Pharmacy
Technology Automation
Mercy's investment in a 7,500-square-foot, state-of-the-art automated pharmacy improves patient safety and creates significant workflow advantages. The equipment reduces the risk of medication errors, increases overall quality of patient care, and improves process efficiencies. The Mercy Pharmacy is fully integrated with:
- a robotic, high-volume, automated storage and dispensing system
- an automated medication storage carousel
- a high-speed, bar-code packager
- and special software/hardware for redundancy and automation decision support. This hybrid distribution system supports Mercy’s bedside medication verification.
Automation Advantages for Patients
- Medication filling accuracy of 99.9%
- Cuts missed-dose medications by 92%
- Prevents dispensing of expired medications
Since 2000, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has received more than 95,000 reports of medication errors, and the number is believed to be higher due to many unreported incidences. Medication errors occur for a variety of reasons, but the automated medication delivery process virtually eliminates the chances of error.
Bedside Medication Scanning
Mercy's pharmacy technology dovetails with the hospital's BMV/eMAR technology, a bedside medication scanning safety solution. When a medication is ordered, the robot picks that specific medication by reading the bar-code on the package, and then inserts it into an envelope labeled with a patient-specific barcode. The medication is administered to the patient only after the patient wristband and medication is scanned and a match is verified.
This efficient process means less labor is needed in the Pharmacy, freeing up pharmacists as ready resources for medical providers on the hospital floors. Administrators are able to generate advanced reports that support clinical and quality improvement activities.
The Mercy Pharmacy serves employees, their families and inpatient needs.
Pharmacy Staff
Clinical pharmacists, technicians and interns support not only patients admitted to the hospital, but also patients receiving care at Hall-Perrine Cancer Center and the Dennis & Donna Oldorf Hospice House of Mercy.
Mercy pharmacists also provide clinical support to physicians in many areas of the hospital via medication dosing and monitoring, as well as anticoagulation management within a specialty outpatient clinic.
Pharmacy Residency
Mercy also offers a pharmacy residency, which is a post-graduate training program that allows the pharmacist resident to perform as a licensed pharmacist while continuing to train under the supervision of an experienced pharmacist. This allows the pharmacist resident to develop skills and competence in providing pharmaceutical care to a variety of patients in various hospital settings, thus accelerating growth beyond entry-level experience.