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Is Your Pharmacy Disaster Prepared?
Is Your Pharmacy Disaster Prepared?
Based on information gathered from closed door pharmacy operators,
care providers representing hospitals and healthcare delivery
networks
across a broad spectrum of care delivery organizations, Trends in
Disaster Preparedness and Recovery Technologies provides insight into
plans and preparations include:
=95How well does your IT Teams / professionals think your organization
is prepared for a disaster, epidemic or other type of major business
interruption?
=95What does facility operations management have to do with the
organization's IT management?
=95What risks are your facility customers and your operations staff
most
concerned about =97 and what are they doing about those concerns?
=95How well would care delivery organizations cope with an emergence of
a pandemic on the order of the influenza epidemic like the epidemic
of
1918?
=95How many acute care facilities employ syndromic surveillance systems
=97 and how are they using the data collected?
A pharmacist's work place should have a disaster plan in place as
part
of the "policy and procedures" guidelines. Pharmacists should
encourage their managers to conduct reviews with key staff members
that would be needed in a disaster. Below are some examples:
=A7 Communications. Learn what communication tools are available at
your workplace, and what the "chain of command" will be during an
emergency; have emergency numbers such that you can reach all
employees.
=A7 Drug Inventory: The pharmacy should maintain a reasonable
inventory and anticipate needs on a daily basis during an emergency.
It may be necessary to obtain inventory from secondary suppliers; the
business may need to establish contingency plans for such a time so
the pharmacy should have contact information for alternative vendors
on hand.
=A7 Dispensing Laws: Lessons learned in the hurricane Katrina
disaster
showed that thousands of people would not have their medications, nor
would they be able to call their physician or their own pharmacist to
fill or refill prescriptions during a future disaster. There could
be
a need for pharmacists to dispense emergency medications without a
prescription during a declared disaster. Staff should review state
board regulations for operations under declared emergencies,
particularly Business & Professions Codes:
=A7 Business Records: Computer back up of business records should be
done as soon as possible and secured.
=A7 Evacuation plans: Review all emergency exits and learn the
location of meeting places should there be a need to evacuate.
=A7 Staffing: Plan ahead for use of professional staff from adjacent
pharmacies or hospitals, in the event your staff is impacted.
=A7 Emergency supplies inventory: Plan for additional healthcare
needs, bottled water, first aid supplies, home care, batteries etc
when there are warnings of a possible emergency.
=46rom an IT perspective - check out: w w w .pharmacydatahosting . com
Pharmacy Technology Resource, LLC.
P.O. BOX 1585
Cranberry Twp., PA 16066
(866) LTC - USA1
w w w .pharmacytechnology . net
Based on information gathered from closed door pharmacy operators,
care providers representing hospitals and healthcare delivery
networks
across a broad spectrum of care delivery organizations, Trends in
Disaster Preparedness and Recovery Technologies provides insight into
plans and preparations include:
=95How well does your IT Teams / professionals think your organization
is prepared for a disaster, epidemic or other type of major business
interruption?
=95What does facility operations management have to do with the
organization's IT management?
=95What risks are your facility customers and your operations staff
most
concerned about =97 and what are they doing about those concerns?
=95How well would care delivery organizations cope with an emergence of
a pandemic on the order of the influenza epidemic like the epidemic
of
1918?
=95How many acute care facilities employ syndromic surveillance systems
=97 and how are they using the data collected?
A pharmacist's work place should have a disaster plan in place as
part
of the "policy and procedures" guidelines. Pharmacists should
encourage their managers to conduct reviews with key staff members
that would be needed in a disaster. Below are some examples:
=A7 Communications. Learn what communication tools are available at
your workplace, and what the "chain of command" will be during an
emergency; have emergency numbers such that you can reach all
employees.
=A7 Drug Inventory: The pharmacy should maintain a reasonable
inventory and anticipate needs on a daily basis during an emergency.
It may be necessary to obtain inventory from secondary suppliers; the
business may need to establish contingency plans for such a time so
the pharmacy should have contact information for alternative vendors
on hand.
=A7 Dispensing Laws: Lessons learned in the hurricane Katrina
disaster
showed that thousands of people would not have their medications, nor
would they be able to call their physician or their own pharmacist to
fill or refill prescriptions during a future disaster. There could
be
a need for pharmacists to dispense emergency medications without a
prescription during a declared disaster. Staff should review state
board regulations for operations under declared emergencies,
particularly Business & Professions Codes:
=A7 Business Records: Computer back up of business records should be
done as soon as possible and secured.
=A7 Evacuation plans: Review all emergency exits and learn the
location of meeting places should there be a need to evacuate.
=A7 Staffing: Plan ahead for use of professional staff from adjacent
pharmacies or hospitals, in the event your staff is impacted.
=A7 Emergency supplies inventory: Plan for additional healthcare
needs, bottled water, first aid supplies, home care, batteries etc
when there are warnings of a possible emergency.
=46rom an IT perspective - check out: w w w .pharmacydatahosting . com
Pharmacy Technology Resource, LLC.
P.O. BOX 1585
Cranberry Twp., PA 16066
(866) LTC - USA1
w w w .pharmacytechnology . net
