JACO governed

darla80 · Sep 1, 2000

Originally posted by Jeansky:
our office is not a privite practice and owned by our hospital....3 Doctors,Internal medicine and family practice.We must follow JACO guidlines.Anyone in this type of practice that can help share their experiences is appreciated.I would be interested in how you log in and out your sample drugs.I am also looking for good 1 page patient education forms for handouts, like do's and don'ts for different drugs or diagnosis problems like HTN,BPH,COPD etc.

darla80 · Sep 2, 2000

Originally posted by Jeansky:
our office is not a privite practice and owned by our hospital....3 Doctors,Internal medicine and family practice.We must follow JACO guidlines.Anyone in this type of practice that can help share their experiences is appreciated.I would be interested in how you log in and out your sample drugs.I am also looking for good 1 page patient education forms for handouts, like do's and don'ts for different drugs or diagnosis problems like HTN,BPH,COPD etc.

HI Jean

I was in the midst of the post when my son who is in college called and then I was booted off.

I have been a nurse for twenty-two years. I have worked many areas of nursing. I was an office nurse in 1980/81 for a cardiologist and an Internal medicine doctor (can you believe one nurse for two physicians?) Did a myriad of other things and then in 1997 returned to the office. I worked in an Internal Med practice with three physicians and four nurses and now I work in a single IM doc office with just myself as the nurse. I LOVE IT !!! The big drawback is the paperwork and documentation but that seems to be the bane of the profession in the year 2000.

You asked about Pharmaceutical reps and samples. I use a Microsoft works database to log my samples in and out. It is much faster than writing them and I am able to point, click, and place data in a few seconds.

The physician I work for is a computer whiz and we have computer stations in each exam room and at every phone. One other sample related bit of advice is to take only the samples products that your doctor uses! i.e.: We try to keep the favorite beta blocker (right now it is ToprolXL) a variety of ace inhibitors, calcium channel blockers ARBS etc. We see a lot of diabetics so we keep a large variety of those meds. We also keep only the two favorite statins etc. I am sure you get the picture. I do stockpile a few things that I know our indigent patients need. By the way TAP pharmaceutical (Prevacid) has a great compassionate drug program!! It does not require the customary "ton of paperwork" Also Celebrex has a good program (ask your rep)

What type of practice are you in? Once a week we let different drug reps take us to lunch...that is nice for the rep and the doctor. I enjoy the reps and the product info.... my doctor is usually a step ahead of them but it is good to spend just a few minutes hearing their spiels.

I take a direct approach with the reps and only allow them into the office area for a few minutes. I never never never allow them into the drug cabinet!!

Your second question about handouts.

I pump the drug reps for Pt handouts and posters for the rooms. The reps usually have a lot of Pt friendly pamphlets and some companies have good videos! ASTRA has given me some GREAT wallet size medication cards for the pts to record meds and keep in their wallets. These cards have a place for meds, allergies, and physician name and number. (these little cards are Loved by any medical person they come in contact with.. ER, hospital, another physician etc )

There are some great web sites this is one I like

http://www.saonet.ucla.edu/health/healthed/handouts/hndhome.htm

I also use ADA and AHA for their handouts.

I guess this is enough food for thought for tonight.

I hope you Love office nursing! It fits so well into my busy life and I get such warm fuzzies with all the one on one interaction. Aren't the hours great!!!

Write me anytime!

Joy and Smiles *Darla**