How to ease – and dramatically improve – medication management

The ABCs of modern medication management

As any pharmacy team understands, medication management is a complex process that moves from selection and procurement through storage, ordering, preparing and dispensing, administration, monitoring, and evaluation. The process demands careful planning, as well as collaboration with nearly every element of the health system enterprise – both internal and external.

Consider what the storage piece alone demands of the system. Teams must:

• Properly label all medications.
• Ensure expiration dates are clearly displayed on multi-dose vials.  
• Check the inventory in automated dispensing cabinets regularly.  
• Regularly outdate and manage emergency medication storage.  

Moreover, health systems must constantly engage in cycles of evaluation and process improvement, with reliable data driving those cycles. Among the key elements:

• Report adverse drug reactions, drug events, sentinel events, and other medication errors.  
• Track and trend these events.
• Identify the causes of adverse events and near misses – and design ways to reduce or eliminate them.

To ensure these things are done reliably, organizations must have leadership buy-in, clearly defined goals, powerful tools, and clear plans for staff education, implementation, and monitoring. The Institute for Safe Medication Practices adds that a truly first-rate program for medication management might include:

• Actionable reports
• The ability to track and celebrate “good catches” prior to incidents
• Use of a compliance software system
• The ability to quantify system changes
• The use of a medication safety dashboard 

Nicklaus finds success with the help of Simplifi+ MedStorage 

In the spring of 2021, Nicklaus Children’s Hospital was seeking ways to improve a medication management system that relied on paper checklists, manual task reminders, and an honor system for expiration date checks.  

Because Nicklaus was already using Simplifi 797, a sister product to Simplifi+ MedStorage, Nicklaus was drawn to Simplifi+ MedStorage’s single sign-on and familiar user interface. Yet its interest went well beyond that. Evidence-based content that is continuously updated and robust analytics meant that Nicklaus could simplify and streamline its medication storage inspections and more easily meet the compliance demands of regulatory agencies. Simplifi+ MedStorage’s mobile platform meant Nicklaus teams could monitor and document activities on the go. Finally, the pharmacy team found that Wolters Kluwer’s smooth implementation process – it took a mere four weeks to go live – was complemented by extremely responsive customer service. 

According to Daniel De Arazoza, PharmD, a clinical pharmacist with Nicklaus, in the 2.5 years since, the hospital has realized a number of benefits. It has been able to: 

• Customize and standardize criteria by inspection type
• Tailor inspection tasks based on the area and particular inspector
• Schedule inspections based on required or desired frequency
• Create complementary workflows with other Simplifi + products, including Simplifi 797
• Use the analytics to identify process gaps and human error
• Better prepare for inspections through a monthly reminder checklist to add required elements to the binder prepared for regulatory agencies
• Create a role for a dedicated inspection technician, who makes notes in Simplifi + MedStorage about possible areas for improvement – before incidents occur

As Dr. De Arazoza pointed out in a recent Wolters Kluwer Webinar, there is just far too much to do, and remember to try to shore up medication management compliance without the help of powerful software like Simplifi+ MedStorage. Its automated reminders have all the necessary institutional data and evidence-based content to help any facility deliver timely reminders to the right people at the right place and right time.