Pharmacy Management

This week’s pharmacy management Tip of the Week takes a look at establishing a clinical pharmacy site in the emergency department (ED) of a hospital.

Management of product life cycle will price and position pharmacist services effectively so that uptake is quick.

Effective time management can make the difference between a successful pharmacist and an unsuccessful one.

Pharmacy managers must maintain close control over operations, and this case makes a strong argument for taking care in selecting the right personnel.

Certain changes can be made to operations that minimize interruptions to pharmacy managers, reduce errors, and facilitate greater quality of work life.

Practicing according to HIPAA standards, though, is not just to protect yourself legally, but it is the right thing to do by way of patient care, particularly through the ethical tenets of beneficence and patient autonomy.

Pharmacy managers should know how fickle customers can be, but also the importance of loyalty if you can create it.

Professional organizations play important roles in the profession, from assistance with job placements, to publication of scholarly peer-reviewed literature, promotion of practice standards, and advocacy for the profession.

Pharmacy managers will need to employ effective decision-making that will include evaluating vendors for post-purchase support, and discern the right time to purchase technology.

This Tip of the Week examines a case where a pharmacist actually sued his state’s Board of Pharmacy.

Business planning includes many components, not just merely generating an idea and hoping it will succeed.

Pharmacists can leverage EHR to compare and contrast medication lists, link medications to patient problems, and evaluate effectiveness and adverse drug events.

There is increasingly available technology to help patients manage their disease states, stay healthy, change lifestyles, and adhere to their medication.

Technological advances enable pharmacists to evolve their practices, spend more direct time in patient care, and assist patients with self-management of their diseases.

An issue that pharmacists might increasingly encounter deals with medical assistance in dying, where patients seek medical assistance to end their lives.

Pharmacy managers can promote a culture of safety that helps to reduce medication errors.

Pharmacy managers must be especially adept at negotiating with various stakeholders, and pass on their negotiating skills to other pharmacy employees.

Pharmacy managers must be clear on, and effectively communicate state law and company policy.

Understanding patients' perspectives help engender their trust and loyalty, and affect positively their treatment outcomes and the pharmacy business.

Pharmacists working collaboratively can make an impact, including for patients with more acute diseases.

One of the primary means of performing billable services is through ‘incident-to’ billing.

Value-added pharmacy services come in all shapes and sizes.

Service outcomes will be optimized by considering a constellation of factors besides the service itself, such as social support and patient self-efficacy.

Pharmacy managers invariably face employees suffering from various personal issues that require special attention and/or counseling, and at some point will be confronted with the issue of an impaired employee.

In the matter of California State Board of Pharmacy vs Pacifica Pharmacy and Thang Tran, action was taken by the board against a pharmacist accused of poor oversight, and judgment over occurrences at a community pharmacy under his watch.