
The Pharmacy department may rely on the Finance department in part in preparing the drug budget and assessing inventory dollars.
The Dietary department includes in house Food Services and Dietitian counselling. Pharmacy is valuable in providing information for the Dietetic Intern during orientation as well as working closely with the Registered Dietitian in determining patient TPN needs.
The Pharmacy department is valuable to Respiratory Therapy by supplying drugs and supplies as well as drug information.
The Pharmacy may make use of hospital Library services to access drug and medical information. Nowadays this takes the form of access to online books and journals rather than books on dusty shelves.
Occupational Health and Safety Services relies on Pharmacy to provide drugs to the department for the purpose of keeping the staff healthy. These may include analgesics, cold preparations and immunizations. Pharmacy relies on this department to prevent problems from occurring and to develop plans to change hazardous situations that previously resulted in injury.
Supply, Portering and Delivery (SPD) may also be referred to as Central Stores. This department provides and prepares non-sterile solutions for distribution to patient care areas. Pharmacy and SPD may share equipment sterilization facilities.
CHECKPOINT Question ONE: Access the "P & T Newsletters" available through the Vancouver Hospital website. Take a look at two or three issues. What information is provided in each newsletter? Who would benefit from reading them?
Pharmacy Management Team Members
Managers in a pharmacy department are typically senior pharmacists and technicians. Their roles involve membership on committees, overseeing pharmacy staff members (including hiring, training, disciplining) and liaising with other hospital departments.
Pharmacy Committees
The number and structure of committees in a pharmacy department varies from hospital to hospital. Typically, the committees are multidisciplinary meaning several representatives from several different departments will be present. The chief or main committee of the pharmacy department is the Pharmacy and Therapeutics (P&T) Committee. In some hospitals, such as the Vancouver General Hospital, this committee is, or was, referred to as the Drug and Therapeutics Committee. Other committees that directly involve pharmacy include: Palliative Care, Diabetic Education, Pharmacy and Nursing, Quality Assurance and Medication Incident and Discrepancy Review.
The P & T Committee
The main purpose of the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee is to facilitate the flow of information to physicians and nurses in a hospital. The information passed on typically involves medication, its use and management. Any and all recommendations brought forward from the committee are presented to medical staff of Medical Advisory Committee for adoption or further recommendation to the Board of Trustees.
Pharmacy’s Responsibilities to Administration
Annual reports are prepared by the Pharmacy department and submitted to the Hospital Administrator. They may include reports on: finances, staffing and work load, supplies, adverse drug reactions, medication incidents and discrepancies, activity reports and critical indicators, quality assurance measures and detection of major deviations and accreditation updates. The Pharmacy department must have systems in place to periodically inform the Administrator of its activities and achievements. Reports are used to do just that.
*Interrelationship of Pharmacy with Other Departments*
At times, the Pharmacy department may appear to function independently and completely apart from the rest of the hospital. This may be because of its location and high-security. The Pharmacy department is often located in the basement or lower level of the hospital and in a secluded area. It is always "armed" and requires a password, security code or swipe card to enter. Upon closer inspection, however, pharmacy staff members do interact often and with many different departments.
Pharmacy's interaction with Nursing is the most obvious and includes orientation to nursing personnel and students, in-service education and provision of drug information and drug distribution activities.
Materials Management interacts with Pharmacy by assisting with drug and supplies purchasing and procurement as well as budgeting drug costs.
Clinical Biochemistry may help in analyzing such things as patient electrolytes to aid in determining appropriate Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN) values and receiving drug information from Pharmacy.
The Plant Operations department provides essential services such as heating, housekeeping and laundry as well as Biohazard training and cleanup.
Medical Microbiology is important to Pharmacy in performing sterility testing and assisting with Drug Utilization Reviews for high-risk drugs such as antibiotics. Pharmacy provides drugs, supplies and information.
The Pharmacy department may rely on the Finance department in part in preparing the drug budget and assessing inventory dollars.
The Dietary department includes in house Food Services and Dietitian counselling. Pharmacy is valuable in providing information for the Dietetic Intern during orientation as well as working closely with the Registered Dietitian in determining patient TPN needs.
The Pharmacy department is valuable to Respiratory Therapy by supplying drugs and supplies as well as drug information.
The Pharmacy may make use of hospital Library services to access drug and medical information. Nowadays this takes the form of access to online books and journals rather than books on dusty shelves.
Occupational Health and Safety Services relies on Pharmacy to provide drugs to the department for the purpose of keeping the staff healthy. These may include analgesics, cold preparations and immunizations. Pharmacy relies on this department to prevent problems from occurring and to develop plans to change hazardous situations that previously resulted in injury.
Supply, Portering and Delivery (SPD) may also be referred to as Central Stores. This department provides and prepares non-sterile solutions for distribution to patient care areas. Pharmacy and SPD may share equipment sterilization facilities.
CHECKPOINT Question ONE: Access the "P & T Newsletters" available through the Vancouver Hospital website. Take a look at two or three issues. What information is provided in each newsletter? Who would benefit from reading them?