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Best of Pharmacy Focused Efforts 

Pharmacy Workflows Strategies

Best Practice: Preparing for Flu Clinics

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  • Ashley Hannings, a faculty member at UGA College of Pharmacy, coordinates numerous off-site flu clinics in preparation for flu season. She developed COVID-friendly mobile immunization clinic procedures to deliver flu clinics safely in the fall.

  • Click on the link to view the COVID-19 Mobile Immunization Clinic Procedures that she made and customize it to meet your needs.

Best Practice: Create an Operations Manual for your Pharmacy to Contain all COVID-19 Procedures

  • Combine CPESN best practices and your pharmacy-specific COVID-19 operations into one single document.

  • Share with team leads as updates occur so that they can easily access the information.

  • Update and revise continually as new CPESN best practices are released

  • Download Good Day Pharmacy's manual, last updated 4/20/2020, to regularly update and make specific to your pharmacy.

Best Practice: Drive-Through and Curbside Pick-up

  • If your pharmacy offers Drive-Through or Curbside Pick-up, PioneerRx has some best practices that should make your patient experience better.

Best Practice: Develop a contingency plan with a neighboring pharmacy in the 

                        event that one of the pharmacies have to close.

  • Contact a local pharmacy within your area (e.g., within your local CPESN network) to discuss possible plans of action if different scenarios arise (See 'Contingency Discussion' for topics to review like Alison Haas did).

  • Discuss ways to support each other including sharing staff to keep pharmacies open, managing drug shortages, and transferring prescriptions if one pharmacy is forced to temporarily shut down.

  • Maintain frequent open lines of communication between local pharmacies about health of employees, risk of exposure and number of COVID-19 cases in respective counties.

Best Practice: Inform Patients/Customers OTC items you have available

  • Develop a Shopping List that patients/customers can check mark items they would like to purchase.

  • Provide to delivery patients and drive-thru recipients

Best Practice: Communicate Pharmacy Operation Changes with Staff Regularly

  • Pharmacy staff need to know that pharmacy owners/managers have their best interest in mind while knowing the need for pharmacy services to continue

  • An easy way to communicate with staff is to text them the night before or the morning of the next shift with any reminders/changes.

Best Practice: Remote Data Entry and Processing

  • The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) is providing guidance to State Boards of Pharmacy for remote work and the State has prerogative to make changes.

  • NABP is updating States' implemented Emergency Orders and Board Actions; click "NABP Summary" to view.

  • Within the "Special Conditions" section, you will find updated information on remote pharmacy work. 

    • Note: Some states already have remote pharmacy work written into regulations, be sure to review. 

Best Practice: Develop a COVID-19 Action Plan

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  • Information can be found through the Pharmacy Focused Strategies

  • Examples of information to include:

    • Ways to protect the staff​

    • Prescription Intake Procedures

    • Curbside Service Procedures

    • Register Procedures

  • Mullins Pharmacy Example can be found on the left with accompanying staff worksheets

Best Practice: Medication Synchronization

  • Identify at risk patients (> 65 yo and any patient with serious underlying medical condition such as heart disease, diabetes, and lung disease)

    • Enroll these patients in medication synchronization

    • Initiate the appointment-based model

    • Provide ongoing monitoring and follow-up based on patient’s clinical presentation

  • Maximize the medication synchronization program with adjusted processes during the pandemic

    • Filling medications 2 to 5 days earlier than normal fill

    • Monitor refills

    • Monitor medication shortages

  • During call with patient, check on other supplies needed

    • Hand sanitizer, thermometer, OTC products, etc

  • Utilizing home delivery or mailing (stamps.com)

  • Enroll patients in medication synchronization so that the pharmacy has control over inventory, not the other way around.

  • Consider only filling 30 day supply

    • 90 day supply only can help treat 1 patient, whereas a 30 day supply of the same med can treat 3 patients. Hopefully by the next fill, the medication won't be on backorder.

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