As I continue to read Dennis Miller’s book PHARMACY EXPOSED .. Dennis has been able to put a string of things together… like putting a picture puzzle together.. that you can see the larger picture. Many of us are too close to the trees to see the forest.
Dennis has pointed out a number of serious and specific errors that have reached the news… one of the major ones… was a young patient that had the very similar (same pronunciation different spelling ) first name and the same last name of another patient. As many of us remember, this young woman was pregnant and received a Rx for Methotrexate in the waiting bin.. instead of the antibiotics she was suppose to receive. What would appear to be a mix up at the register…both Rxs were filled correctly.
Pharmacies and many institutions are going to more and more bar code scanning. In the institutional setting.. the pt is ID’ed with a bar code and the bar code is scanned before any meds are given to the patient.
Many chain pharmacies are giving out “reward cards”… why not link these cards to the pt’s Rx records and use the cards to be scanned as a ID.. when the pt picks up the Rx.. It is not a perfect solution… but anything that we can do.. to eliminate a med error… should be worth the effort… Everything is in place .. in many chains… it is just a matter of linking these things together…
Filed under: General Problems
At Wal-Mart, the cashier must enter the first and last name of the patient and the month and day they were born. If there is no match, then no meds. This pretty well eliminates cashiers from giving patients the wrong meds. And, when dropping off a prescription, not on the name but the birthday is required from the patient dropping off the rx and the birthday is written on the rx. Combine all of this with barcode scanning of stock bottles and you really cut down on errors. Not saying this because I work for Wal-Mart, but just stating a fact…they have a very good system in place.