Filling a Prescription In a Retail Environment By a Pharmacy Technician
Most of the population requires some sort of medication to keep themselves healthy. Not everyone knows the full process of filling a prescription. This will explain in detail the step by step procedure in filling a prescription inside a pharmacy work area. These steps are performed by the technician, and then checked by the pharmacist to make sure all steps were performed correctly. Only then, does the medication get dispensed to the patient. You will need a computer system with software specifically designed to enter patient and prescription information. You will also need a workstation, medication stock, prescription labels, printer, vials, lids, and counting tools to
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Ask the patient if they have had any prescriptions filled at your location before. You ask this because if they are a regular customer, you will already have the needed patient information in the computer system. If the patient has not been to your location before you will need to ask his or her full name, date of birth, address, phone number, insurance information, and any drug allergies they may have. Next, you will enter the prescription into the computer system software. Bring up the patient in the computer system or enter in the new patient information as described previously. If the patient is an existing customer, verify all information matches in the computer system. You will then scan the hard copy prescription into the computer creating a digital copy to be linked to that individual …show more content…
This is the date the prescription was issued by the doctor. In some cases, the doctor may have intentions of the patient receiving the prescription on a later date than the date it was issued. Both the date written and intended fill date will be on the hard copy. Do not get these dates confused, especially if the drug is a controlled substance. There could be disciplinary action taken on the pharmacy by the Drug Enforcement Agency if a controlled medication is misfilled. Although, this is rare and would only be acted on in fraudulent cases. Once these steps are complete, the last step associated with inputting the prescription is applying the claim to the patient's insurance. There are four values you need to file an electronic claim. Locate the Bank Identification number, Processor Control number, Identification number, and Group number. Apply these values in the appropriate fields when prompted by the computer software. Lastly, send the claim to the insurance, and your prescription label will be printed out by the laser printer once the claim has been accepted. Depending on your internet connection this should only take a few
I am truly amazed by the positive impact of bar-code medication administration (BCMA). Since we have a fully integrated electronic health record, it is a true closed loop-system, with medication order entry, pharmacy validation of medications, and clinical decision support. Implementing technology such as BCMA is an efficient way to improve positive identification of both the patient and medication prior to administration. It is estimated that the bar-code medication charting can reduce medication errors by 58% (Jones & Treiber, 2010). Even though we have good adoption of BCMA, nurses still make drug administration errors. In many of the cases, errors are caused by nurses, because they do not validate and verify. The integration of technology
The first step is to pre-register the patient's insurance information into the computer system and making a copy of their insurance cards. The patient's insurance information would then be verified. The patient would then be seen by a medical professional to examine the patient, discuss any test results or provide a diagnosis. Once the patient is ready to check out any payment due would be collected. The medical coder would then go over the patients' medical record and assign any diagnosis codes or procedural codes and then a claim form (CMS 1500) would be completed and submitted. The payment would also receive and posted at this time and document in the patient's record. The CMS 1500 will information from the patient, including the type of
This technology assist the nurse in confirming patients identify by confirming the patients’ dose, time and form of medication (Helmons, Wargel, & Daniels, 2009). Having an EHR also comes with a program that allows the medical staff to scan medications so medication errors can be prevented. According to Helmons, Wargel, and Daniels (2009) they conducted an observational study in two medical –surgical units one in the medical intensive care (ICU) and one in the surgical ICU. The researchers watched 386 nurses within the two hospitals use bar code scanning before they administrated patients’ medications. The results of the research found a 58 % decrease in medication errors between the two hospitals because of the EHR containing a bar code assisted medication administration
According to Accuracy at Every Step: The Challenge of Medication Reconciliation (n.d.), the most challenge is called medication reconciliation, which is a formal steps of gathering information related to the patient’s medication with accurate current medication list and compared to the doctor’s admission, transfer and discharge orders. Its aim is to prevent medication errors. There are three steps process- Verification (gather medication history), Clarification (confirm the medication with doses, properly) and Reconciliation (documenting with medication information). This challenge is important to obtain accurate information on all patients entering the hospital. Information technology may play an important role in improving
...vacy screen on the computer and/or turning the computer away so customers cannot see what’s on the screen, and use a secure network to receive new prescriptions or request refills. A patient must be notified and give authorization to allow a list of their drugs be given to a marketing company. The authorization must say what the data disclosure and use is being planned for and the date when the authorization will expire. In a community practice a pharmacist cannot discuss treatment with anyone unless patient signs authorization. In an institutional practice the patient can call the pharmacist and give permission to talk to a doctor if able to speak. In case of an emergency, such as a heart attack or car accident, the doctor can call the pharmacist to get the information without patient consent. A patient must give a written authorization in a community pharmacy.
