We continually hear from RPH’s about anticipated increase Rx volume while having to deal with reduced RPH and tech hours. We have had only one state BOP that has attempted to put some “rational thinking” into staffing levels… a number of years ago, they promulgated rules/regulations that stated that it was ILLEGAL for RPH’s to work more than a 12 hr shift and that >150 Rxs per shift was considered dangerous. Of course, the chain store part of our industry took the BOP to court and the BOP prevailed and the restrictions remained in the practice act. However, as recently as 2011-2012 there is evidence that this BOP declines to enforce these rules .. at least against the chains… even when a PIC/RPH files a complaint with the BOP.
Nearly every BOP will give the excuse that “they do not have the authority to interfere with how a business operates”.. Of course, only 17 states requires that serious med errors are reported to the BOP and that the permit holder determines what determines if a med error is serious enough to report to the BOP.
Those of us who have worked in a number of locations, we know that no two locations nor no two teams work in the same manner. Some teams doing 15 Rxs/hr is a “walk in the park”.. others doing that volume is like doing a major work out. The number of variables from location to location is just too many to place logical limits… EXCEPT ONE !
And what could that one logical metric be… that would be meaningful and could lead to realistic staffing requirements?
the time interval between receipt of the Rx order (new, refill) and it is scanned to be placed on the shelf… certain orders would be excluded from this – item not in stock, waiting on authorization from prescriber.
If you looked at the average for a 2-4 hr time frame per day… look at average wait time per xx number of Rxs filled per day.. I am sure that some “number cruncher” could come up with a fair/viable metric that would be a realistic and safe staffing level.
If the time interval is 15-20 minutes… is the Rx dept overstaffed… is a time interval of 2-3 hrs… is the Rx dept understaffed. The number of vaccinations would automatically be pulled into the staffing levels.. since they would directly have a impact on extending this time interval and would show a need for increased staffing levels.
Will any of the BOP’s consider some meaningful metric like this to help assure that medication errors are kept to a minimum…. well.. since 75% of the BOP’s have corporate employees sitting on them… I am not holding my breath that they will do anything that will be consider a vote against their employer’s bottom line.
Filed under: General Problems
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