Medications in Rehab Just NOT Efficient

chellelynn25 · Jul 21, 2011

I work rehab as well. My facility is lucky to have onsite pharmacy as well as a pixus (sp?).If we get a new order from a doc we usually just run it to the pharmacy and they bring it up and put in the pixus for us. But I have worked LTC for a long time before doing rehab and the way u described was how the meds there were also delivered. I can remember ordering things and having them not show up for days.

Specialty_Rehab · Jul 21, 2011

:uhoh3:Hi all -

I posted this in general nursing, but its really more rehab-specific...

I'm currently working in a post-acute care rehab facility. We have a contract pharmacy that delivers unit-dose blister-packs, but its SOO slow to get meds... There has to be a better way. I've tried to Google the problem a little bit, but i figured i would post and see what other rehab facilities are doing.

-How do you get meds?

-How are they packaged? administered? replenished?

Whats your facility's solution or problem?

thank you, THANK YOU for any information you can provide, or sympathies with this system!

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Jul 21, 2011

I work at a small freestanding rehabilitation hospital that has 2 Pyxis machines with most of our medications. If a patient takes a med that is not in the Pyxis, we obtain it from an outside pharmacy and have a courier deliver it.

When I did nursing home rehab, we ordered blister-packaged medications from a remote pharmacy. If we called the orders into this pharmacy STAT, we could get the meds within 4 hours as long as we were not calling in the middle of the night. However, STAT orders incur additional charges to the facility that upper management might frown upon.

Specialty_Rehab · Jul 21, 2011

Thanks -

how big is your rehab facility that it supports 2 Pyxis machines?

Specialty_Rehab · Jul 21, 2011

Thanks!

How big is your facility that it supports an in-house pharmacy?

sbostonRN · Jul 21, 2011

I work on a rehab floor and it's similar to what you describe. We get blister packs and on the MAR there is an icon for each med to refill it as we go. So when it gets down to 4 pills or so, it's easy to "refill" it. The pharmacy delivers meds 3-4 times a day, and it usually takes about a day or two for a med to be delivered. If we need it sooner we can call to have it sent over stat, or use our Drug emergency kit. Sometimes it's frustrating when stuff doesn't come in as fast as I'd like, but overall it's pretty good.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Jul 22, 2011

Thanks -
how big is your rehab facility that it supports 2 Pyxis machines?

It is a 60-bed freestanding rehab hospital with an average census of about 32 patients.

Pharmacy Guy · Oct 14, 2011

:uhoh3:Hi all -
I posted this in general nursing, but its really more rehab-specific...
I'm currently working in a post-acute care rehab facility. We have a contract pharmacy that delivers unit-dose blister-packs, but its SOO slow to get meds... There has to be a better way. I've tried to Google the problem a little bit, but i figured i would post and see what other rehab facilities are doing.
-How do you get meds?
-How are they packaged? administered? replenished?
Whats your facility's solution or problem?
thank you, THANK YOU for any information you can provide, or sympathies with this system!

Traditional Contract Pharmacy services (providing limited days supply in blister cards) is a slow process (4 hours for stats.)

There are a few contract pharmacies that provide medications in PREDICTIVE SHORT CYCLES (7 days or less supplies) and also incorporate ON-SITE AUTOMATED DISPENSING for admissions and new orders.

These pharmacies have NEW ORDER and EMERGENCY medications stored in remote dispensing machines on-site, and most medications (oral/solid and injectibles) are taken from the machine once the order has been reviewed by a pharmacist with a remote connection to the on-site remote dispensing machine (typically within 30 mins.)

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Oct 14, 2011

Threads merged.