• Organize inventory and alert pharmacists to any shortages of medications or supplies • Accept payment for prescriptions and process insurance claims • Enter customer or patient information, including any prescriptions taken, into a computer system • Answer phone calls from customers • Arrange for customers to speak with pharmacists if customers have questions about medications or health matters Pharmacy technicians work under the supervision of pharmacists, who must review prescriptions before they are given to patients. In most states, technicians can compound or mix medications and call physicians for prescription refill authorizations. Technicians also may need to operate automated dispensing equipment when filling prescription orders. Pharmacy technicians working in hospitals and other medical facilities prepare a greater variety of medications, such as intravenous medications.
Nurses were the professional group who most often reported medication errors and older patients were those most often affected in the medication errors reports analyzed for this study (Friend, 2011). Medication error type’s revealed omitted medicine or dose, wrong dose, strength or frequency and wrong documentation were the most common problems at Site A where the traditional pen and paper methods of prescription were used; and wrong documentation and omission were the most common problems associated with medication errors at Site B where the electronic MMS was introduced (Friend, 2011). Reports of problems such as wrong drug, wrong dose, strength or frequency, quantity, wrong route, wrong drug and omitted dose were less frequent at Site B (Friend, 2011). The reduced incidence of omission errors at Site B supports suggestions that an advantage of the MMS is easy identification of patient requirements at each drug round time slot. Despite the finding of less omission errors at site B where the MMS had been introduced, there was a relatively high frequency in the incident reports of medication errors related to both omission and wrong dose, strength and frequency at both sites (Friend, 2011).
medications is more than the act of getting drugs to a patient. The delivery of medication is directly tied to the charge for the medication. Thus the responsibility for charging or crediting medication belongs to technicians. This aspect of their job is strictly governed by federal regulations. These laws hold the technician directly responsible for the accuracy of a patient’s account’s charge and credit transactions. Because every dose is related to a specific day and time, when technicians credit they must apply that change to the corresponding dose. Assignificant as accuracy is to the patient’s account, accuracy in the making of their medications is even more important.
The patient care processes must be consistent with the patient care processes of all other health care providers. These processes include the assessment of the client’s pharmaceutical needs, a health care plan that is constructed to meet the specific needs of the client and a process in which evaluates the health care plan to gauge the efficacy of decisions made and actions taken. Pharmaceutical care management system includes all resources needed to manage the client’s needs, which include the space provided, such as a clinic or hospital, an appointment system for patients, appropriate and ethical documentation, reporting of patient care, evaluation of decisions made and actions taken and payment of service
Properly implemented and medication-use technology has the potential to moderate these costs. Bar-code-assisted medication administration (BCMA) has been shown to reduce medication administration errors by as much as 54-86%. BCMA, along with computerized electronic prescriber order entry and an electronic medication administration record, closes a technological loop that extends from the transmission of the order to the administration of the medication at bedside (Strykowski, Hadsall, Sawchyn, VanSickle, Niznick,
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This process is very tedious and one can file a case but most insurance carriers do not reverse the decision. Many need a pre authorization for non-emergency situations. Some other reasons- Services not covered- if the mentioned services are not covered then the claim can be
3) Adequate use of questioning: Opening of communication, ask general and open ended questions. It should begin with how, why, when, where and helps the customers to disclose information. Example, what did the physician inform about taking this medications? Close ended question may be applicable to acquire more specific information. Example, did you take your doses accurately?
• The computer is becoming the key factor of hospital pharmacy practice. Enhancement of computer technology is essential to assist the hospital pharmacist in keeping all relevant data in order to provide optimal oversight of drug therapy. As more data become available on drugs, the factor which place the patient at risk for developing reactions to drug, pharmacist must place less reliance on committing all facts to memory and recognize that the computer is a necessary solution to optimizing patient care.
I was also responsible for monitoring medication orders and reviewing patient profiles to ensure that the proper drugs and dosages were prescribed and that the pharmacy technician had prepared them properly. In many instances there were mistakes made in the preparation phase and sometimes even before, with incorrect dosages or drugs being prescribed and prepared, which could result in serious adverse effects for the patient. A clinical pharmacist’s role, however, is to make sure that these mistakes never reach the