3.Patient Safety and Quality Assurance 26.25% of the PTCE EXAM
The Patient Safety & Quality Assurance will be considered the corner stone of the entire "Pharmacy Services" operation. All the knowledge we have acquired about drugs, all the laws are good to know, the most important part of the chain is Quality Assurance and Patient Safety. The patient (our customer) is needing our service to get better and start leading a normal life, hence it is important that we as Pharmacy Technician take utmost care, patience and dedication when performing our duty as a pharmacy technician.
May be in the :
"Drive Thru" : Make sure you quickly scan the prescription into the pharmacy system, if you get the prescription at the "drive thru".
"Drop Off": We make sure all the elements of the information required in a prescription are present on the prescription, If you are at "drop off" in the pharmacy. Ideally data entry is best done while the patient is still there at drop off, so you can make sure the prescription is covered by the insurance, if there is any descrepency that may need a prescriber request.(check with the pharmacist before you send a physician request) send the request, if the product is on back order, inform the patient so they can check other stores in the area, make sure the pharmacy system on the patient allergies, disease state and other relevant is updated so we can catch any contraindications or issues that need the physician input. This will help set a pleasant patient experience, by setting expectation and avoiding suprises.
"EScripts": Make sure you quickly download and type the prescription into your computer system Make sure the patients Name, DOB, Address, Contach information is transcribed into the dispensing computer system. Also make sure any new diagnosis, allergies or other information that could help in avoiding a drug safety incident is updated into the Pharmacy Dispensing system, so that any DUR other other quality concerns can be addressed before dispensing the medications.
Please help the Pharmacy Department and your Pharmacist by not bypassing any 'stops' or acknowledgements that appear when you are at 'data entry' (Drop off), filling (Pharmacy production) or at "pickup" ). These are all areas that will help assure quality of our dispensing service and help increase our "patient safety" scores.
"Pick Up" / "Drive Thru Pick Up": By a vigilant "pickup' person who is typically a new employee in training or the most junior person who is assigned the pickup duty, you should be proud, "YOU" are the "last hope" in the patient safety chain of command. You make sure you follow all POS computer alerts, speak up and ask questions, to ensure the patient is picking up medications for the right patient, if there are people or families with similar names, if the doses have been changed, it is not a bad idea to ask, how they are feeling and if the medications are working, if they have a question or have something to say, have them speak to the pharmacist at consultation before they pickup the medication. This can avoid misfills, making sure doses or meds have not been changed or doses increased or decreased.
The Following are the Subject Areas that will be tested in the "Patient Safety & Quality Assurance" Section of the PTCE Exam.