Managing Pharmacy Practice recommendation

The object was to identify and describe the scope of practice that characterizes the critical care pharmacist and critical care pharmacy services. Specillcally the goals were to define the level of clinical practice and specialized skills characterizing the critical care pharmacist as clinician, educator, researcher, and manager and to recommend fundamental, desirable, and optimal pharmacy services and personnel requirements for the provision of pharmaceutical care to critically ill patients. Hospitals having comprehensive resources as well as those with more limited resources were considered. 

It was reported by the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) in 2000 that fewer than 5 percent of physicians were writing prescriptions electronically. In a 2000 white paper entitled, A Call to Action Eliminate Handwritten Prescriptions within 3 Years, ISMP recommended the use of electronic prescribing by clinician order entry to reduce medication errors (ISMP, 2000). CPOE can help to reduce errors in the delivery and transcribing of orders to the pharmacy where the orders are filled. Order management can be used to control inventory and alert pharmacy staff (and even the patient) of the status of a prescription. For example, some national chain pharmacies have the capability of alerting the patient by phone or e-mail if a prescription is ready or if other action needs to be taken before the prescription can be picked up. The system should also be able to report results, such as the number of prescriptions filled, the revenue generated over a specified time, and medication error reports. 

This chapter discusses the recruitment, selection, training, disciplining, and termination of pharmacy employees. It describes the steps involved in HRM and some of the constraints placed on managers. It also offers recommendations to pharmacists for practicing more effective personnel management. 

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