The Source for Navy News
Healthwatch: Its Time to Talk Prescriptions
Story Number: NNS031017-30
Release Date: 10/17/2003 4:11:00 PM
By Aveline V. Allen, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery Public Affairs
WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Our ‘prescription’ for success is to treat everyone as you would like to be treated,” commented Cdr. William D. Sanders, head of the pharmacy department at the National Naval Medical Center (NNMC) in Bethesda, Md.
As Navy Medicine joins in the national recognition of “Talk About Prescriptions Month” in October, there are four strategic themes that all Naval pharmacies strive to achieve on a daily basis. These include customer-focused care, patient safety, best value, and quality improvements and efficiency.
“Naval pharmacies strive to be the number one choice for beneficiary prescription needs,” stated Capt. Elizabeth A. Nolan, Naval Medicine pharmacy specialty leader. "Military treatment facilities’ pharmacies are the best value for both the health plan and the beneficiary. At the same time, Naval pharmacists and pharmacy technicians never lose sight of their responsibility to partner with patients to assure appropriate use of medications and prevent medication errors. Before patients leave the pharmacy, we make sure they understand their medications and how to use them. Their quality of life is important to us,” added Nolan.
“On average we fill 60,000 prescriptions a month at NNMC and personally see about 800 patients a day,” said Sanders. “We are a patient-focused pharmacy and our intent is to respond to each individual's needs in a courteous and professional manner. Each day there are 800 opportunities to improve the quality of patient care and make their visits to the hospital a little less stressful.”
A major innovation to the improvement of prescription services for patients at NNMC has been the implementation of bar code technology to include two pharmacy robots that have reduced the potential for errors.
“People are intrigued by the robots which is certainly understandable,” Sanders added. “We fill an average of 1,000 prescriptions a day with the robots in a nine or 10-hour shift. “All prescriptions, new and refill, undergo stringent barcode checks and re-checks, before being dispensed.”
For related news, visit the Navy Medicine Navy NewsStand page at www.news.navy.mil/local/mednews.
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