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Pharmacists just don't count pills and put them in a bottle.
There's a large number of safety steps that need
to take place before a patient picks up their medication.
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A member of our pharmacy team will ask you for information
such as your name, your date of birth, and your phone number.
Any allergies you have are also collected to make sure
the medications you're being prescribed will not cause adverse reactions.
You will also be asked for insurance information to determine
if your plan will contribute towards the cost of your prescription.
A member of the pharmacy team will scan
the written prescription into the pharmacy computer system.
so that it can be viewed at any time.
It is then entered into the outpatient pharmacy computer system.
The information entered into the pharmacy system, includes medication
name and strength, quantity of the order, directions on how
you should take the medication, the name of the
person who ordered your prescription, and the number of refills.
For patients with prescription insurance, a real time request is sent to the
insurance carrier, to see if they will
contribute towards the cost of the prescription.
In some instances, insurance companies will want additional medical
information, to determine if they will approve the prescription.
Insurance companies can take up to 3 days
to determine if they will pay for a prescription.
A prescription label that is an exact duplicate of
what was entered into the pharmacy system is printed.
A registered pharmacy technician compares the
prescription label to the written prescription,
to ensure the prescription order was
entered into the pharmacy system correctly.
The label and medication are scanned to verify the medication name, that
appears on the label matches the actual medication that you will receive.
If the medication and the label match, a picture
of the medication is displayed in the pharmacy system.
If the medication labels do not match, a
large red X appears on the computer screen.
The technician prepares the prescription for a pharmacist's review.
Medications that are not commercially available, such
as compounds, are prepared by the pharmacist.
Compounds frequently involve the mixing of two or more medications.
Because of the precision needed in compounding
medications, they may require additional time to prepare.
The pharmacist compares the written prescription to
the label for accuracy, as well as
the appropriateness of the medication, dose, and
directions on how to take your medication.
The pharmacist reviews the prescription for
interactions with other medications you are taking.
Because all Johns Hopkins outpatient pharmacies
are linked together, the pharmacist can cross-reference
the prescription order, with other prescriptions you
brought to any of our outpatient pharmacies.
Food or drug allergies that may cause
adverse reactions with this medication are also reviewed.
The pharmacists completes all reviews using their
knowledge with the support of the pharmacy
computer system, that alerts the pharmacist to
problems the patient may have with the medication.
The pharmacist then confirms that the medication in the bottle
is the same that has been entered into the pharmacy system.
When you come to the pharmacy to pick up your prescription,
you will be asked for your name and date of birth.
This is to make sure that you are receiving the right medication.
Thousands of patients are served each day, and many have similar names.
Prescription will be removed from the bag, and given
to you to review the medication name and directions.
You will also be asked for any allergies you may have,
to assure that all relevant information has been included in the review.
You'll also be asked if you'd like
to speak to the pharmacist about your medication.
Don't hesitate to speak up if something
does not look right with your prescription.
For a final check, pharmacists complete two separate reviews of
new prescriptions that were presented to the pharmacy during the day.
If two pharmacists have been working together,
they inspect each other's prescriptions for that shift.
Some medications have a greater than normal chance
to cause severe harm if dispensed in error.
We call these high alert medications.
These medications have additional safety steps.
Such as specific patient counseling that are unique to each medication.
For patient safety completion of these
prescriptions make take longer than normal.
Pharmacies are overseen by multiple regulatory bodies.
Precise inventories are kept for all medications.
For specific medications, this monitoring is
heightened even further, and includes multiple checks
of both medication quantities in the pharmacy,
and medication quantities given to the patient.
Because of their size, children are at heightened risk
for injury, from even minute fluctuations in medication doses.
As an added safety check for pediatric
patients, prescription orders for patients 18 years
and younger are checked for their appropriateness
based upon the weight of the patient.
Prescriptions for patients age 18 and younger are checked
by two pharmacists, before the patient receives the medication.
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